“Do People Think the Celtics Are That Great?”: Draymond Green Claims ‘Goalposts Were Shifted’ for Jayson Tatum’s MVP Case

On a recent episode of his podcast, ‘The Draymond Green Show‘, the Warriors star spoke on Jayson Tatum’s MVP case. Even though the Celtics star entered the ladder and is currently at the fifth spot, Draymond Green thinks that the goalpost has been moved for Tatum. In line with various analysts, Green also claimed that the reason why Tatum is not taken seriously when it comes to the MVP conversation is because he has yet to take his team to the NBA title.

While discussing this with fans, Green said,

“The Celtics are 7.5 games ahead of the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. Do people think that Celtics are that great to where Jayson Tatum is only at fifth?.. Clearly, the goalposts have shifted dramatically because in this guy’s case, he’s fifth? And [the Celtics] have a 7.5-game lead in the conference? The goalposts have moved on JT”.

The 4x NBA champion said that players not winning an NBA title has never hindered their chances of winning the league MVP. Unfortunately, the assessment seems to be different when it comes to the 25-year-old.

Green believes that there are double standards in considering Tatum’s case for the MVP title, “It wasn’t that way for Nikola Jokic. It wasn’t that way for Giannis Antetokounmpo. It wasn’t that way for Joel Embiid. It just really hasn’t been that way for everybody else, so I don’t know how it ended up that way for JT”.

As per the KIA MVP Ladder, Nikola Jokic has taken the top spot after Joel Embiid’s recent injury slowed him down. Jokic and Embiid are averaging 26.3 PPG, 12.1 RPG, 9.0 APG, and 35.3 PPG, 11.3 RPG, and 5.7 APG, respectively. As for Tatum, he is averaging 26.8 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 4.4 APG, and is arguably the best player on the best team in the East.

Jayson Tatum’s MVP snub is the talk of the town

Tatum’s snub has everyone’s attention at the moment. Several experts believe that the 5x NBA All-Star is more than deserving to be the #1 contender this season. The man himself recently spoke about what’s happening with the lineup while making a case for himself.

Tatum said that his PPG might not be at par with the other contenders, but his contributions to the team’s success make him eligible for the spot. He added that he expects that the voters are “smart enough to understand the dynamic” of his team.

Jayson Tatum hopes that the MVP voters will understand his team’s dynamic

“I don’t have the points per game that the other three or four guys will, but I think the voters are smart enough to understand the dynamic of our team. Essentially having to do less scoring maybe on… pic.twitter.com/i6R2zIBgt1

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 23, 2024

Stephen A. Smith also expressed his disbelief over the recent rankings on his ESPN show. He said, “When you look at Jayson Tatum, it’s very very simple to me. He should be the leading candidate for MVP right now that Joel Embiid is out of the mix. He’s the best player on the best team and it ain’t like he is averaging 18 or 19. The brother averages 27 a night”.

Tatum has an outpouring of support from industry experts at the moment. With the support of his current form, hopefully, he’ll be able to break the MVP and title barrier this season with the Celtics.