NBA reveals how close Jaylen Brown-Jayson Tatum Finals MVP vote was

The NBA revealed in the following hours just how close the vote was. Of 11 total media voting members, Brown ended up with seven Finals MVP votes while Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum earned four votes. 

Malika Andrews, Doris Burke, PJ Carlesimo and Gary Washburn voted for Tatum while all the remaining votes went to Brown.

Take a look at the full results below.

It was a neck-and-neck race for Finals MVP between the Celtics’ two stars all series. Brown, who finished the Finals with 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game, took the early lead after the first three games with his energetic all-around play, his ability to take over in clutch moments and his effective defense on Dallas superstar Luka Doncic. 

Meanwhile, Tatum, who finished the Finals with 22.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game, was Boston’s primary playmaker offensively and had a monster 31-8-11 line during the Game 5 clincher. But Tatum was less consistent and slightly less efficient, which may have ultimately swung the vote in favor of Brown.

A 7-4 tally means that it was not just one swing vote that decided the Finals MVP race. With Brown now adding the Finals MVP hardware to his cabinet after also winning Eastern Conference Finals MVP during the previous series against the Indiana Pacers, that is a pretty nice haul for a guy who earned the biggest contract in league history this past offseason and was criticized by some as unworthy of it. 

As for Tatum, he made clear that he was not going to be bothered either way by the Finals MVP result. Tatum managed to have his moment in the sun with some great viral scenes after the Celtics won it all.