Dancing Technical Player Speaks Out: 'It's Not a Travel or Nothing'

Tyshawn Johnson expected the video of his dance-dribbling to "take over Twitter and Instagram," but the high school senior didn't expect the video to blow up like it did. The clip, which accumulated over 5,700 retweets and 515,000 views on Instagram, ended up on ESPN alongside discussion concerning whether the moves were unsportsmanlike and deserved a technical foul.

According to Johnson, his team was up 66-6 at halftime when he was called for the tech, but this wasn't the first time the Maryland native brought out the dance moves on the basketball court for Kent County High School.

"I've done that in multiple games, but that was the first time I actually got called for it," Johnson said. "I did it in a playoff game against Kansas. But no, I've never gotten called for it. It's not a travel or nothing."

Internet discussion regarding the video centered around whether the dancing had any place in a high school basketball game.

"It's showboating, which has no place in high school sports. It's equivalent to taunting and trash-talking," wrote Wendy Luxenburg on Facebook. "If his mind is on his dance moves, it's not on the game, it's not about the team, he's making it about him. He should have been benched."

Johnson said he was never given a clear explanation as to why a technical foul was called, but given the score, he said he believes the ref thought his moves amounted to showboating. The motivation for turning his sneakers into dance shoes was nothing more than fun.

"I always am dancing so I just started dribbling and dancing with the ball," Johnson said. "I figured since I dance, why not dribble with the ball at the same time?"

While the recent national attention comes from his exploits on the basketball court, Johnson's calling comes as a performer. In December, he signed a multi-album deal with Atlantic Records under the moniker Yvng Swag. Johnson started posting videos of himself dancing two years ago and slowly built a following, garnering over 115 million Vine loops and eventually catching the attention of Nick Cannon, who helps manage the budding rapper.

"

DANCE ON EM!!  pic.twitter.com/T1xZmyOOQf

— ☁️SWAGS (@YVNGSWAG_) February 17, 2017"

Despite the discussion around the ethics of his dancing, Johnson is enjoying the attention the moves brought to his music, including his first single, Fall in Luv, which has over a million plays on Spotify.

"It was exciting, honestly," Johnson said. "This was the first time being able to see myself on TV, so it was a blessing. A lot more fans to the music. That was really good exposure for me."

Johnson cites Chris Brown, Bruno Mars and Michael Jackson as his performing idols, which is unsurprising after watching the moves the 17-year-old brought out to the hardwood. As a child, he first dreamed of making the NBA before those aspirations evolved into dancing and rapping. Now, Johnson is trying to incorporate the two.

"I'm actually going to incorporate...my music and my dance moves at the same time. Like, make moves and air dribbling while I'm freestyling and do moves to it, to the songs," Johnson said.

"I'm actually thinking about freestyling about that and making a song about it—the night of getting a tech and dancing on them."