Doris Burke weighs in on what makes an MVP and why SGA and Jokic are ahead of Jayson Tatum
The ESPN analyst explains what she looks for in an MVP and how the Celtics stack up against Cleveland and OKC.
ESPN analyst Doris Burke is convinced that Jayson Tatum will make the All-NBA first-team for a fourth consecutive season. However, the MVP conversation is a different story.
Tatum is in the conversation, but he’s more of a fringe contender this season.
According to ESPN Bet, Tatum has the fourth-best odds to win the MVP award behind Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous Alexander, Denver’s Nikola Jokic, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Burke said Gilgeous-Alexander is the leading candidate to win in her eyes, with Jokic being a close second.
“When I watch both Shai and Nikola play this year, I’m telling you I feel like I could die on either hill making a case for either one of them,” Burke told Boston.com. “In fact, a month ago, I was saying to Mike Breen and Richard Jefferson I’m a little frustrated that this race doesn’t seem closer than it is. Now, Jokic’s play over that span has closed the gap.”
So, what makes an MVP? Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic, and Antetokounmpo are the top three scorers in the NBA in terms of points per game. All three are shooting over 50 percent from the field, while Tatum is shooting 45.5 percent. But there’s more to it than just scoring, Burke said.
“First of all, you’re looking at level of impact on the course of the game and I don’t just mean that in terms of scoring,” Burke said. “I mean that in terms of how many winning plays are they making nightly? How committed to both sides of the floor are they? What is their interaction with their teammates? How much belief do they show in their teammates?
“How much do they raise the level of the people around them?” she added. “How do they conduct themselves outside the lines, inside and the lines? I think both have an impact on an organization. … Unless your scoring is of far off the charts, it typically has to be much more than that in my mind.”
There aren’t many players in the NBA who make more winning plays than Tatum, who is arguably the best player on the defending champion Celtics. Tatum leads the Celtics in minutes (36.5), points, (27.2), rebounds (8.9), and assists (5.8). His defensive versatility allows him to guard guards, wings, and bigs. The Celtics have the third-best record in the NBA, and Tatum has been praised by numerous members of the Celtics organization for the way he carries himself on and off the court.
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OKC has the second-best record in the NBA and they beat the Celtics in their first regular-season matchup. Gilgeous-Alexander is scoring more than Tatum and his shooting percentages are higher than Tatum’s from the field, 3-point line, and free-throw line. Tatum is averaging more rebounds, and the assist numbers are close.
The Celtics have a better record than Denver and have swept the season series against the Nuggets, but Jokic’s stats are hard to ignore. He’s averaging 28.9 points while shooting 60 percent from the field and 43 percent from 3-point range. He’s third in the league in rebounding (13 per game) and second in the league in assists (10.5). He and Gilgeous-Alexander are tied for third in the league in steals (1.8 per game).
But, last year when the Celtics were clearly the best team and Tatum had a serious argument for being the best player, Tatum still wasn’t particularly close to getting the MVP award. Tatum finished sixth in the MVP voting behind Jokic, Gilgeous-Alexander, Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, and Jalen Brunson; he failed to garner any first place votes.
Burke was asked why Tatum has had such a hard time gaining traction in the MVP conversation despite the Celtics’ success and his individual numbers.
She recalled a conversation at the NBA Finals during which another analyst said “the Tatum hate is real.” She pondered the point, but couldn’t come up with a reason for why Tatum doesn’t get more MVP votes.
“I honestly don’t know what it is,” Burke said. “I mean, listen if you’re asking me do I think he is the MVP this season, no … I’ve often wondered, is it the fact that Boston is perceived to be a team with incredible talent? Which it does.”
“Is it because of the Boston Celtics and the fact that they are the winningest franchise by championships and they have an incredibly passionate and widespread fan base but you also seem to have a lot of people who don’t root for the Celtics as well? I honestly don’t know what the answer is.”
Burke praised Tatum for his growth and commitment to winning.
“I think the young man is absolutely incredible at what he does,” Burke said. “I think it’s an incredible luxury for a coach to know that your star and your best player — I’ll say best players with Jaylen Brown — will walk in that practice facility every single say will lock in on whatever Joe Mazzulla is talking about that day.”
“They’re locked in on improving their individual skills,” she said. “They’ve both shown incredible growth. And most of all, they’re locked in on winning. I think the city of Boston should be incredibly proud of their two young stars for who they are as basketball people and how they address and go about their profession because I think they are both extraordinary.”
Burke said Boston, OKC, and Cleveland have separated themselves from the rest of the pack, not just in terms of their record, but also in terms of key stats such as offensive efficiency, net rating, and point differential.
“Those are markers that tell a story,” Burke said. “And those three teams are all over those numbers.”
What sets the Celtics apart, Burke said, is their championship experience. They know what it’s like to come close for years and finally break through and win. Once you win, it changes the way you carry yourself, she said.
“It feels to me, from a national perspective, that Cleveland will have to beat the defending champs,” Burke said. “The advantage the Celtics have, in my estimation, of those top three contending teams is they have already gotten to the summit. They have played deep into June multiple times, falling short once but finally crossing the threshold last year and there is, in my mind, enormous value in that.”
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