On Wednesday, the NBA made a big announcement regarding the MVP award, the league's most prestigious honor. This year, the award went to Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is now an NBA MVP for the first time in his career.
While Gilgeous-Alexander is not a surprising pick, it was still a relatively tight race as Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic was not far behind him in the voting. Additionally, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has won the award twice before, finished third in the MVP voting this year.
Though these three were the finalists for the MVP award, there were plenty of other fantastic NBA players who received votes. This includes Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, who was once again a top MVP vote-getter.
Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla and Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum.
Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla and Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum.
Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images
Despite not having won the award so far in his career, Tatum is regularly among the top candidates to be named MVP. In each of his last three seasons, the Celtics star finished in the top six for MVP voting, and that trend continued this year.
According to the official NBA voting results, Tatum received 311 total points and finished fourth in MVP voting.
Following this announcement, many Celtics fans took to social media to express their thoughts.
"That he only got 11 3rd place votes is kind of odd," one fan said on X.
"11 people got it right. SGA and Joker had historic seasons. Tatum was better than everyone else," said another.
"Seems about right. Finishing 4th in voting is still a good spot. No shame there," a third fan said on X.
"Why is he constantly in or around top 5 on this list yet people act like he’s some overrated borderline all star," said a fourth fan on X.
Though his status for next season is up in the air as he recovers from an Achilles injury, there is no denying that Tatum remains a top star in the NBA despite not taking home the MVP award this year.