Kendrick Perkins calls Jayson Tatum’s MVP prediction ‘selfish’ — in a good way
"If one individual wants to hit and accomplish individual accolades, I'm all for it."
When Jayson Tatum was asked who he thought would win MVP for the 2024-25 season on “The Tonight Show,” the Celtics star paused for a second before asking Jimmy Fallon if it was OK to pick himself.
As Tatum seemed to hesitate to pick himself to win MVP, Kendrick Perkins wants the Celtics star to embrace his desire for individual accolades. Perkins, who won a title with the Celtics and is now an analyst for ESPN, said Tatum’s MVP prediction was “selfish,” but explained that it’s OK for players to want to win an award like that.
“I’m not being negative or anything,” Perkins said on “NBA Today” before giving the definition of selfish. “Here’s the thing: I get that basketball is a team sport, right? And I get championships have helped define a lot of guys’ legacy. Hell, I’m still called an NBA champion to this day.
“But if one individual wants to hit and accomplish individual accolades, I’m all for it.”
Perkins shared that he could relate to Tatum, too. Two years after the Celtics’ championship season in 2007-08, Perkins decided he wanted to make an All-Star push in the 2009-10 season. That desire initially led to some pushback with one of the team’s leaders.
“[Kevin Garnett] and I, in 2009-10, we actually got into a heated battle which almost cost us our relationship after we won the championship because KG felt like I was playing to try to make the All-Star team. And I was,” Perkins said. “I did have my own personal agenda. Ticket, the big fella, he had to go and think about it. He said, ‘Perk, I should want you to make the All-Star team. You should want that for yourself.’
“So, I have no problem with a player being somewhat selfish wanting to accomplish things on an individual basis.”
Tatum has expressed a desire to win MVP in the past, saying that “individual awards are important” when he spoke with reporters at the All-Star Game this past season.
“They have individual awards for a reason,” Tatum said in February. “As a competitor, as a player, you grew up watching your favorite players winning MVP, first-team All-NBA, and all that.”
Tatum has hovered around the list of favorites to win MVP over the last three seasons. He was briefly viewed as the favorite to win the award in the 2022-23 season, but finished in fourth after a cold stretch of shooting late in that season. Tatum finished sixth in the 2021-22 and 2023-24 seasons as well.
The MVP Award is one of the very few major honors that Tatum has yet to win in the first seven seasons of his career. Tatum, who was named first-team All-NBA in each of the last three seasons, has +1800 odds to win MVP this upcoming season on DraftKings Sportsbook, which is tied for the seventh-best odds.
Of course, Celtics fans might want Tatum to set his sights on winning Finals MVP, which went to Jaylen Brown during Boston’s title run in June. Tatum is the betting favorite to win that award at +600.
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