Was Jayson Tatum robbed of NBA Finals MVP?

Jayson Tatum led all Celtics in points (22.2), rebounds (7.8), assists (7.2) and minutes (40.2) during the 2024 NBA Finals victory against the Mavericks. Ordinarily, that sort of production would have fetched a player the Finals MVP, which instead went to Jaylen Brown, who finished second in points (20.8), fourth in rebounds (5.4), second in assists (5.0) and second in minutes (38.5).

Brown was slightly more efficient than Tatum (44 to 39 field goal percentage), but it’s not like he lit up the Mavericks with his shooting. In fact, Brown shot a paltry 23.5 percent from deep over the five games.    

So, why exactly did Brown win the award over Tatum?

ESPN analyst Tim Legler felt Brown’s defense on Luka Doncic tipped the scales in his favor, especially since most of the counting stats between him and Tatum were nearly indistinguishable. 

“Here’s what that vote told me: there was a lot of stock put into Jaylen Brown’s defense in this series,” Legler told “SC with SVP” on ESPN. “Because he got Luka a lot more in this series than Jayson Tatum did. And I thought Jaylen Brown impacted Doncic more and also had one of the bigger moments of the series when he made [the clutch shot] in Game 3. That shot got them the win [the 3-0 lead] and prevented any real anxiety for the Boston Celtics.” 

To Legler’s point, Brown did an exceptional job of guarding Doncic. Brown defended Doncic in 154.4 Dallas possessions over 32 minutes and four seconds, more than twice as many times as the next Celtic, Jrue Holiday, who guarded the Slovenian for 71.1 possessions over 12 minutes, 45 seconds. 

In the possessions that Brown guarded Doncic, the Mavericks’ offensive rating slipped to just 84.8. To put things in perspective, Dallas scored 119.6 points per 100 possessions with Doncic on the floor in the regular season and 113.8 in the postseason. Brown’s impact on Doncic won him the award.    

Brown edged out Tatum 7-4 in the NBA Finals voting process. He became the first Finals MVP since Andre Iguodala in 2015 to win the award without making an All-NBA team.