Tatum has great take on NBA MVP race, top target for Celtics originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum is the best player on the best team in the NBA. It’s a great spot, but it might not help him win the league’s MVP.

ESPN’s Tim Bontemps released the results of his first MVP poll of the season last week. Many of the participants in the Bontemps poll will actually vote for the award at the end of the season. Tatum placed fourth in the voting and did not receive a single first place vote out of the 100 ballots cast.

Tatum put on an MVP-level performance against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night. He scored 43 points with 16 rebounds and 10 assists as the Celtics won 123-98. It was the first time a Celtics player scored more than 40 points, more than 15 rebounds and more than 10 assists in a game. The last Celtic to record a 40-point triple-double was Larry Bird.

Tatum was asked about the MVP race and his candidacy after the win in Chicago and he gave a really thoughtful answer.

“We’re a really, really good team with so many talented players,” Tatum said after the game, as seen in the video player above. “I’m probably not going to put up the same numbers as some of these other guys.” That’s totally fine with me, especially what we did in June last year.

“That’s the main goal here, not that I win MVP, but that we play at a high level and compete for the championship year after year. If I can do that on the side, that would be great, but the most important thing is for everyone to feel included and to help us achieve something special.”

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla believes Tatum’s size is often overlooked in the MVP conversation.

“Yeah, no question, that’s 100 percent true,” Mazzulla told reporters after Saturday’s game. “Again, because he’s been doing it for so long and he’s on a really good team, and I think that hurts him sometimes. But just his ability to do what he does on a great team, I think says more about him as a player.”

Tatum puts up amazing statistics. He leads the Celtics with averages of 28.8 points, 9.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game. In addition to his strong defense, he has a shooting rate of 46.3 percent from the field and 37.2 percent from 3-point range.

That’s an MVP resume, but there are other players with better stats, including reigning MVP Nikola Jokic, who is averaging a triple-double for the Denver Nuggets.

Winning the MVP title is great, and if it works out for Tatum, it would only enrich his legacy. But the best way to be remembered as an all-time great is by winning multiple titles, not multiple MVPs.