The Boston Celtics, led by Jayson Tatum, have dominated the 2023–24 NBA season thus far.
They presently own the best record in the league by a significant margin; the next closest club in both conferences is a massive 4.5 games behind Boston. Tatum has persisted in playing at a very high level for a Celtics team that is loaded with talent all around and is undoubtedly headed for a championship or bust.
According to NBA expert Brian Windhorst of ESPN, Tatum’s outstanding play has some people wondering if he might be a contender for the NBA MVP award, which will be announced at the end of the season. Take that as evidence that voters’ choices can be influenced, for better or worse, by previous postseason failures. When ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith questioned why Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid, the MVP of the previous season and arguably the most infamous playoff underperformer of his generation, didn’t follow the same reasoning, reporter Monica McNutt said, “because he scored 70,” alluding to Embiid’s most recent 70-point performance.
Of course, given the discussion of postseason disappointments and the fact that Embiid’s eruption happened this year rather than last, McNutt’s statement was taken out of context. Then, Oshae Brissett, the backup forward for the Celtics, took to X, the social networking site that was once known as Twitter, to stand up for his friend.
While McNutt’s obviously context-adjacent comment may still be difficult for Celtics supporters to understand, they will also be hoping that Tatum and his teammates continue to play well in the second half of the season.
