Ex-NBA champion explains why Jayson Tatum will win next season’s MVP

Jayson Tatum is just coming off his second Olympic Games experience and earned himself a gold medal in Paris alongside superstars like LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. Even though he wasn’t a usual starter for Team USA, he was still able to contribute in 4-of-6 games of the competition. 

Back home he’s an NBA champion with the Celtics, who had reached the league Finals in 2022 (but lost to the Warriors) and then failed last year in the Conference Finals against the Heat. However, Boston’s long process finally paid off with JT as one of their most important leaders.

After this experience in France and learning from some of the best veterans to ever compete in the NBA, many believe that Tatum will grow even stronger and continue to dominate the league. This is why a two-time champion guarantees that the forward will become the tournament’s MVP next campaign.

The Summer of Jayson Tatum pic.twitter.com/uUS5jaM0gY

— Ian Inangelo (@iinangelo) August 10, 2024

Quinn Cook posted his thoughts on X: “Jayson Tatum will win MVP this season! Three straight All-NBA first teams, winning a gold medal in 2021 while being the 2nd leading scorer on the team and just won his first NBA championship to not playing a minute for team USA 🤔🤔 all the motivation he needs. Look out NBA.”

In less than an hour, the post already had over 40,000 impressions. This comes as no surprise, as last season the 26-year-old produced averages of 26.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.0 steals per match while shooting 47.1% from the field and 37.6% from beyond the arc in 74 games.

Alongside Jaylen Brown, they guided Boston to their first NBA title in 16 years and the best record after regular season with a 64-18 mark. The Celtics star is convinced that he’s learned a lot from this summer’s experience. “…Part of being in the moment, I’ve sacrificed and put a lot into this game and work really, really hard.

“So in the moment it is tough. You’re not necessarily worried about fueling me for November or [whenever] the season is, but like I said, it’s something I’m going to take away from this and learn from this experience. It’s definitely challenging and humbling at the same time,” he assured.

Despite his limited role for Team USA this summer, Jayson Tatum is convinced that he will earn a spot leading the national team in the future

This Olympic run also meant the end of a generation that includes stars like Curry and KD, so Jayson Tatum knows for sure that he will have more opportunity to shine in the future. The Boston champion revealed that his limited role with Team USA this summer won’t affect his decision to play for his country.

The Celtics forward did not participate in two of six Olympic contests in Paris, including the semifinal win against Serbia last Thursday. During the gold-medal game against France, he came off the bench in the first quarter and played a total of 11 minutes in their victory, scoring two points and earning three rebounds.

“It was a tough personal experience on the court, but I’m not going to make any decision off emotions,” Tatum acknowledged. “If you asked me right now if I was going to play in 2028 — it is four years from now and I [would have] to take time and think about that. So I’m not going to make any decision based off how this experience was or how I felt individually.”

In many occasions, Steve Kerr explained that his choice not to play Jayson wasn’t based on performance. “A lot of people text me and reached out and said ‘Make sure this fuels you,’ which I appreciate. There’s a lot of people that care about me,” the player said. “I think the tough part is yes, you can use things to fuel you, but I’m still human.”