PHOENIX — Bulls veteran DeMar DeRozan didn’t need the game Monday in the Valley of the Sun to remind him of what he already knew.
After all, DeRozan has been calling teammate Coby White a star for months. Everybody else is playing catch-up.
‘‘You see teams game-planning for him, blitzing him, trying to get the ball out of his hands,’’ DeRozan said of the treatment White has been receiving from opponents since November. ‘‘It’s a testament to his greatness that he’s evolved into in the NBA, and it’s an honor for me to be able to share the court with him.’’
DeRozan wasn’t the only future Hall of Famer sharing the court with White in the Bulls’ two-point loss, however. There were also the Suns’ Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.
Durant, who scored 43 points, looked different from the rest — a measure of just how great he is — but there was little difference among DeRozan, White, Booker and Beal.
Was it an arrival for White? Maybe, maybe not. But he was definitely something special, scoring 10 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and finishing with 10 rebounds, nine assists and only one turnover.
It wasn’t only the numbers, however; it was the substance. He made plays that impact winning even in a loss.
It’s one thing to pull out the rock-a-bye-baby hesitation move against teammates in practice, but doing it twice against Durant screams ‘‘special.’’
It’s one thing to score late in back-and-forth games, but to be trading baskets with three future Hall of Famers and not even blinking is more than an arrival.
It’s a statement.
‘‘Those guys are great, great players — and DeMar alongside of them,’’ Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. ‘‘Those guys will be in the Hall of Fame. Maybe Coby isn’t as established as high as those guys are with their number of years in the league, but for what he’s done from his rookie league to now speaks to where he can get to.
‘‘He’s been unbelievable. He’s played incredibly well. These guys have been multi-All-Stars, but [White] showed that he’s going to be an elite basketball player, an elite guard in this league, and I really believe that. And it’s going to be because of the work he’s put into it.’’
Not to mention his attitude about his emergence. White’s confidence is always high, but it doesn’t sit atop his priority list. He made that very clear when he was asked about his performance against the Suns.
‘‘It don’t matter [how we played],’’ White said. ‘‘At the end of the day, it’s about winning and losing, and we didn’t win. So I don’t look at none of that. I care about wins and losses. As a unit, we care about wins and losses.
‘‘It was fun to compete. We were going back and forth. They hit timely shots, we hit timely shots. Kevin Durant hit the most timely shot of the game.’’
That’s why DeRozan not only believes in White but has full trust in him. White knows his individual accomplishments don’t outweigh those of the team.
‘‘The thing about Coby is how hard he works, how resilient he is, the competitor he is,’’ DeRozan said. ‘‘He deserves much more credit than he’s getting with the improvement. As a leader, coming through big. It’s been amazing to be a part of.’’
