Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown played impressively in the 2024 NBA Finals. Brown received the Finals MVP honors in what was a very closely contested race between the Celtics’ top stars. However, many believe that Jayson Tatum should have won it for being the leading player for the Celts throughout the playoffs. NBA analyst Bill Simmons seemed to agree during a discussion on the issue with his pops, William Simmons.
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The father-son duo recently appeared on The Bill Simmons podcast where they discussed their pick for the 2024 Bill Russell Finals MVP. Bill initially suggested that Tatum should’ve won the award because the Dallas Mavericks’ entire defensive structure was modeled to stop him. That allowed Brown more leeway to perform.
However, as the conversation went on, the two of them seemed to agree that it could’ve gone either way. In the end, they wished that the award could’ve been split between the two.
Bill: “I thought Tatum’s game tonight [Game 5 of the NBA Finals], combined with all the other stuff he did in the playoffs, all the stuff he was doing with Dallas’s defense, they were geared toward Tatum specifically… I just thought he should have won. But, I’m also fine with Jaylen and I’m happy for that dude too… “
William: “Could’ve gone either way”
Bill: “Could’ve gone either way… It’s like, can we just have them split it?”
The Simmons, especially William, praised Tatum for showing up as a leader in Game 5 after the underwhelming showing at Game 4. “I’m good with it as long as Tatum’s good with it,” Pops concluded.
It’s hard to argue with the duo’s points. After all, given how well both Tatum and Brown performed to lead their team, either one of them would have been unlucky not to receive the award.
That said, Tatum doesn’t seem to have much of a problem with it.
Jayson Tatum did not care for Finals MVP
After coming so close to the Championship for so many years, it was understandable that Jayson Tatum was looking to do anything to get over the hump. So, when he was asked about the Finals MVP award while the NBA Finals were still going on, it was no surprise when he admitted he only had one thing on his mind.
“I would not be the slightest bit sad that I didn’t win Finals MVP. I would be ecstatic just to win the Finals,” per MassLive
Given just how happy the Boston Celtics superstar has looked ever since winning the championship, it doesn’t look like he has gone back on this statement either. So, perhaps it never really mattered to him who got Finals MVP in the series.
Whoever the proper owner of the award is, whether it be Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown, they are both now NBA champions.
