NBA’s Derrick White Doesn’t Believe in the Moon Landing, Talks ‘Conspiracy Theories’

Boston Celtics star Derrick White raised questions about the 1969 moon landing while discussing his affinity for various conspiracy theories. 

On the Monday, March 23 episode of his “White Noise” podcast, White, 31, recalled a recent conversation he had with Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla at the gym. 

“He’s on the treadmill and I’m lifting, and he just turned around and he’s like, ‘Do you believe we landed on the moon?,’” White said. “I don’t think we did. I’m a non-moon landing guy.”

White immediately backtracked a bit, but only slightly. 

“We probably did, but I don’t think we did,” he continued. “I don’t know. I don’t really know. But I don’t think we did.”

During a radio appearance on Boston’s “Zolak & Bertrand” earlier this month, Mazzulla, 37, straight-up called White “a conspiracy theorist.”

“I’m not going to call myself a conspiracy theorist. I don’t think I’m that extreme,” White said on the podcast. “But I do think they are very interesting. And you know I like to argue, so it kind of makes sense that I’m into stuff like this.”

He added, “Conspiracy theories are like, there’s two big arguments. You can kind of pick and choose what side you want to be on and you can say whatever you want.”

White and Mazzula, who has coached the Celtics 2022, will often have those arguments with each other.

“Me and Joe usually agree,” White said. “We’re usually on a similar side.”

White hinted that his moon landing theory is only the tip of the iceberg, but suggested those conversations might be best served off the podcast. 

“I have some other conspiracy things, but I don’t know if this is the right time to bring them up … I have a big one that probably nobody ever thinks about,” he said. “But I think about it a lot.”

On the court, the Celtics currently find themselves in the midst of a heated Eastern Conference playoff race. Boston currently sits five games behind the 1st-place Detroit Pistons, and just a half-game in front of the 3rd-place New York Knicks. 

Despite his busy schedule, White still found time to be a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last week. 

“It was crazy,” White told his friend podcast cohost, Alex Welsh. “I got called like three weeks ago [saying] Fallon is interested in maybe having you on. I’m like, ‘Me? That sounds crazy.’ But then it worked out that I was able to be on there. I had some fun.”

White added, “Never thought I’d be on Jimmy Fallon, or that he’d even want me. To get to go out there and have a good time, it was a bucket list thing.”