Celtics
Jayson Tatum was in an MVP field that also included Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Jayson Tatum’s 2024-25 season ended in crushing fashion, as the Celtics star suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon and Boston was bounced by the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
But despite that brutal ending, Tatum still put together one of the best seasons of his standout career during regular-season play. The 27-year-old forward matched a career-best finish by finishing fourth in NBA MVP voting.
The official league results for MVP voting were released on Wednesday, with OKC Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander winning his first NBA MVP trophy with 913 total points. He beat out Denver’s Nikola Jokic (787 points), Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo (470 points), and Tatum (311 points) for the accolade.
Tatum did not receive any first or second-place votes in the balloting, but did record 11 third-place votes, 84 fourth-place votes, and four fifth-place votes. There was a steep drop-off after Tatum in the voting, as Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell ranked fifth with 74 total points.
This marks the second time that Tatum has finished fourth in NBA MVP voting, as he landed in the same spot following the 2022-23 season.
In 2024-25, Tatum averaged 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 6.0 assists per game while shooting 45.2 percent from the field. While this wasn’t Tatum’s highest-scoring season (30.1 points per game in 2022-23), he set a new career high in assists per game, with the star rounding out his overall skill set on a 61-21 Boston roster.
Despite another standout season for Tatum, the All-NBA standout could be staring at a lost season in 2025-26 due to his Achilles injury. Tatum underwent surgery to fix the damaged tendon less than 24 hours after his injury, but no timetable has been set for his expected return to the court.
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