Draymond Green Sounds Off On MVP Slight Toward Celtics’ Jayson Tatum

The MVP case for Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum has picked up steam over the last couple of weeks.

Tatum has the support of head coach Joe Mazzulla and ex-Celtics big man Kendrick Perkins said the soon-to-be 26-year-old would get his MVP vote. Now, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green is trying to rally behind Tatum.

Despite those advocating for Tatum, he has a mountain to climb when it comes to winning the coveted prize. The five-time All-Star has the fifth-best odds to claim the award, per FanDuel Sportsbook, trailing favorite Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Tatum’s positioning in the MVP race doesn’t make sense to Green, who sounded off on his podcast about what he sees as a slight against the Celtics forward’s candidacy.

“The Celtics are 7.5 games ahead of the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference,” Green said as transcribed by MassLive’s Brian Robb. “Do people think the Celtics are that great to where Jayson Tatum is only in fifth? Sometimes it’s like, that team is winning and that guy is the best player and playing well. In this situation, clearly that’s not the goalpost.

“Clearly the goalposts have shifted dramatically, because in this guy’s case, he’s fifth? And the Celtics have a 7.5-game lead in the conference? The goalposts have moved on Jayson Tatum. I know what JT has to do. JT will not be taken seriously for MVP until he wins a championship, and it just hasn’t been that way for everybody else, I must say.”

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With the Celtics incorporating Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis into the starting lineup along with Derrick White taking another step, Tatum’s numbers are still strong, but have dipped. He’s netting 26.9 points per game, down from the 30.1 he averaged last season.

But Green believes that it isn’t Tatum’s statistics holding him back in the MVP race, but his shortcoming in the NBA Finals two seasons ago.

“Maybe it’s because he got to the NBA Finals and lost, and everybody is like, ‘Oh, you had your chance,’ but golly, that’s brutal, that’s tough,” Green said. “I’m not sure how JT always lags behind in this voting. …I don’t know how the goalposts moved on you like that, but they should acknowledge it. Those are facts.”

Tatum finished in the top six in MVP voting each of the past two seasons. He’s likely headed toward a similar result this season, but again coming up short of capturing the individual hardware.