Jayson Tatum has been an All-NBA First Team selection each of the past three seasons and is on his way to make the team again this season after also winning a title with the Boston Celtics last season, but he continues to feel unappreciated.
“Honestly, no,” Tatum said when asked whether he feels appreciated for his accomplishments. “If you took the name and the face away from all my accomplishments and you’re just like, ‘This is what this Player A accomplished at 26,’ people would talk about [me] a lot differently.”
Jaylen Brown won both Eastern Conference Finals MVP and Finals MVP instead of Tatum.
“I did my part,” Tatum said after leading the Celtics in points, rebounds and assists in the Finals. “It’s the world we live in, and everything is narrative-based. The NBA has been around for almost 80 years, and there’s only six people to lead a team in points, rebounds and assists to a championship. I’m the only one that didn’t win Finals MVP. I’m the odd man out, and I’m okay with that. They voted for somebody else, which is cool. I can control what I can control. Whoever people want to vote for is out of my control.”
Tatum also believes his performance in the 2022 Finals continues to be held against him.
“I didn’t play at the capability that I know I can, and I own that I didn’t do enough for us to win,” Tatum said. “Getting there at 24, I think people would look at me a lot differently had I won that championship. But I feel like that’s held against me a lot, still, even a few years later, even after winning the championship. But that’s something I got to get past.”
Tatum has never finished higher than fourth in MVP voting and is not expected to be in the top-2 this season, but he believes he will eventually win one.
“Growing up, I definitely envisioned myself as an MVP, and I wholeheartedly believe before it’s all said and done, I’m going to get one,” Tatum said. “I know people who understand what I bring to the table, even if I’m not averaging 30 [points] like the other MVP candidates, just because of the way that the team needs me to play on a nightly basis, how much talent we have and freedom that we have on our team.”
