‘You can do both’: Celtics’ Jayson Tatum honest in desire to win MVP amid hot start to season
"Saying that MVP is important to me is not in a way taking away from the success of our team."
Jayson Tatum still has winning championships at the top of his mind. But he wants to add winning MVP to his list of accomplishments, too.
The Celtics star was blunt in his desire to win the NBA’s top individual honor when asked if it matters to him following the team’s 122-102 win over the Wizards on Thursday.
“As a kid, you set a lot of goals for yourself,” Tatum told reporters. “I’ve been very fortunate enough to check off a lot of boxes of things that I wanted to accomplish, things that my favorite players accomplished.
“Saying that MVP is important to me is not in a way taking away from the success of our team. Every guy that’s ever won MVP has been on a championship-contending team. If you’re an MVP, you’re dominating, you’re efficient, you’re playing the right way, and you’re impacting winning.”
Tatum hasn’t been shy in sharing his will to win MVP in the past. But last season, he seemed to focus nearly everything on wanting to help the Celtics get over the hump and win a title. For instance, his scoring took a notable dip as the talent around him improved.
Now that Tatum has a title, winning an MVP is one of the very few things he’s yet to accomplish in his already standout NBA career. He even admitted that it’s on his checklist of things he still wants to achieve before the season began.
This year might be the best opportunity for Tatum to win the award. He entered the year as one of the handful of favorites to win MVP and has already asserted an early case for himself. He’s been dominant in the Celtics’ first two regular-season wins, scoring 31 points per game on 60 percent shooting from the field and 72.7 percent shooting from deep. He’s also added eight assists and 7.5 rebounds per game, as he’s yet to play a minute in the fourth quarter.
As a result of Tatum’s hot start, his odds to win MVP have already dramatically improved. He’s gone from +1500 to +650 to win the award at DraftKings Sportsbook, giving him the fourth-best odds to win MVP.
Analysts have also taken notice of Tatum’s hot start and believe he might be more of a legitimate MVP candidate this year than the last few years, when he finished no higher than fourth in the voting.
“He fixed the hitch [in his shot],” The Ringer’s Bill Simmons said on his eponymous podcast. “Something weird happened with his shot. … He fixed the hitch and I just wanna thank Steve Kerr, because I think Steve Kerr put a throbbing chip on his shoulder by not playing him in the Olympics. By the way, Tatum really didn’t deserve to play in the Olympics.
“[Tatum] would’ve been a great pick [to win MVP before the season]. The reason none of us wanted to pick him was because we didn’t know what his shot was going to look like. His shot was just better two, three years ago than it was last year. Now that his shot seems like it’s back, you start looking [at prior MVP winners]. He’s 27 years old this year. Year 27 guys, in general, this is the year.”
Tatum’s shot has looked noticeably smoother compared to last season through the first two games. NBC Sports Boston analyst Eddie House noted that Tatum’s release looks quicker.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla wants to see Tatum continue to improve beyond his shooting, though. He thinks his star is capable of doing that.
“I would say dominating all facets of the game,” Mazzulla said on Thursday. “I think just his ability to do what he’s doing as far as his shot making and finding the shots that he wants to take that are best for him [and] that are best for our team. Rebounding at a high level on both ends of the floor. Defending at a high level and playmaking.
“And he has the ability to impact the game like that in different ways and that should be the norm and that’s a standard that he set for himself and he’s working towards that.”
Tatum, who scored 26.9 points per game on 47.1 percent shooting from the field and 37.6 percent from deep last year, said on Thursday that he felt he had a “really, really good training camp as an individual” and that the team had a “great training camp.” As Tatum and the Celtics are both clicking in the very early part of the season, he iterated that he thinks it’s possible for him to win MVP while the team chases the title.
“You can do both,” Tatum said. “Championship is the most important, but being the best version of yourself along the way is important as well.”
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com