What Jayson Tatum said about his MVP chances and possibly being the face of the NBA
Tatum admitted that he'd like to win MVP, but he wouldn't go out of his way to try and win it if it hurt the team.
Jayson Tatum wants to win a championship, but he also wouldn’t mind some hardware for his individual play along the way, too.
The Celtics star has seemed to earn some momentum in his MVP case in recent days, with the likes of Kendrick Perkins and Stephen A. Smith saying that Tatum is the frontrunner for the award. As he’s among the handful of favorites to win MVP, Tatum acknowledged that he would like to win the league’s top individual honor.
“Individual awards are important. I’m not going to say that they’re not,” Tatum told reporters when asked if it’s important to win MVP during All-Star Media Day on Saturday. “Everybody wants to win a championship, but you want to be rewarded for the work that you put in, for the things that you go out there and do on the court.
“They have individual awards for a reason. As a competitor, as a player, you grew up watching your favorite players winning MVP and first-team All-NBA and all that.”
Tatum is turning into a mainstay in the MVP conversation in recent years. He was named first-team All-NBA in each of the last two years, finishing sixth in MVP voting in 2021-22 and fourth in MVP voting last year.
This season could be as good of a chance as any for Tatum to win the award. He’s led the Celtics to the league’s best record so far this season at 43-12, posting team highs in points (27.1), rebounds (8.6), and assists (4.8) per game. There also isn’t a clear frontrunner entering the All-Star break as the field opened up even more after Joel Embiid, who won the award last year, went down with a meniscus injury in late January.
Despite receiving some notable support to win the award in recent days, Tatum might still be a bit of a long shot to win MVP. He has +3000 odds to win the award on DraftKings and recently came in sixth place in ESPN’s MVP straw poll, which was conducted by 100 media members who are likely to vote on the award.
As Tatum wants to win MVP, he also recognized that he doesn’t want to force the issue, either. He acknowledged that how people vote for the award is out of control, citing a recent narrative that he might be penalized for his performance in the Celtics’ loss to the Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals.
“Of course, you want to win those things,” Tatum said. “But you can’t take precedent over playing the right way and doing the things that you have to do in order for your team to essentially be the best team in the league and have a chance to win a championship.
“Would I love to win? Yes. But apparently us losing the Finals two years ago affects what people think of me now, so I guess I’ve got some ground to make up. Everybody who has a vote, they vote — the criteria is different. Everybody thinks differently. Right, wrong, or indifferent, it is what it is. You can’t tell people what they should look for when they vote. That’s the beauty of it.”
Tatum’s chances to add to his MVP case will pause for a few days as the league enters the All-Star break. The 25-year-old is set to play in his fifth All-Star Game on Sunday, which actually makes him one of the more seasoned All-Stars on the Eastern Conference’s roster. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, and Embiid are the only other players on the East team who have received more All-Star nods.
As Tatum has climbed into the MVP conversation and has helped the Celtics become perennial contenders, it could be argued that he’s already one of the faces of the NBA. LeBron James has been viewed by many as the face of the league for over a decade, but as he turns 40, that mantle could soon become vacant.
When it does, Tatum wants to stake his claim for the honor.
“Absolutely,” Tatum said when asked if he’s envisioned himself possibly being the face of the league. “And I think the league is in a great place right now, the amount of high-character guys, the amount of talent throughout the NBA. The fact that LeBron, [Kevin Durant] and Steph [Curry] are still considered one of the best 10 players in the league right now at their age and how long they’ve been playing is incredible.
“As well as all the younger guys, whether it’s guys my age or the guys a little bit older, with [Nikola Jokic] and Giannis [Antetokounmpo], or guys younger than me.
“So I think the league is in a great place. When LeBron retires, the face of the league, that’s tough. But we win a championship, I’ve got something to say about it, I know that.”
There could be some privileges with possibly becoming the face of the NBA, such as having a more influential voice on league matters like rule changes.
Tatum was asked what would be the one thing he’d do if he became the commissioner for a day. After a few seconds of pondering, a clear answer came to mind.
“If you get a tech for overreacting to a call, and you were right — like if they go back and look, the coaches do the challenge and they overturn the call, that tech should be rescinded,” said Tatum, who’s tied for the eighth-most technicals in the league this season. “You should get your money back.”
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