This week, Derrick White intended to spend time in a seaside desert resort. But instead of playing elite basketball in Abu Dhabi on the Arabian Gulf, he was meant to be on a family vacation in Cabo, facing the Pacific Ocean.

But that’s where White is after joining Team USA for his first practice Sunday, arriving at 2:30 a.m. after a long flight from the U.S. Team officials had called him in four days earlier to replace Kawhi Leonard, who continues to recover from a knee injury.

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“I kind of figured it out when everybody else figured out when [ Adrian Wojnarowski] tweeted it, and then me and my agent were talking about it a little bit through the summer,” White said. “But I had assumed that Kawhi was going to continue. But then when I seen all that happened and I got the call, I was ready to go.”

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While doing his annual basketball camp in his hometown of Parker, Colorado, south of Denver, White received a call. After helping the Boston Celtics win the NBA championship last month and signing to a four-year, $126 million contract extension at the beginning of this month, he had been enjoying some time off.

But he does have some experience like this in the past. In 2019, White was a last-minute call-up to the senior team for the World Cup in China. He’d been playing on the Select Team that summer and got the last roster spot.

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That choice was somewhat controversial at the time when White was young and unheralded as a role player on the San Antonio Spurs. After he was elevated to the senior roster from the backup Select Team that year, higher profile guards De’Aaron Fox and Trae Young left Team USA with Young citing an eye injury when it became apparent White might get the spot over them.

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PHOTO CREDIT: Getty