Ex-Lakers Champion Believes Celtics’ Jayson Tatum Is MVP
Matt John heavy.com
Former Lakers champion Metta Sandiford-Artest (formerly Ron Artest) declared that Jayson Tatum should be the NBA's MVP.
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Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum has some backers for this Most Valuable Player campaign. Among them is former Los Angeles Lakers champion Metta Sandiford-Artest, who proclaimed Tatum as the NBA’s MVP via his X account.

“(Tatum) is the MVP right now. He should win if the season ended today.”

In an earlier tweet, Sandiford-Artest also added that Kawhi Leonard shouldn’t win the award. However, he added that not winning it shouldn’t detract from his standing among NBA players.

“Kawhi is not the MVP, but he is the best in the league,” he wrote via his X account.

Tatum has a case for the award, as he has established himself as the best player on the NBA’s best team record-wise. However, detractors have pointed out that the strength of Tatum’s supporting cast compared to the other candidates hurt his chances.

When his legal name was Metta World Peace, Sandiford-Artest won a championship with the Lakers in 2010. He and the Lakers defeated the Celtics in seven games.

Kevin Durant Lauds Jayson Tatum’s Future

Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant also thinks highly of Tatum. Before the Celtics’ game against the Suns, Durant believes Tatum will be one of the NBA’s icons for a long time while talking with Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin.

“I’ve been in this league a long time now, and I know when it’s a passing of the guard. I know when the young dudes are going to come in and do the same thing the older guys are doing. He’s [Tatum] one of those guys that’s likely going to control the league for the next 10, 12 years and be a staple in our game and the history of our game,” Durant said via Rankin’s X account.

Durant himself has seen firsthand how Tatum impacts the game. Tatum and the Celtics beat Durant back when the latter played for the Nets in the first round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs. The prior postseason, Tatum put up a 50-point performance against the Nets in their lone win of that series.

Durant has not won a game against Tatum since the Nets traded him to the Suns in 2023.

Jayson Tatum Defends Grant Williams

Celtics’ color commentator Mike Gorman criticized ex-Celtic Grant Williams, explaining why he wasn’t liked.

“He had some issues in that area (that) if he doesn’t get rid of, he doesn’t have enough for teams to say, ‘Well okay, but despite that, we’re going to keep him here because he’s a great player.’ He’s not. He’s an extra. An eighth, ninth, or tenth guy on your roster, so those guys are very replaceable. The guy’s a bad locker room guy. If you’re a bad locker room guy, you’re an eighth or ninth guy, you’re not going to be the eighth or ninth guy for long because you’re not going to be on the team for long,” Gorman said on 98.5 The Sport’s Hub’s “Toucher & Hardy.”

Tatum took issue with Gorman’s words and went to his X account to defend his ex-Celtics teammate.

Jaylen Brown agreed with Tatum, as he reposted Tatum’s tweet.