About a third of the 2022-23 NBA season is in the books, and enough basketball has been played to start thinking seriously about the leading candidates for the MVP award.
The league just announced the award will be named after Michael Jordan, and ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith feels the Boston Celtics‘ Jayson Tatum should be the favorite as of now to win it.
"[Jayson Tatum] is my leading candidate for league MVP!"
🗣 @stephenasmith pic.twitter.com/XHJ7XU9phk
— First Take (@FirstTake) December 14, 2022
Tatum is averaging 30.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game so far this year while shooting a solid 47.0 percent from the field and 36.2 percent from 3-point land.
Smith mentioned that Tatum seems to be on a mission after what transpired in last season’s NBA Finals.
Tatum Has Shown Growth
The Celtics were white-hot in the second half of last season, and their stellar play got them to the championship series, where it appeared they had a real shot against the Golden State Warriors.
When Boston took a 2-1 series lead, many thought it had the Warriors overmatched, but Tatum played poorly, shooting just 36.7 percent, while Stephen Curry was his vintage self and led them to the world championship in six games.
When a young star like Tatum struggles so badly on the big stage, it can either devastate or motivate him, and it looks like his failure last June has done the latter.
One knock on him has been his lack of consistency and inability to string together multiple good or great games over the course of multiple weeks, but he hasn’t had as much trouble in that department this year.
On Tuesday, his Celtics fell behind by 13 late in the fourth quarter on the road versus LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, but he came on strong down the stretch and led them to a 122-118 overtime win.
.@LegsESPN feels Jayson Tatum's performance against the Lakers was career-defining ☘️
"That, for me, was a signature moment so far for Jayson Tatum this season and maybe his career." pic.twitter.com/gKHrCIenK0
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) December 14, 2022
Tatum finished the contest with 44 points on 15-of-29 shooting, and likely more people who think he’s the favorite to win the MVP right now.
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