The former champion with the Lakers thinks that Celtics star Jayson Tatum should get more love in the MVP conversation.
The end of the 2023-24 regular season is approaching, and before long, eligible media members will be voting for who they think is deserving of winning the Most Valuable Player award — the greatest regular-season individual acclaim there is. Now, the standards for what makes one deserving an MVP varies from voter to voter. Nonetheless, the consensus appears to be that either Nikola Jokic or Luka Doncic is going to win it. However, according to Metta World Peace, the Boston Celtics deserve more love in that conversation.
Posting on his official Twitter account, the former champion with the Los Angeles Lakers thinks that the eventual 2024 MVP award winner should come from the team with the best record, the Celtics.
“MVP should go to a @celtics player,” World Peace wrote.
The Celtics have been the most dominant team all throughout the 2023-24 season, and Jayson Tatum has played a central role in leading Boston to a 60+ win season. Tatum is most certainly deserving of being in the conversation, although it’s not quite clear how big of a case he has especially when his main competitors for the award have great cases of their own.
Nikola Jokic, on track to win his third MVP?
Barring an unforeseen turn of events, it looks as if Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic will be receiving the third MVP award of his career. The MVP discourse in 2023 turned toxic, and it seems like the voters have learned their lesson. Jokic’s impact became ever so apparent when he became the ultimate unsolvable puzzle en route to the Nuggets’ championship win, and he has mostly kept that pace for a Denver team that remains the favorite to win the title.
Jokic, through 78 games, is averaging 26.5 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 9.0 assists on 58 percent shooting from the field for a Nuggets team that remains in contention for the one-seed out West despite their shocking loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night. Those numbers are similar to when he won his first two MVPs, and his on-off impact remains near-unparalleled.
According to PBP Stats, the Nuggets are 19 points better per 100 possessions when Nikola Jokic is on the floor. That’s how valuable Jokic is to his team.
It’s difficult to knock Jayson Tatum for playing with better teammates. But the Celtics remain a world-beating team even with Tatum off the floor. In terms of sheer value added to one’s team, Tatum doesn’t come particularly close to Jokic.
Voters have also stopped placing a premium on seeding when it comes to deciding who the MVP must be. Joel Embiid was with the third-seeded Philadelphia 76ers last season, and Jokic even won an MVP while his team finished sixth. Russell Westbrook also won MVP despite playing for a low playoff seed.
This should not be a knock on Jayson Tatum and his abilities. The Celtics star should be a lock to finish in the All-NBA First Team anyway. But in terms of statistical output, on-off numbers, and narrative, Tatum will find it difficult to finish above three peers in particular in the MVP voting.
Should Jayson Tatum be penalized for playing for a stacked Celtics team?
Jayson Tatum has played in plenty of stacked Celtics teams throughout his career. Thus, he doesn’t exactly need to shoulder as big of an offensive burden as his peers do. Tatum is not a heliocentric source of offense in the mold of Luka Doncic, or a dominant big man like Nikola Jokic is. But he hasn’t exactly needed to assume such a role.
Will Tatum have a stronger MVP case if he played for a weaker Celtics team but averaged 32-9-6? Perhaps. But therein lies the many flaws of the MVP voting process, as it’s difficult to come to a universal agreement regarding the definition of “valuable” in professional basketball terms.
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