2023-02-20
Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum was named the Most Valuable Player for the first time on Sunday (MVP) of the All-Star Game after a display of 55 points, the scoring record in the history of this exhibition game.
“It means a lot if you think about the legends that have played this,” Tatum said as he picked up the trophy from MVPwhich bears the name of the deceased Kobe Bryant.
“Honestly, records are made to be broken. So I’ll keep it as long as I can, but I’m sure someone will come along in a couple of years to try to break it,” said the star of the reigning runners-up of the NBA.
Tatum, that he made 10 triples of 18 attempts and grabbed 10 reboundsled the victory of the team led by Giannis Antetokoummpo against that of LeBron James by 184-175 at the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.
The forward went into combustion in the third quarter with 27 points, the most for a quarter in the 72 editions of the All-Star, and took advantage of the usual defensive passivity in this game to keep scoring until the record was achieved.
“I saw that the first three (triples) entered and I kept shooting,” he explained.
In her room All-Star At the age of 24, a mark that no player from the mythical Celtics had achieved, Tatum succeeded in the MVP list to Stephen Currywho achieved 50 points and 16 triples last year.
Tatum, who is averaging 30.6 points per game this season, led the Celtics to the last NBA Finals. NBA in which they fell to Curry’s Golden State Warriors, absent from this All-Star due to injury.
Past Five All-Star Kobe Bryant MVP Award Winners:
2023 – Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics)
2022 – Steph Curry (Golden State Warriors)
2021 – Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks)
2020 – Kawhi Leonard (LA Clippers)
2019 – Kevin Durant (Golden State Warriors)
