“We were just talking in the weight room the other day, and I was like, ‘I’m becoming the Boston drink guy,’ ” White joked during an interview after a Celtics practice session. “So I feel like Dunkin’ Donuts has to be my next.”

Whether or not White ends up joining the “DunKings” posse remains to be seen. But while big-name brands like Gatorade, Coach, and Nike flock to his superstar teammate Jayson Tatum, White’s burgeoning side hustle as a spokesman captures a different, more localized approach to the art of the player endorsement.

“It’s just his life cycle as an athlete in Boston,” said Sean Barror, founder and chief revenue officer of Allied Sports, a marketing agency with a Cambridge office not affiliated with White. “He’s in that arc of establishing himself, and I think he’s probably a low-risk, high-reward endorsement opportunity.”

White’s initial forays are a testament, marketing experts say, to the buzz that a fan favorite can generate — and what can happen when those endorsements coincide with a moment of on-court heroism, as they did on May 27 when White hit the game-winning shot to send the Celtics to the NBA Finals.

“There’s sort of a history of, ‘All right, we’re going to pick a player, let’s pick the biggest star,’ ” said Lou Kovacs, president of marketing for Octagon, a sports and entertainment agency. “I do think that you’re seeing more brands, certainly, local brands . . . who will look for an athlete on the rise. And then they can take advantage of a moment in time.”

That was the case, at least, for Culture Pop, a Cambridge-based brand of probiotic soda that launched in 2020. CEO Tom First said White’s team approached him in March to discuss a potential partnership. “A lot of times these types of things don’t really come together,” said First, “because we’re not Pepsi or anything.”

But this time, it did, resulting in a billboard of White above Leverett Circle, a signed-jersey giveaway, and a 60-second ad that alludes to his “sneaky good” game play by showing him performing random acts of kindness in Concord’s Crosby’s Marketplace.

“We’re a bit of an underdog in the biggest category that exists, in soda,” said First. “We think, in terms of health and quality, we kind of outpunch our weight, which is the exact same thing that Derrick does.”

Haley Martin, the company’s director of social media and influencer marketing, said the company saw a boost in traffic to its website and social media channels after the release of the video — featuring cameos from White’s teammate Payton Pritchard and podcaster Kevin Cooney — which debuted just weeks before White’s heroic three-pointer.

“He’s not the first one people talk about when they talk about a Celtics player — but maybe now he is, which is obviously super exciting for us,” she said.

It was White’s authentic quality that also drew the better-established Samuel Adams to team up with him for a campaign — which, in addition to the “Your Cousin from Boston” spot, also included dressing White up in Carhartt and flannel for his walk through the tunnel before the Celtics’ April 11 game against the New York Knicks.

“The reason why we wanted to partner with someone who’s on the level of Derrick White is because he’s approachable. He’s relatable to our drinkers,” said Lauren Price, head of brand for Samuel Adams. “And that’s not something that you get with any talent.”

Of course, the upsides for brands partnering with a lower-profile athlete go beyond their everyman appeal. Players like White are typically more affordable than their all-star counterparts, marketing experts said, giving local brands a more budget-friendly option when they can’t swing an A-lister like Tatum or Jaylen Brown.

“The brand and the company, they’re getting an affiliation with the team kind of through a side door, if you will, and ultimately can participate in the upside with the team’s success and the player’s success at a reduced cost,” said Brian Nelson, senior vice president of the talent division for Allied Sports.

Both Culture Pop and Samuel Adams declined to disclose how much they paid White for their respective campaigns, though Price said the deal was “well worth the impressions that we got back.” Deals with high-profile players often run well into the seven- or eight-figure range; Caitlin Clark, the dynamo shooter for the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, for example, is reportedly weighing a deal with Nike worth upward of $20 million.

But though those players come with a lower price tag, they also carry their own risks, such as getting traded to another team and losing their local cachet. Consider Grant Williams, who partnered with Quincy-based Arbella Insurance Group in 2022 before being traded to the Dallas Mavericks in 2023.

Another possibility: What if the athlete has a slump, or their team’s playoff run is unceremoniously cut short?

“I was nervous when they lost the second game in the first series,” said First, the Culture Pop CEO, of the Celtics. But that’s just part of the deal, he said. “Building a business is a risk. We take chances and you bet on opportunities and good people, so that’s what we did.”

For now, though, White is still flying high, and the local brands that invested in him early on are seeing the payoff of a good gamble. Price said the Celtics’ appearance in the Finals will, she hopes, give White — and therefore, Samuel Adams — some more national exposure.

“Now that Derrick and the Celtics have a lot more eyes on him, we’re hoping that the word of mouth between the partnership and Sam Adams beer and Derrick White as a player really just amplifies and grows from here,” she said.

And depending on White’s performance, what was once a local company’s partnership with a dogged player could, in retrospect, become a brand’s I-knew-him-when claim to a could-be household name. And then, said Barror, more lucrative offers for White could follow — leaving the local deals to the new bright-eyed rookies.

“These are the types of deals I think local brands look for before Derrick graduates to the larger national opportunities that will probably come his way after playing in the Finals and having that exposure,” he said.

Perhaps he’ll get that Dunkin’ spot after all.

Dana Gerber can be reached at dana.gerber@globe.com. Follow her @danagerber6.