Boston Celtics: 3 ways Jayson Tatum can put himself in MVP conversation

Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum MVP factor No. 3) Lead Cs to No. 1 seed

At the end of the day, the most important thing to do in this league is to win. Unfortunately, however, the MVP is solely based on one’s performance during the regular season.

Because of this, the award is typically bestowed to the main player on one of best teams in the league and, usually, the best team, at least record-wise.

Just looking at the past decade — though I’m sure the trend continues longer down the line as well — 70 percent of the recipients of the Most Valuable Player award managed to lead their team to the best record in their respective conference.

Not to mention, this is an article discussing how Jayson Tatum can simply get himself into the conversation for the award, not necessarily win it (though, of course, that’s the ultimate goal).

I bring this aspect up because one of those years that the No. 1 seed did not end up having their star win MVP was back in 2016-17, when the Boston Celtics slotted in at the position behind the excellence of Isaiah Thomas whom, for the record, accomplished all three of these factors, as he also averaged 28.9 points and dished out 5.9 assists.

With this type of production, Thomas went on to finish fourth in the running for the Maurice Podoloff Trophy that year.

Should Jayson Tatum achieve these aforementioned factors, he’ll easily thrust himself into the MVP conversation.