Jason Kidd is continuing his attempt to cause conflict between Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown despite being on the verge of getting swept from the 2024 NBA Finals. Fans who have been watching this series between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks will know that it has been a one-sided beatdown so far. The Celtics defended homecourt and won Game 3 in Dallas to put the Mavericks in a 0-3 deficit.
It truly looks like all hopes of winning a title have been lost for the Mavs. Kidd has not slowed down his attempts to create disharmony between the stars of the Celtics. While this might just be a desperate ploy in order to give the Mavericks a chance of winning Game 4, it cannot be a winning strategy. With that being said, let us take a closer look at his comments regarding Tatum and Brown.
Jason Kidd now claims that Jayson Tatum is one of the best players in the world
After the Boston Celtics won Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals, Jason Kidd was interviewed by the media and claimed that Jaylen Brown was the best player on the Celtics as opposed to Jayson Tatum. Many who heard his statement opined that it was an attempt to play mind games on the opposition and create a sense of conflict.
However, this attempt clearly did not work as the Mavericks ended up losing the next two games to the Celtics. In Game 3, Tatum finally broke his scoring slump to finish the night scoring 31 points. After the game had concluded, Kidd appeared to backtrack on his initial statements by proclaiming that Tatum was one of the best players in the world.
“He’s one of the best players in the world.”
– Jason Kidd on Jayson Tatum
(Via @BenGolliver ) pic.twitter.com/5SjWU2pt4H
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) June 11, 2024
These statements are clearly contradicting each other. After all, Jayson Tatum cannot be considered one of the best players in the world if he isn’t even the best player on his own team. Kidd defended his comments about Jaylen Brown by claiming that they were based on Jaylen’s performance at the start of the 2024 NBA Finals. However, he has offered no explanation for backtracking and is now holding Jayson Tatum to a higher standard.
All of Kidd’s attempts to create tension between the Celtics stars do not appear to be working as the Mavs are in danger of being swept in the playoffs.
Jaylen Brown is still favored to win the Finals MVP award at the moment
With Jason Kidd apparently trying to create a conflict between Tatum and Brown regarding who is the superior player, the fact remains that only one of them can win the Finals MVP award. Since Tatum did not play well in the first 2 games of this series while Brown was consistent, JB is favored to win the award as things currently stand.
https://t.co/wWGNmWnCY9’s updated Finals MVP Ladder:
1. Jaylen Brown
2. Jayson Tatum
3. Kyrie Irving
4. Jrue Holiday
5. Luka Doncic— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) June 13, 2024
Game 4 of the Finals will shed more light on who is more likely to win Finals MVP. If Tatum has another off game while the Celtics manage to win, Brown will certainly be given the award. In any case, winning a title should matter more for Tatum and Brown as opposed to individual accolades.