While Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown get most of the credit for the Celtics’ meteoric success, the team’s dark horse often goes unnoticed—Derrick White. If the league gave out an award for the MVP of role players, it would likely go to him. Apart from his versatile skill-set, the Celtics can always count on White’s smart decision-making and ability to stay away from unnecessary fouls. But it looks like Tatum wouldn’t mind the point guard getting in trouble every once in a while.

It was evident during tonight’s Celtics vs Suns game. As the Boston team cruised to another dominant victory, a rare incident occurred in the opening minutes of the final quarter. White got penalized with a technical foul. Even the on-air announcers were in shock, “What! Derrick White just got a technical foul?” The Celtics guard himself looked surprised as he stood on the court with a confused look. Meanwhile, Tatum, who was on the bench, seemed unusually excited, even a bit happy.

However, it was announced seconds later that the tech on White was a mistake and the penalty was actually for Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer. JT’s excitement turned to disappointment as he threw a towel at the Celtics’ staff. Confused? Everyone was—until Tatum clarified postgame why he reacted that way, “I mean, I’m no stranger to getting techs and D White has never gotten a tech since he’s been in the league.”

Yes, during his eight-year career, Derrick has stayed away from techs. Meanwhile, Tatum frequently gets penalized with technical fouls for showing even the slightest of emotion, like clapping his hands in frustration. So, he wants to see White go through the same feeling at least once.

Turns out, Tatum even conveyed this message to Derrick in a private conversation, “So, I don’t know if anybody ever seen the reference in The Longest Yard when they was doing the recruiting and Chris Rock was like ‘Damn I got half a star.’ So, I told D White you gotta get like one tech, get your street cred up.”

Jayson Tatum reveals candid emotion after false Derrick White tech call

After the tech was announced on White, he seemingly looked right at Tatum. The two shared a wholesome moment as Derrick was seen mouthing, “I got one.” JT later revealed that the point guard getting a tech has been a longtime locker room discussion as he confessed his disappointment, “Yeah. Cause this has been a longtime discussion. We’ve been talking about this for a long time. So, I just heard technical foul D White so I got excited.”

He added, “I got excited and I thought he got a tech. I’m kind of campaigning for him to get one one day so we’ll see… I was going to go give him a hug or something.” With the Celtics already a lock for the second seed in the East, maybe the goal for the remaining five regular season games would be to see White finally get a tech. An unusual wish but as long as it’s strengthening team chemistry, the Cs will take it. Thoughts?