Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics are well on track to win a Championship this year. Having added Kristaps Porzingis during the off-season, Boston has skyrocketed its chances of winning the chip. But ESPN analyst Brian Winhorst believes that even with Boston’s success, Jayson Tatum won’t be able to win the MVP this season.
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Talking about Tatum, Winhorst further revealed,
“There are two things working against Tatum. One, even though the MVP is about this season, we know it’s not. It’s often about the narrative. He had a poor showing in the 2022 finals…he had several bad games, and they lost. Last year, in the Heat series he didn’t perform great. He had a miserable game 7… when they needed him the most…He has a couple of red marks on his resume.”
.@WindhorstESPN explains why he doesn’t see Jayson Tatum winning MVP pic.twitter.com/DPHKsLaBAA
— First Take (@FirstTake) February 22, 2024
Apart from stating that the narrative is against the 5-time ALl-Star because of his failure in the playoffs, Winhorst provided his reasoning behind why the Boston guard can’t improve his MVP standing. The Celtics are already the best team in the East, and winning any more games would do very little to improve his odds of winning the award.
The ESPN analyst does have a valid argument here. A big part of Boston’s success this season has come from Tatum making sacrifices on the offensive end. As currently constructed, the Celtics system doesn’t require Tatum to go on scoring streaks, and in some sense even prevents it.
Regardless of the criticism, Tatum is having a great season. The Celtic wing is averaging 27.1 points, 8.3 boards, and 4.3 assists on 47% shooting. Compared to the field, Tatum’s numbers aren’t eye-popping, but his impact on the Celtics squad is profound.
Draymond believes Jayson Tatum needs to win a championship
Warriors forward Draymond Green has an interesting take on Tatum winning the MVP. According to the four-time champ, No 0 needs to win a Championship before he can think of taking the MVP home.
Appearing on the 2024 TNT All-Star show, Draymond further revealed,
“I don’t think JT will win his first MVP until he wins his first championship….He’s lost in the Finals, he’s lost in the Eastern Conference Finals, it’s like they don’t respect him quite like they should. I think it’s unfair because he’s been having MVP-type years.”
Draymond Green talking about Jayson Tatum having the most unfair expectations pic.twitter.com/sdxUWclcqA
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod (@big_business_) February 19, 2024
The MVP award has a lot to do with the rhetoric and it’s evident from the arguments being made against Tatum. The Celtics star has had an uncanny level of success in his six short years in the NBA. Even though he has managed to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals (2018, 2021, 2022, and 2023) and the Final in 2022, he has come up short when his team needed him the most.
A championship will surely help in changing the narrative around the Boston shooting guard, and this year is looking like the perfect chance for Tatum and Co. to take home the Larry Obrien.
