Jayson Tatum on current MVP race: ‘I guess I’ve got some ground to make up’

Celtics star Jayson Tatum is trying to ignore the MVP conversation by focusing on Boston’s championship aspirations.

Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum is gearing up for his fifth All-Star Game this weekend in Indianapolis, but he and his club have bigger ambitions for this season. Winning a title is the ultimate goal for these Celtics, such that individual accolades are meant to take a back seat. That said, Tatum openly admitted this weekend that being in the mix for things like the NBA MVP awards can be very exciting.

For Tatum, however, it’s a complicated situation. He is the top option on the league’s best team. But according to the latest straw poll from ESPN, he isn’t among the leading candidates for winning the MVP award this year. Ahead of the 2024 All-Star Game, Tatum was asked about his place in the conversation and how he feels about the noise that comes with it.

“I think individual awards are important,” Tatum stated. “I’m not going to say that they’re not. But everybody wants to win a championship.”