Star trainer Drew Hanlen makes his feelings clear about Jayson Tatum getting snubbed for All-Star MVP award

Drew Hanlen, who's trained numerous NBA stars before, feels the wrong guy won the NBA All-Star MVP nod. In Tuesday's exclusive interview with Sportskeeda’s Mark Medina, Hanlen said that the All-MVP award should have gone to his client, Jayson Tatum, who was efficient in the games.

Tatum, who led the Boston Celtics to the 2025 NBA championship, scored 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field, including an efficient 3-of-4 shooting from the 3-point range. He then scored six more points to lead Team Shaq to their first-ever NBA All-Star tournament title.

“I don’t personally put much stock in this year’s All-Star game," Hanlen said. "But seeing that JT went 6-for-7 from the field and had 15 points, I thought he was very deserving of winning All-Star MVP.”

Hanlen also recalled a moment when All-Star MVP winner Steph Curry turned to Tatum as if to say that he was more deserving to win the award:

“There was a very funny clip of Steph [Curry] turning to Jayson after they announced Steph as MVP and he was saying, ‘This is a lifetime achievement award.’ Anybody that was in JT’s corner would’ve said he’s very disserving of winning MVP.”

Tatum finished the tournament with 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field.

In comparison, Curry scored 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting during the two-game stretch. It was the first time such a format was used during an NBA All-Star weekend.

Notably, it was the third time Tatum missed out on an MVP award after finishing behind teammate Jaylen Brown for the Eastern Conference finals MVP and the NBA finals MVP in the Celtics’ 2024 NBA title run.

Star trainer Drew Hamlen laments NBA All-Star tournament format

Aside from lamenting Jayson Tatum’s NBA All-Star MVP snub, Drew Hanlen cleared the air on the revised All-Star format, coining it as one of the worst formats ever.

Hamlen felt that the Rising Stars should not have been included in the All-Star format as the game celebrates the best 24 players in the NBA today.

“I thought this year’s All-Star format was the worst we’ve seen in a while,” Hamlen said. I don’t think that ‘Rising Stars’ should be sharing the stage with the All-Stars on Sunday night. I think that you work so hard and dream of becoming an All-Star your entire life in your NBA career…It’s about celebrating the best 24 players in that given season. I think the tradition of having the best players out on the court and sharing one floor at one time is what All-Star is all about."

He also acknowledged that the All-Star game has been less competitive in recent years, before commending the NBA for trying to shake things up.

Hanlen has been a performance coach for Tatum and former MVP Joel Embiid. On Feb. 4, Hanlen released a book titled “Stop Bullshitting Yourself,” a self-help book for athletes.