ESPN released the NBA Finals predictions of 17 experts on Thursday morning, and more than half of them think a former Blue Devil will win Finals MVP honors.
Despite nine of the 17 voters picking the Dallas Mavericks, Boston’s [autotag]Jayson Tatum[/autotag] led the way with eight votes with every player who took the Celtics tabbing him for the honor.
Of the nine Mavericks voters, seven went with MVP finalist Luka Doncic while two went with [autotag]Kyrie Irving[/autotag].
Tatum and Irving already have two of the three best NBA resumes in Duke history. Irving won an NBA title with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, and he could become the third Duke basketball alum with multiple rings and the first player to win two championships as a starter.
Tatum, on the other hand, made his third consecutive All-NBA First Team this season. He’s the only former Blue Devil with multiple such honors despite being just 26 years old.
No former Blue Devil has ever won a Finals MVP trophy, so either of those two adding such an award to their achievements could push them ahead as the greatest former Duke player of all time.
The first game of the NBA Finals kicks off on Thursday with an 8:30 p.m. Eastern time tip-off.