Not only did Jayson Tatum fall out of the MVP race but I think its highly likely he falls out of the first team all nba race, I think he’s becoming one of the more hated and disrespected players in the game and while I’m a big fan of his unfortunately some it’s warranted. He’s a really good player, nothing more….hopefully he proves me wrong this postseason because imo that’s what’s holding us from a championship
I don't think he's "hated" but I think Draymond is right, his Finals performance in 2022 is something people will hold against him until he finally gets over the hump. Tatum's already accomplished a lot but he still needs that ring to really put it all together. And while it's definitely not all his fault, there have been other years in recent times where he could have done more to propel the team deep in the playoffs and he didn't. I'd argue same last year, yes he got hurt early in Game 7 unfortunately but why were some of these series going 6-7 games, and why did we fall behind 3-0 to Miami?
I've said this before though, I think Brunson might deserve 1st team all-NBA this season. He's absolutely carried that Knicks team despite all their injuries to the 2 seed and he's put up excellent numbers too. It's not "empty stats" or "stat padding", no they've needed it and he's come through often