The players don’t give a damn about the All-Star Game and who can blame them? The season is already so long. The lack of interest shown by the stars in the traditional February gala match can be summed up by their (against) defensive performance on Sunday evening. Little commitment, little intensity. Just enough entertainment and basta. Nothing new in general. But there’s one who didn’t come just to laugh and pose in the photos. Jayson Tatum was keen to seek the MVP trophy, named in honor of Kobe Bryant in 2020.
“It’s extremely special for me. I played my All-Star Game in 2020, in Chicago, the year they renamed the trophy. And I said to myself that I will win one”, entrusts the 24-year-old who was voted the game’s best player after receiving 11 out of 12 votes.
“If you know Jayson, you know he was going to try to get the MVP. And that’s what he’s supposed to do, ”adds his Boston teammate Jaylen Brownincidentally opponent of the evening.
Tatum actually went and grabbed the MVP. And how ! 55 stitches! A new All-Star Game record. He chained penetrations, dunks – including one at the Tracy McGrady after making a pass on the board – and a three-pointer (10) to finish with the best mark in the history of the event.
“I wanted to be MVP but I didn’t expect to score 55 points. This is the icing on the cake. (…) I learned in the middle of the fourth quarter about the record. I think I had 49 points and Damian Lillard told me the record was at 52. He told me to go get it. »
Anthony Davis had actually scored 52 points in the 2017 All-Star Game. So Jayson Tatum did even better.
“I talked to him a bit and I knew he was going to play hard,” says Giannis Antetokounmpowho picked the Celtics winger first in the starting draft.
Hard, everything is relative. But he caught fire and applied himself enough to walk away with his first award of the year. Others should follow.
All-Star Game MVP Jayson Tatum sets new record