It's often said that an NBA great's career is not complete until he wins a final's MVP award.

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Last edited Sat Jun 22, 2024, 01:50 PM - Edit history (1)

That's what's being said about Celtics star Jayson Tatum since his teammate Jaylen Brown won the MVP.

I dunno, Tatum finally won a championship, and other NBA greats like Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Bob Lanier, Bob McAdoo, Pistol Pete and others never even won a championship.

That was said too about Steff Curry until he won the MVP when the GS Warriors won the championship in 2022 against Tatum's Celtics. I contend though that Curry should've won a co-MVP with Kevin Durant as his stats for the championship were comparable to Durant's.

The voters gave it to Durant though. I think it should've been shared.

Opinions, fans

[ms liberty]

1. Tatum will get his MVP, in due time. He's still a very young man.

He wanted the ring more than the MVP, I think.

I wish we had gotten him for a full 4 years. Edited to add, i mean at Duke. I hate the whole one-and-done mentality. Most of them should stay at leat 3 years. Most players at the end of their first year are just not mature enough to go pro and be real successes.

[ProfessorGAC]

2. Agreed

In fact, I'll go one further.
If one watched those 2 Warriors series, the defense was obviously oriented around getting the ball out of Curry's hands.
That's a lot of leaning & sliding in his direction, which means double-teaming Durant was impossible. And, if you can't slide help against a guy like him, he's going to kill you.
His stats were greatly helped by the fact that he was essentially guarded one-on-one for 2 whole series. With his abilities, it's no surprise he accomplished a lot.
I would have voted for Curry in both championships & he should have won the 2nd one in a walk.
We agree on Tatum, too. I do see more killer in Brown than Tatum & I think he's a slightly better defender. But, Tatum is terrific whether he wins a finals MVP or not. Besides, I don't think more highly of Brown because he did. I already thought he was superb!

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3. Nice insightgul post. Your analysist on how opposing defenses pplayed Curry v how they played Dursnt...

is superb. I think Steff Curry's performances in those series were overlooked and undervalued.

I concur with your Tatum and Brown comments also.