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Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics is coming off the best season of his career. The Celtics will open the 2023-24 season at Madison Square Garden against division rivals New York Knicks. Is Tatum playing tonight in their first game of the new campaign?
According to the latest NBA injury reports, the Celtics will be 100% healthy heading into their season opener. That means Tatum will be available to play against the Knicks. He's averaging 22.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.4 steals in 20 games against New York in his career.
Tatum will have an improved crew with him this season following the acquisition of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis. Holiday is an upgrade from Marcus Smart while Porzingis is a better shooter than Al Horford, who would slot into the previous role occupied by Grant Williams.
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Jayson Tatum discussed the moves made by the Boston Celtics earlier this month in an interview with Bleacher Report. Tatum explained that he doesn't have a lot of influence on the front office, but he understood why the trades were done. The Celtics are coming off a disappointing exit in the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat.
Tatum was sad to see players such as Marcus Smart, Grant Williams, Robert Williams III and Malcolm Brogdon go, but it's part of the business. He's looking forward to playing with his new teammates this season and possibly winning an NBA championship with them.
"My job is to show up and play," Tatum said. "It's not my job to trade and handpick guys or anything like that. A lot of those guys that we traded, I was really close with. I spent my entire career thus far with Smart and almost my whole career with Grant and Rob, and a year with Malcolm. It's always tough to see guys leave, especially when it's on short notice."
Will Jayson Tatum win the MVP this season?
It's been a while since an American player won the NBA MVP award. The last five winners were international players, showing the growth of the game of basketball. Giannis Antetokounmpo of Greece won in 2019 and 2020, Nikola Jokic of Serbia in 2021 and 2022, and Joel Embiid of Cameroon this year.
The last American to win the prestigious award was James Harden back in 2018. Out of all the current American players in the league, Jayson Tatum might have the best chance to do it.
Tatum is coming off a season wherein he averaged 30.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game. With the NBA's latest rule about awards eligibility, Tatum has a much better shot because of his durability. The Celtics are also expected to have one of the best records in the league.
