Is Jayson Tatum a leading candidate for the 2024-25 regular season MVP award? Everyone knew the debate would continue throughout the season but one recent incident has spiced it up – a poll. That’s what ESPN’s Tim Bontemps did earlier this week. Since he made his MVP straw poll public, the Boston fans have taken offense over the placement of their favorite JT in the ranking. But now, with the city behind him, Tatum has opened up about his opinion on the recent development.

The ESPN Insider’s perspective had very little effect on Tatum, who said, “I’m on a really, really good team. There’s so many talented players that I’m probably not going to put up the same numbers as some of those other guys and that’s perfectly fine with me, especially what we did in June last year.” JT had previously mentioned this and emphasized it once again, “That’s the main focus, not me winning MVP, but for us to play at a high level and compete for championships year in and year out.”

While discussing the MVP poll, Bontemps placed the small forward in the fourth spot on the list. “Jayson Tatum is an incredible player and the Celtics are a great team. But they’re focused on June,” he said justifying his view. “He’s not putting up the numbers. These other guys are. They play an egalitarian style there. He’s not forcing numbers like that. I just don’t think that it’s going to be a scenario.”

The Celtics have already made it clear that their goal this season is to secure another championship title. So naturally, their main focus is on June. However, claiming that JT is not putting up numbers is a bit much, as the 26-year-old is averaging 28.8 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 5.7 assists so far, that’s hardly the definition of “not putting up numbers.” Tim Bontemps’ colleague, Brian Windhorst, shared a similar view about Tatum, who referred to his teammate Jaylen Brown as the “driving force” of the Celtics.

Even last season, Tatum was in the title race but wasn’t widely regarded as one of the top MVP contenders. Nevertheless, he has always prioritized team success over individual achievement. While the ESPN Insiders may not be in the 5-time All-Star’s favor, he did receive support from the Celtics’ locker room.

Support arrives for Jayson Tatum after his greatness is overlooked

If there’s someone strongly standing behind Jayson Tatum and offering support, it’s the Celtics head coach, Joe Mazzulla. Following their victory against the Bulls, the MVP conversation came up in the postgame press conference.

When asked if JT’s greatness was overlooked in the title race, Mazzulla responded,

“Yeah, no question. 100 percent. It does because I think he’s been doing it for such a long time, and he’s on a really good team… I think that hurts him sometimes, but his ability to do what he does on a great team, I think, says more about who he is as a player.” He was not the only person to think that things were unfair for JT.Kristaps Porziņģis was on the same page as Mazzulla. Agreeing with the coach, Porzingis said in the same presser, “Joe is right,” and went on to defend his teammate. “He’s (Tatum) not a PR player — he doesn’t do everything just for PR. He actually plays the right way, he doesn’t need to always score 50. He’s hungry for winning. And that’s a big difference.”

When it comes to individual accomplishments, JT is often overlooked, despite being a consistent performer since his rookie season. Earlier, he was excluded from such discussions due to a lack of championship success, but now that he has achieved that, his performance is still being criticized. However, it’s not over yet. A lot can happen in the remainder of the season. Who knows, maybe these remarks will motivate Tatum, and he’ll switch into his beast mode again.