Draymond Green thinks the ‘goalposts have shifted’ in Jayson Tatum’s MVP case
"It just really hasn't been that way for everybody else, so I don't know how it ended up that way for JT."
Draymond Green thinks Jayson Tatum isn’t being properly considered for NBA MVP: Though he isn’t exactly beloved by Celtics fans, Draymond Green recently took some time on his podcast to stand up for Jayson Tatum’s MVP case.
Green, who helped the Warriors beat Tatum and the Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals, was analyzing the current frontrunners for the league’s prestigious annual award on a recent episode of his eponymously named podcast.
Scanning the list, he eventually noticed the 25-year-old Tatum ranked fifth in the current DraftKings odds of who is expected to be the 2024 MVP. Given Tatum’s performances this season, combined with the Celtics’ success through the team’s first 57 games, Green was baffled by the lower ranking.
“The Celtics are 7.5 games ahead of the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference,” Green explained. “Do people think the Celtics are that great to where Jayson Tatum is only in fifth? Sometimes it’s like, that team is winning and that guy is the best player and playing well. In this situation, clearly that’s not the goalpost.
“Clearly the goalposts have shifted dramatically, because in this guy’s case, he’s fifth? And [the Celtics] have a 7.5-game lead in the conference? The goalposts have moved on Jayson Tatum,” Green reiterated. “I know what JT has to do. JT will not be taken seriously for MVP until he wins a championship, and it just hasn’t been that way for everybody else, I must say.”
Green listed several former MVPs who won the award without having first won a title (though Antetokounmpo and Jokic have both subsequently done so).
“It wasn’t that way for Nikola Jokic. It wasn’t that way for Giannis Antetokounmpo,” Green noted. “It wasn’t that way for Joel Embiid. It just really hasn’t been that way for everybody else, so I don’t know how it ended up that way for JT.
Thinking out loud, Green theorized that the Celtics star might not be properly rated because of falling short of a championship two seasons ago.
“Maybe it’s because he got to the NBA Finals and lost, and everybody is like, ‘Oh, you had your chance,'” Green said, “but golly, that’s brutal, that’s tough. I’m not sure how JT always lags behind in this voting.”
“I don’t know how the goalposts moved on you like that, but they should acknowledge it,” Green concluded of Tatum. “Those are facts.”
Tatum finished fourth in MVP voting in 2023, and was sixth in 2022.
Trivia: Draymond Green was picked 35th overall in the 2012 NBA Draft. What former Celtic was selected one pick ahead of him?
(Answer at the bottom).
Hint: He was acquired by Boston in a midseason trade in 2014 as part of a deal that sent Rajon Rondo to the Mavericks. He was then traded by the Celtics to the Cavaliers in Aug. 2017 as part of a deal that sent Kyrie Irving to Boston.
Scores and schedules:
The Bruins lost to the Kraken 4-3 in overtime on Monday night despite a hat-trick from David Pastrnak.
Tonight, the Celtics host the 76ers at 7:30 p.m.
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Who should the Patriots draft? Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston spoke with Rich Eisen about whether or not New England should look for a quarterback with the third pick.
On this day: In 1959, the Celtics smashed multiple NBA records in a staggering 173-139 win over the Minneapolis Lakers. Tommy Heinsohn led Boston with 43 points, while Bob Cousy notched a seemingly impossible total of 28 assists.
The Celtics set seven NBA records, including:
- Most combined points scored (312)
- Most points by a single team in a game
- Most points scored in a half (90)
- Most points scored in a quarter (52)
- Most assists by a single player (28, by Cousy)
The record for most points scored by a single team would stand for several decades until another seemingly impossible scoreline (186-184) was achieved by the Pistons and Nuggets on Dec. 13, 1983.
Daily highlight: Mayra Pelayo sealed the Mexican women’s national team’s first win against the United States in 14 years with this stunner in stoppage time in the final game of Gold Cup group play. Both teams have qualified for the knockout stage, and could meet again in the final.
Trivia answer: Jae Crowder
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