Felt Brown edged out Tatum just slightly. Tatum only out played Brown one game (game 5). Game 4 everyone was bad so I throw that game out.
I disagree. I would evaluate it as:
- Porzingis was the MVP of game 1 (Brown played better then Tatum)
- Jrue was the MVP of game 2 (Tatum played better then Brown with the near triple double)
- Brown was the MVP of game 3 (Brown played better then Tatum)
- Tatum was the best player in the bloodbath that was game 4 (Tatum played better then Brown)
- Tatum was the MVP of game 4 (Tatum played better then Brown)
1: That means Brown was the best player on the team in one game (game 3) and Tatum was the best player on the team in two games (game 4 and 5)
2: Tatum played better then Brown in 3 out of 5 games with two of those games (3 and 5) being critical closeout games
3: Tatum led the team in points, rebounds and assists in the finals and through the entire playoffs
4: In the game 5 victory that actually sealed the deal and secured the title, Tatum was by far the best player on the court, scoring half of the Celtics 4th quarter points on his own and outduelling Luka - on of the greatest offensive players on the planet - to fight off the Mavs attempt at a 4th quarter comeback.
I do acknowledge that Jaylen's defence in this series was huge and increased his contribution to more than just what is shown in the box scores, but I do feel that is also the case for Tatum who's mere presence on the court draws so much defensive attention that it makes every other Celtic's job easier on the offensive end.
To me the two were very close overall, but the key points that really clearly pushed it in Tatum's favour for me were game 4 and game 5. These were two potential closeout games that the team really needed, and Tatum was very clearly the best player on the team in both of those games. In game 4 he was pretty much the only starter who actually showed up, and in game 5 he was just playing at an MVP level all night long.
At the end of the day though I'm so happy we won the chip that the debating all day over who should have won FMVP seems insignificant and petty. If anything we should be happiest that we have two players who are great enough to even make that the FMVP such a debate to begin with.
I feel a little bad for Tatum knowing that he brought so much more energy then everybody else over the last two days and didn't get personally rewarded for it. But then if Tatum won I would feel bad for Brown knowing that he played so hard defensively the entire series and made so many big plays and didn't get rewarded for it. Yet at the end of the day I doubt either of them really cares all that much, given that both players will look at their championship rings as being well and truly all the reward they could ever possibly ask for.
Plus Tatum has been in the spotlight getting the recognition from the day he entered the league, while Jaylen really does gets ignored and treated like an afterthought far more then he should - of the two of them I feel like Jaylen kinda did need it more. His reaction to the ECF MVP (the look of genuine gleeful shock on and his "I never win XXX" comment) actually got me pretty emotional and made me really feel for the guy.
