"There's a hole in there"- Derrick White opens up about playing through a ruptured eardrum after Grayson Allen incident

Almost 2 years ago, NBA pro Derrick White made the headlines after an altercation with Grayson Allen during a match. The Boston Celtics' quietly gave one of his season's finest performances, despite the fact that he was gravely injured.

On his White Noise podcast, the point guard recently made some predictions about the team's 2025-26 campaign in the NBA's regular season and opened up about the injury.

For reference, the accident occurred in 2023, when they were playing a highly charged game with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Derrick White recalled playing through a ruptured eardrum 2 years ago

After Derrick White's eardrum ruptured during a confrontation with the Bucks' guard, he experienced problems hearing from his left ear. White played the next game against the Detroit Pistons despite the damage. Now, he recently discussed it in an interview with the White Noise podcast. Talking about the same, he said: “That was uh and the next game was the last game before the road trip or before Allstar break. And so and at that time that was the year I didn't miss any games. Miss any games. So I was like I I have to play. " I remember you were just trapped in the hotel room…”Talking further about it, he went on: “I remember they were like, "There's a hole in there. It's ruptured.

You got to be careful in the shower." They were like, "Be careful with water." I was like, "Do not get any water in." I'm like, "What if it rains?" And he's like, "Don't."

He continued: “I said, "What happens if it does?" And he's like, "Don't." I was like, "Yes, sir." Okay. He was like, "It could obviously get a lot worse if they get water." And so I had these little ear condoms, which is what I was calling them. I put it over my ear when I went in the shower and I was showering like this and I was really scared to get it ear..."

He then added:“It's terrifying. I completely forgot about the ear drum. Yeah, that was a wild one. You had some weird injuries. Remember when Smart ran into you on the sideline? You were kind of reaching..”

Derrick White on his craziest NBA injury and facing Allen in the game

At one point during the podcast session, he said: “Grace and Alan need me in the ear and I ruptured my ear drum. Oh, you had a hole in your ear drum. I forgot about that. I had to put a little ear. That's probably my craziest injury. Malcolm was you in Phoenix…”

He continued: “It was a close game of time. And I'm at half court like my ear was raining. That's scary, man. The ear is scary. And like people would talk to me on this side and I would just like not be able to hear him at all. They didn't want me to go on the flight. My ear could have ruptured. I had to stay at the hotel in Milwaukee. We drove from Milwaukee to Chicago…”It all began with a run-in with Bucks’ Grayson Allen. White had a punctured eardrum as a result of the coalition with Allen’s elbow during a furious game against the Bucks. His left ear suddenly stopped working. However, he not only continued playing, but also scored a team-high 27 points. After that, he remained in Milwaukee to see an ear specialist. It was verified by the diagnosis that there was an actual hole in his eardrum.Also read: Ben Simmons nearing decision as New York Knicks and Sacramento Kings lead race, Boston Celtics also in mix