“I just had to change plans really quickly. I was super excited,” White told the Globe on Saturday. “Once I got that call, I changed my focus. It’s really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
So on Friday night, there was White, waving a small American flag and sitting on the US Olympic team’s boat as it floated along the River Seine during the opening ceremony. It was a long way from Cabo, but White thinks this is much better. His wife and children are here in Paris with him, and his parents will arrive next week.
White also has been reunited with Celtics teammates Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday, and he has joined a super-team that includes NBA legends LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant. In addition to doing all he can to help the US to a gold medal, White intends to take advantage of his high-profile surroundings.
“When you’re around the legends of the game, just watching them, that’s a blessing, and you learn so much,” White said. “Even just being around them in the meal room and seeing how they act and how they prepare, just stuff like that you don’t really get playing against them. So it’s pretty cool to see the behind-the-scenes. What makes them so special.”
Spending time with Tatum and Holiday has been an added benefit. White missed the weeklong Las Vegas training camp earlier this month and he joined the team for its exhibitions in Abu Dhabi.
“It’s always great to be on the same side with them and it’s good to see them again,” White said. “They helped me when I got out here, helping me pick up the speed quicker. It’s always good to be with them.”
One of their high-profile teammates is missing, of course. Celtics forward Jaylen Brown, an All-Star who was named Finals MVP last month, was not chosen for the Olympic team. Brown voiced his displeasure when White was named an injury replacement instead of him, later clarifying that he was happy for White, just frustrated by the selection process and his belief that his past criticisms of Nike, a team sponsor, played a role in his omission.
“Jaylen gave me a call and I was like, ‘Yeah, you didn’t need to call me. I know we’re good,’ ” White said. “He gave me a call and said he just wanted to clear things up and I told him we’re all good. Never any problem or issue with us, for sure. He’s a hell of a player and I’ve never had a bad thing to say about JB.”
White, Tatum, Holiday, and Brown are now inextricably linked by the NBA championship they won together. White said it took about a week to fully absorb the magnitude of the accomplishment.
“I got back to Colorado and I’d go to the store or something and people would say congratulations or call me ‘champ,’ ” he said. “It’s a crazy feeling and it’s been unreal.”
It’s also a feeling he and the others would like to recapture. The Celtics will return their top nine rotation players and have been installed as championship favorites. And now that White and Tatum have signed contract extensions, all five starters from last season’s squad are under contract through 2025-26, too.
“I’m excited,” White said of his four-year, $126 million deal. “I wanted to stay in Boston and was able to get it done early, so I don’t have to think about it or talk about it too much. I’m just excited to be in Boston for as long as possible.”
No team has repeated as champion since the Warriors in 2017 and ‘18. Durant and Curry were the stars of that Golden State squad, and they are White’s teammates here in Paris. White said most of the national team players congratulated him on the Celtics’ title when he arrived two weeks ago.
“But I don’t think they’re going to be giving us any tips on how to do it all again,” he said, smiling.
…
The arson attacks that disrupted travel on France’s high-speed rail system on Friday, including the route from Paris to Lille, were not expected to keep the US team from arriving in Lille on Saturday evening to prepare for Sunday’s group-play opener against Serbia.
“We’re ready,” coach Steve Kerr said. “We’re excited to get up to Lille today and we’re aware of everything that’s going on and well prepared for it.”
Center Joel Embiid missed Saturday’s practice due to an illness, but Kerr said he will likely be available for Sunday’s game.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.