How is it that Jayson Tatum has never finished in the top 3 for MVP voting? Over his 6 year career, he’s led his team to the ECF 4 times, with one Finals appearance. Also, the Celtics have secured the 2nd seed three times and the 3rd seed once. Given all this success since his debut, it baffles me that Tatum hasn’t come close to winning an MVP Honestly, if the Celtics clinch the 1st seed this year, he deserves to win MVP.
EDIT:
I’ve noticed comments pointing out that I’m emphasizing the team’s success over Tatum’s individual performance. While I believe individual performance is pivotal for MVP consideration, it’s not like Tatum’s been putting up subpar numbers. I genuinely believe his stats are MVP worthy. I’m not necessarily saying he should already have an MVP, but imo, he should’ve ranked above Giannis this past season. Giannis this past season lacked in defensive stats, coupled with a low FT% - especially given he’s one of the league’s top shooters in this category - and a high turnover rate. Add to that the fact that Tatum was available for 10 more games than Giannis. That’s just my opinion my lmk what you guys think!
He’s only had one top 3 MVP caliber season (last year), but the Sixers organization shamelessly debased themselves to campaign for Embiid and the Celtics have many, many haters so he didn’t get his due.