Tag: 2024 mvp

Celtics’ Jayson Tatum on the 2024 NBA All-Star Game, MVP race and more

Playing for the best team in the Association has its perks in the hunt for banners, but it can have a deleterious effect on individual accolades.

Star Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum took some time to speak with the media ahead of the NBA’s 2024 All-Star Game, and spoke on the league’s race for the 2024 Most Valuable Player award and his place in it. Playing for the best team in the Association has its perks in the hunt for banners, but it can have a deleterious effect on individual accolades at times.

The St. Louis, Missouri native spoke about that dynamic, as well as his efforts with SoFi to help create affordable housing in his hometown. As well as the early success he sees for his fellow Duke alum Paolo Banchero as the former Blue Devil starts to spread his wings at the NBA level.

Take a look at the clip embedded below to hear what Tatum had to say at the 2024 NBA All-Star Game.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

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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.”

Is Boston’s Jayson Tatum being unfairly ignored in the NBA’s 2024 MVP race?

Or has his play been below early expectations, justifying the snub?

Ahead of the NBA’s 2023-24 season, many an NBA analyst predicted that star Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum would be among the finalists for the league’s 2024 Most Valuable Player award. But after adding a pair of All-Star caliber players to the team’s roster in Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday while having another All-Star (Jaylen Brown) and a borderline All-Star guard in Derrick White already on the team, Tatum’s path to MVP got a lot less clear.

Now, the St. Louis native is currently in sixth place in ESPN senior reporter Tim Bontemp’s annual straw poll voting for the award. Is Tatum being ignored in the MVP race because of the excellence of his teammates?

Or has his play been below early expectations, justifying the snub?

The hosts of NBC Sports Boston’s “Early Edition” show debated what is going on with Taco Jay’s MVP candidacy this season on a recent episode. Check it out above!

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

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Does Boston’s Jayson Tatum deserve to be in sixth place for the MVP vote?

The St. Louis native recently finished sixth overall in the ESPN MVP straw poll vote.

Was it fair for star Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum to get just six votes in the recent ESPN straw poll for the NBA’s 2024 Most Valuable Player award? The St. Louis native recently finished sixth overall in the ESPN MVP straw poll vote put together by Tim Bontemps, which some fans of the team seem to think is too low given how well Tatum has been playing.

Speaking after the Duke alum scored 31 points in the first half to set up a win vs. the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday, CLNS Media reporters Bobby Manning and Josue Pavon reacted to the performance in Brooklyn.

They also got into why they think Tatum finished so low in the rankings despite Boston winning at a near-historic pace this season.

Take a look at the clip embedded above to hear why they think Tatum is getting the short shrift in the straw poll this year.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Where does Jayson Tatum rank in latest ESPN MVP straw poll?

ESPN’s Tim Bontemps has released the latest findings from his mid-season NBA MVP straw poll. Where does Celtics star Jayson Tatum rank?

ESPN’s Tim Bontemps has released the latest results from his mid-season assessment of the NBA MVP race, a 100-person straw poll that mimics the pool of would-be voters for the award. In year’s past, this has served as a useful snapshot for evaluating the state of the MVP race, although certainly things can change between now and the end of the season.

Four members of the Boston Celtics have won NBA MVP honors in the franchise’s history. Superstar forward Jayson Tatum looks like the best candidate to join Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, Dave Cowens, and Larry Bird in raising the trophy wearing Celtics green. According to the latest straw poll data, however, Tatum is a long-shot to win the award this season.

Two-time MVP and reigning Finals MVP Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets leads the way at present. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder is in second place, and received a handful of first place votes. This time last year, Jokic was in second in the race before pulling away and winning the award. Tatum, for now, is sixth in the MVP straw poll.

Celtics alums Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce weigh in on the NBA’s 2024 MVP race

Who deserves to take home Most Improved Player?

Now that every team in the NBA is well past the halfway point of the season, we can say a few things about how the best players in the Association are doing in their respective races for season-long hardware. Which players have put their stamp on the league’s 2023-24 season? Where do the Boston Celtics figure in such pursuits?

Who deserves to take home Most Improved Player? Sixth Man of the Year? Coach and Executive of the Year? And who is in the race (and more importantly, at the front of) for the 2024 Most Valuable Player Award? Is it the usual suspects or is there some new blood in the running for a change?

Two former Celtics did their best to answer some of the above on a recent episode of the Showtime Basketball “KG Certified” which saw Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce weigh in on the 2024 awards races.

Check out the clip above to hear what they had to say.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Celtics Lab 236: Projecting season-long hardware at 2023-24’s midpoint with Kwani Lunis

We cover everything from Most Valuable Player to Executive of the Year and everything in-between,

Most of the teams in the NBA have played around half of their 82-game schedule, giving us enough of a sample size to get an idea of which players might be taking home some full-season hardware come April and onward.

And with the Boston Celtics currently the owners of the league’s best record, it is not unfair to expect the franchise to have at least a little bling headed their way at season’s end. To try to predict what awards Boston players and front office employees might be taking home come spring, the hosts of the CLNS Media “Celtics Lab” podcast got together with NBC Boston 10’s and  “The Big 3 NBA” podcast cohost Kwani A. Lunis to sort out which Celtics might be adding to their trophy case.

We cover everything from Most Valuable Player to Executive of the Year and everything in-between, and even come up with some of our own, team-specific awards for Boston’s 2023-24 season.

We also get caught up on all the latest news, and look back at an intense week of Celtics games.

The Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you by FanDuel.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Why Boston’s Jayson Tatum (probably) won’t win MVP this season

If the reason a player can’t win MVP because his team has too many good players, that is a good problem to have.

If the reason a player can’t win the Kia Most Valuable Player Award because the team he plays for has too many good players for that candidate to get the numbers one needs to be in the lead for such an honor, well, that is a good problem to have. And such is the case, at least so the narrative has been going, for star Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum.

The St. Louis native does not need to win MVP this season to cement his superstar status, after all. Bulldozing opposing ball clubs on the daily during the league’s regular season and capping it off with his first NBA title would do far more for his legacy than an individual award will, after all. But why can’t Tatum do both this season?

The hosts of “The Athletic NBA Show” did their best to break down why that would be such an unlikely outcome.

Check it out above!

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Is Boston’s Jayson Tatum MVP-caliber?

His recent play has been elite — but HOW elite?

Right now, All-NBA Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum is just outside of the top five candidates to win the NBA’s 2024 Kia Most Valuable Player award. The man at the top of that list of potential MVPs, Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid, has dominated the season until recently, when injury-related absences have threatened his candidacy since.

After Embiid is, in order, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Oklahoma City Thunder floor general Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic. Then, after that murderer’s row of prospective MVPers is our favorite St. Louis native, who  looms just outside the top five.

Is Tatum truly playing like an MVP-caliber prospect so far this season?

On a recent episode of ESPN’s “NBA Today” show, the Duke alum’s position in the MVP race was debated given his recent elite play; check it out above!

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Roy Hibbert on why Boston’s Jayson Tatum is his 2024 NBA MVP

Not everyone thinks he is slipping in that hardware race.

While some midseason struggles have put All-NBA Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum behind the eight ball with regard to being in the mix for the NBA’s 2024 Most Valuable Player award, not everyone sees him as in the back of the top ten contenders for MVP this season.

One such analyst is former Indiana Pacers big man Roy Hibbert on a recent episode of his eponymous podcast. The Georgetown alum believes that Tatum is the best player to win the award so far this season, and pointed out some reasons why on his podcast. Hibbert is currently a player development coach with the Philadelphia 76ers, making it all the more surprising he is endorsing Taco Jay given fellow 2024 MVP candidate Joel Embiid is part of that organization.

Take a look at the clip embedded below to hear the Georgetown alum’s reasoning for JT as MVP.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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