The break after the All-Star weekend ended tonight, with some great games to resume the regular season. However, in an interview before the game night, the All-Stars from the East, Jayson Tatum, and Donovan Mitchell had something to say about the captain of the Eastern Conference, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
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Malika Andrews of ESPN sat with Mitchell, Tatum, Ja Morant, and Luka Doncic for an interview and asked the question any reporter would have when two of the MVP favorites are under the same roof.
Jayson Tatum and Donovan Mitchell choose Giannis Antetokounmpo as the best player in the league, while Luka Doncic smiles
The 2023 All-Star MVP and last year’s Eastern Conference MVP (or the Larry Bird award), Tatum, did not hesitate in saying Giannis Antetokounmpo is the best in the league not only because his off-nights are generally terrific, but also because he has won a championship already.
“How he [Giannis] impacts both sides, scoring, rebounding, how hard he plays,” Tatum told Andrews. “We all have off nights, but I feel like when he has an off night, it’s still 25 [points] and 15 [rebounds] instead of 40 and 20. And he’s won, he’s won a championship.”
Although the Mavericks’ main man has said earlier in this very season that Giannis is the best player in the league right now, his smile when Malika asked the question told, the Slovenian believes it’s him.
We can guess what’s the priority for these young stars
This interview made one thing pretty clear, both Tatum and Doncic seek greatness. But as of now, both of them might have different priorities.
While Luka’s smile clearly stated how badly he wants to call himself the best in the league, whereas Tatum talking about the championship while discussing ‘the best’ shows his intent to win it all after missing out on it last season.
Who gets what first still has to be seen. For now, Tatum is averaging over 30 points per game and is the best player on the team with the best record in the NBA. Doncic is leading the league in scoring, with over 33.3 points per game.
Giannis is averaging over 31.8 points and 12.2 rebounds per game, impacting both sides of the ball heavily, but Nikola Jokic (24.7p/11.5r/10.1a) has been leading the MVP race yet again.
