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Clapping was almost a technical foul, but luckily the league stepped in
Technical fouls have become somewhat of a meme nowadays.
If you look too long at a ref—that’s a tech.
You say one word negatively towards the ref—also a tech.
In Jayson Tatum’s case, if you clap anywhere in the vicinity of the ref, you are going to get a tech.
The Boston Celtics star was hit with a technical foul for clapping his hands after a foul was called on him in the Celtics 126-122 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Clearly he was just mad at himself for committing the foul, but oh no, this ref saw it as an inherent attack and had to step in to right the wrongs that were committed against him.
Naturally, the technical foul had people talking, and by people mainly Kevin Durant.
Jayson tatum just received the worst tech I’ve seen in the nba in a while. I’m actually laughing
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) November 15, 2022
Tatum was asked about the technical foul after the game, and all he could really do was laugh.
Luckily, the NBA stepped in. Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill reported today that the NBA is rescinding the technical foul that was given to Tatum.
The NBA is rescinding the technical foul assessed to Boston’s Jayson Tatum from last night’s game against Oklahoma City
— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) November 15, 2022
Thank goodness they’re rescinding it, because that technical foul given to Tatum was egregious. Of course the next discussion is how to prevent this from happening again, but it really just comes down to education and making sure every ref has the same interpretation of a technical foul. It’s very clear that Tatum clapping was in no way directed at the referee, but just for himself. The referees have got to be better.
This rescinding of the technical foul is also important for Tatum. He’s got four techs this year tied for second behind Draymond Green and Kevin Durant. 16 techs gets you a suspension, so every single one counts.
Just hope he doesn’t clap around refs anymore.