The Boston Celtics have not had an NBA MVP Award winner since Larry Bird. Bird won the award in three straight years from 1984-1986. The wait for another MVP could be for Boston this season as another star emerges.
Jayson Tatum is in prime position to take home his first MVP award. He’s coming off of an incredible second half of last season, where he lead the Celtics to an NBA Finals appearance for the first time since 2010.
In the final 29 games of the 2021-22 NBA season, Tatum averaged 28 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. In the process, he shot 49% from the field and 39% from deep. Tatum did an excellent job turning things around after a slow start to the season for both him, and the Celtics.
He probably would’ve taken home the award last season if he had just played well for the entire year. Tatum got off to an incredibly slow start. He was still able to put up 26 points per game over the first 48 games of last season, but only shot 43% overall and 33% from beyond the arc.
If Tatum is able to carry that momentum over, he’ll be in the conversation for the league’s MVP award for sure. The three-time all star told last season’s MVP runner-up Joel Embiid that he’d better win the award, saying:
"“You better win the MVP this year, because next year, it’s mine.”"
Playing exceptionally well is always something that puts a player’s name into the MVP conversation. If JT is able to put a full season of exceptional play together after what he did in the second half of last season, then he’d definitely be able to win MVP.