Did Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown deserve Finals MVP? Can there be co-MVPs of the Finals?

The Boston Celtics blew out the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the NBA Finals to secure their record breaking 18th championship on Monday from TD Garden. Jaylen Brown was named MVP of the Finals as the Celtics brought the Larry O’Brien Trophy back to Beantown for the first time in 16 years.

Building a champion

The highest paid player in NBA history posted 21 points, 8 rebound and 6 assists in the 106-88 Game 5 win and was awarded the Bill Russell Finals MVP trophy in the post game festivities. He was quick to tip his cap to his “partner in crime” Jayson Tatum with whom he has shared the spotlight all season on their way to the first one what could be many titles in their budding careers.

While the series was rather one sided, the race for Finals MVP was much more even. In a day and age in which teams try to throw a Super Team or Big Threes together with big money offers to free agents, the Boston Celtics have built a team from the ground up. Instead of chasing superstars in the market they pieced together a championship puzzle by bringing in role players that would compliment their two stars perfectly.

Tatum and Brown were the work horses throughout the season, but all you have to do is look at the Finals to see how important the “other guys” were in this title run. Two guys who weren’t even on the team last year had sensational performances in Games 1 and 2 to lead the Celtics to a 2-0 series lead. Kristaps Porzingis returned from a calf injury that kept him out for nearly 40 days and had 18 of his 21 points in Game 1 to ignite the Celtics to a comfortable win in the series opener. Jrue Holiday had a team high 26 in Game 2 to put the Celtics up 2-0 heading to Texas, and at that point in the series there was a four or five horse race for the Finals MVP.

Sharing the spotlight

In the end, we knew the Finals MVP race was going to come down to the two Celtics stars. The guys who were drafted by the franchise in back-to-back years and who led this team to five Eastern Conference Finals in the previous eight years were both worthy of lifting the Bill Russell trophy. While Jayson Tatum didn’t have a great start to the series from the field, going 12/38 in the first two games from Boston, he was doing a little bit off everything for his team. In Game 1 he had 16, 11 and 5 assists and in Game 2 he ripped the Mavs defense apart with 12 assists to go along with his 18 points and 9 rebounds. He found his shot as the series went on, and continued to do everything else to help his team hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy. He ended the series averaging 22.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.2 assists.

Brown on the other hand, was the most consistent player through out the series. He embraced the challenge of trying to limit Luka Doncic, and set the tone offensively for his team. He created turnovers, hit the boards, and pushed the pace resulting in some spectacular dunks and was the heartbeat of the Celtics throughout the series. After winning the Eastern Conference MVP against the Pacers, the man who signed a $300 million dollar contract proved he was worth every penny in the Finals series. He averaged 20.8 points, 5.4 rebound and 5 assists in the series and was awarded the Bill Russell Finals MVP trophy.

Tatum had 31, 8 rebounds and 11 assists in Game 5, and if I’m being honest, I thought who ever had the better game in the close out game would have tipped the scales in the MVP race, but that just gives you an indication of how close it was. In his interview during the trophy ceremony Brown was quick to acknowledge Jayson Tatum who had a statistically better series, but perhaps the voters took into account the work he did on the defensive end.

No Co-MVP

When it came to the individual award, each of the two Celtics stars deserved it. Honestly, I wouldn’t have been upset if they were named Co-MVPS. While Tatum may feel he deserved it, there is a culture in that GM Brad Stevens and coach Joe Mazzulla have injected in this team that puts the collective goal infant of individual stats and accolades. In their eyes, having two players that were equally as qualified to win the award was had to be exactly what they were hoping for.

Perhaps the Co-MVP would have been the most justified result, but unfortunately for Jayson Tatum, that isn’t possible.. There are 11 media members that vote for the award after the last game of the championship series, which means there is always going to a player that come up with the majority of the votes. In this case Brown received seven of the 11 votes, while Tatum got the remaining five.

When Adam Silver announced the Brown as the winner, Tatum was right there to give him a hug and congratulate him. That is no surprise considering these two have adopted the mentally of team first, and there has never been a problem with these two superstars sharing the spotlight. With one of basketball’s best back courts and a fantastic team around them, you wouldn’t be surprised to see Brown, Tatum and the Celtics back in this position next year and in the years to come.