Coby White has fun with the Hawks defense. The best night of his career originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
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Coby White wrote the night of his NBA life on Wednesday, with chants of “Co-by! Co-by!” from the United Centers faithful as the Chicago Bulls’ Play-In win over the Atlanta Hawks went down.
His 42 points were the most he’s scored in an NBA game, but it’s not technically a top-tier night because Play-In stats don’t count. The games are not regular season or playoff games.
White doesn’t care.
“It was a great moment to have that happen. I’m grateful to the fans. It felt like a playoff atmosphere. It was a great night,” he said. “And I definitely consider it my career-high. It’s right here on the stat sheet.”
White’s coaches and teammates shared in his joy.
“Phenomenal player,” Ayo Dosunmu said. “His attitude, his demeanor, everything about him, I loved it, his work ethic. I’ve seen him put a lot of work into his game. So every time he puts in a performance like that, I’m not surprised.” But I’m happy and excited that people can see what type of player he is on this platform.”
Dosunmu added nine rebounds and six assists and sank his first 10 shots in the paint. He shot 15-of-21 overall.
“He did a good job of playing aggressively, getting his 3s when they were there. And he made a lot of good passes to the guys. I thought he played a really complete game. I know the number 42 is a huge play and really phenomenal.” But I thought he played a very complete game,” coach Billy Donovan said. “I thought he defended. I thought he assisted, went downhill and made the game easy for guys.”
DeMar DeRozan joked that White “did a good job, but could have done a little better.” But when he got serious, DeRozan said the team focused pregame on starting aggressively. And White played the first quarter like he had been shot out of a cannon.
“We just wanted to play with tempo, go downhill,” White said. “Ayo does that every game, so it’s not unusual for him. But we knew that if we attacked the paint and the defense collapsed, we had to finish it or spray it away.
“I’m just grateful. That first playoff series I ever had in my career didn’t go the way I wanted. Last year I played better in the play-in. And this year I didn’t.” I came into the game and said I was going to put the team on my back. But I just wanted to be aggressive and take what the defense gave me. I just wanted to win on both sides. I was aggressive and it went well.”
Even if it’s not a career-high night. It’s a victory.
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