Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

 Three seasons ago, I asked the question, "Is Kevin Durant too-high a ceiling projection for Jayson Tatum" . Well, comparing the two stars in their 8th seasons (where Tatum now sits), it appears Jayson is still in that territory. Here are their 8th-season stats: Tatum 26.8 PPG - 8.7 RPG - 6.0 APG - 1.1 SPG - 0.5 BPG -  .452FG - .343 3s - .814FT Durant 25.4 PPG - 6.6 RPG - 4.1 APG - 0.9 SPG - 0.9 BPG - .510FG - .403 3s - .854 FT Tatum gets the nod for the first four stats , and Durant takes the last four . Jayson is still only 27 years old and may not have yet peaked.  Durant has two NBA Championships to his credit, in addition to two Finals MVP Awards and one NBA MVP trophy thus far in his total career , while Tatum has only the one Title to his credit thus far. Their games are quite similar, as indicated by the stats. Jayson needed to improve his point guard skills to remain in Durant territory, and he has done that. We don't know the final outcome to this duel, but ...

 I personally consider the NBA Finals MVP Award one of the highest honors a player can achieve , and that is what the Celtics Jaylen Brown has accomplished. It was a close call, since Jayson Tatum finished with t eam-highs in minutes, points, rebounds and assists for the 5-game series. Biu in the end, it was probably Tatum's poor shooting percentages (.388 FG, .263 on 3s) and Brown's lock-down defense that made the difference. Regardless, the present and future of The Green rests primarily with the Jay Team - and Jayson and Jaylen certainly are a team-within-a-team. Take either one out of the picture, and Banner 18 may not have happened. So congrats to Jaylen Brown . He earned this prestigious award . The Finals MVP Trophy indicates he was the most-indispensable player in the series - and in this case, it was awarded to a player on the winning side. Brown has worked hard to get where he is. Nicely done, Jaylen!