Without Jayson Tatum, the Boston Celtics could easily be hovering out of the playoff picture. That is not what has happened. Instead, the Celtics are third in the Eastern Conference at 22–12, driven largely by Jaylen Brown.
The 29-year-old Celtics star does too much to be ignored. He is posting the most productive scoring season of his career, averaging 30.1 points on 51% shooting from the field, while also setting a career high with 5.0 assists and playing elite defense.
When you combine those stats with winning without Boston’s original No. 1 option, it starts to look like an MVP case. Still, Brown’s name remains absent near the top of the latest MVP ladder.
And for Celtics Hall of Famer Paul Pierce, it’s pretty obvious why Brown isn’t getting much MVP traction right now.
“Because everybody hates the Celtics,” Paul Pierce said, via Sportando. “No, seriously. Nobody had the Celtics being third in the East without Tatum. And this guy is putting up 30 consistently.”
