The Boston Celtics cruised to the 2024 NBA Championship after defeating the Dallas Mavericks 4-1 in the Finals, with the upstart Mavs outmatched in the series. Netflix’s new show ‘Starting 5′ shows Jayson Tatum visibly confused as to why many experts were picking the Mavericks to win the NBA Finals, deeming it as trolling but taking solace in the fact that he could be the underdog.

“People have their own opinions. I didn’t know if, for lack of better terms, they were trolling. Slightly disrespectful takes about me or about what I’ve accomplished or what they think I can or can’t do, or they really thought that the Mavs were gonna beat us. I guess it felt good to be the underdog. First time in a while.”

The Miami Heat didn’t have Jimmy Butler, the Cleveland Cavaliers would lose Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen during the series, and the Indiana Pacers would be without Bennedict Mathurin.

The Mavericks had beaten opponents of a much higher caliber to get to the Finals, which skewed how analysts were treating them at that moment. Anyone with basketball sense should’ve been able to spot the juggernaut Celtics defense would be impossible to overcome for the Mavericks’ relatively one-dimensional style of play.

Even though the ESPN analysts picked the Mavericks over the Celtics, Tatum said that he was an underdog heading into the series is just dishonest. He was the odds-on-favorite to win Finals MVP before the Finals, a quest he failed in after averaging 22.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 7.2 assists in 5 games in the 2024 NBA Finals. on 38.8% from the field, leading the award to be given to Jaylen Brown instead.

It Wasn’t Jayson Tatum’s Time To Win Finals MVP

Jayson Tatum might have been happy to become an NBA Champion finally, but failing to rise to the expectations of winning Finals MVP definitely stung the star, especially after he also lost the Eastern Conference Finals MVP trophy to Brown in the previous round.