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ESPN analyst Doris Burke does not believe that Jayson Tatum is upset that Jaylen Brown won the Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals MVP trophy. But she also believes the loss to his Boston Celtics co-star for the individual award motivates him.
“I’ve never understood and pushed back as hard as my opportunity would allow on the narratives surrounding this young man,” Burke said of Tatum in a conference call with select media, including Heavy Sports on Monday, June 3. “He’s 26 years old. He’s played, I believe, 102 playoff games with Jaylen Brown. They have achieved an incredible measure of success at 26 and 27 years old.
“And I do not believe that it’s mutually exclusive that he can be thrilled that Jaylen Brown was named the Eastern Conference Finals MVP and still has a level of personal ambition. That’s what pushes that young man to greatness.”
Brown narrowly defeated his more illustrious teammate for the Larry Bird trophy, 5-4.
Burke, who voted for Brown, said it was a close call.
“I don’t believe for one single second [Tatum] was upset that Jaylen won that award. I don’t believe it. And I was a voter, and I can tell you how razor-thin that margin was, and I would not have been wrong if I voted for Jayson Tatum the Eastern Conference MVP. That’s how close that was,” Burke said.
Burke is set to make history as the first woman to call the NBA Finals on national television. She will be joined by ESPN’s longtime play-by-play announcer, Mike Breen, and former NBA player JJ Redick.
How the Narrative Started
The narrative that there is tension between the Celtics stars started with Brown’s postgame remark after receiving the award following the Celtics sweep of the Indiana Pacers.
“I wasn’t expecting that at all,” Brown said after averaging 29.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals on a 52/37/66 shooting split. “You know I never win [expletive].”
“Get Up” host Mike Greenberg asserted on the ESPN show’s May 29 episode that “there was a lot of chatter online — to whatever degree this is important or relevant — to Jayson Tatum’s reaction.” Video footage of Brown hoisting his MVP trophy showed a smiling Tatum celebrating with his teammates. But, Greenberg said, “You did not seem to think [the joy] was mirrored” in Tatum, leading to a panel discussion of the Celtics’ need to navigate the teammates’ power dynamic to win an NBA title.
Tatum led the Celtics in scoring (30.3) and rebounding (10.3) and finished second in assists (6.3) but could not beat Brown in shooting efficiency, shooting just 31% from the 3-point range and 46% from the field.
Tatum and Brown share a 62-40 record together in the playoffs and have led the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals five times. However, this is only their second NBA Finals appearance but seemingly their best shot after a dominant regular season and postseason run so far.
With homecourt advantage, the Celtics are -244 favorites to win the series opener on Thursday, June 6, at TD Garden, per lucky block.
Joe Mazulla Angered by ‘Clickbait’ Narrative About His Stars
Two days after the purported tension between his top stars became a hot topic, Celtics coach Joe Mazulla had a fiery response.
“The whole thing about that really pisses me off and I think it’s unfair to both of them,” Mazzulla told reporters on May 31. “I think it’s stupid that people have to use those two guys’ names and use information that they don’t know to create clickbait so that they can stay relevant.
“It’s very unfair that those two get compared. They’re two completely different people and they’re two completely different players. They’re great teammates. They love each other and they go about winning and they go about their process in a different way. Why they always have to be lumped together, I think is unfair. People just use it for their own relativity.”
After the Eastern Conference Finals MVP loss, Tatum is now the odds-on favorite to win the NBA Finals MVP at -115 (53.5% chance), per BetMassachusetts.com. Brown is a distant third at +650 (13.3%) behind Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic, who is second choice at +205 (32.8%).
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