Things Continue To Get Better And Better After Jayson Tatum And Jaylen Brown Sweep The NBA's Weekly And Monthly Player Awards

Brian Babineau. Getty Images.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you should be well aware that the Celts are kicking ass at a historic level right now. We're seeing a level of play that none of us have ever seen before in NBA history, and even when you acknowledge that was truly matters is still a few months away, it's always important to take a second, step back, and appreciate what is happening.

For example, I'm having a hard time remembering a time in which a Celtics player won Player of The Week and Player of the Month, and then we sprinkled in a little Coach Of The Month for good measure. Yet here we are, in March fo 2024 and that is exactly what has happened

Respect Jaylen Brown

Respect Jayson Tatum

That's my immediate takeaway. All the "no left hand jokes" don't quite hit the same nowadays, do they? Here on planet earth and not on NBA Twitter, Jaylen Brown is having one of the best two way seasons of his entire career. The leap he's made as a leader and an overall player should not be overlooked, and it's great to see the NBA acknowledging it. 

And then, of course, there is Jayson Tatum. Perhaps the most disrespected young superstar the NBA currently has. Nobody has their name played with more to the point where there should be some sort of study on it. If someone has a good game, they immediately get compared to Jayson Tatum, even if they are a much, much worse basketball player. He gets dragged for biggest failures by fanbases that don't realize that Tatum's current failures would be the biggest successes those fanbases have ever seen. Meanwhile, you will not find another player in the entire league who has done what Tatum has done so far this season, which is win multiple Player Of The Month awards.

Not bad for a guy who "is barely top 10" and "not even close to being worthy of being in the MVP race". So often, especially lately, you have a lot of triggered fanbases declare that Tatum is someone who just gets carried by his superteam. 

In reality, he is the superteam. 

My favorite part of all this might just be how much the Celts success seems to be breaking opposing fanbase's brains. You have people screenshotting Tatum's statline after his first 6 minute stint where he hasn't taken a shot saying shit like

"ThIs Is YoUr MvP???"

Only for him to end the night with 27/8/6 in another win. Again, he's the only player to win multiple POTM awards. That seems pretty MVP-worthy, even if anyone with a brain knows he's not going to win it (and that's OK). But how he gets opposing fanbases so bent out of shape has been one of the true joys of his incredible season.

Now, it's not all gumdrops and rainbows if you can believe it. One would think given the fact that the Celts have ya know, won 11 in a row, have been destroying everything in their path for the past month (where they haven't lost) that surely Joe Mazzulla would be deemed the Coach Of The Month right?

You'd be wrong

As a reminder, the Celtics went 9-1 and had a +15.7 net rating over the month of February. I will once again ask, why are people still so weird about Joe Mazzulla? I could make the case that he should actually be working on back to back COTY awards given how he got the job and the pressure he's under to come through and produce. Yes, his team has talent, but that's what makes what we're seeing even more important. He's not only getting the most out of that talent, he's also delivered and then some despite the extremely lofty expectations that he and the team have. Every time the Celtics lose a game, it's national news. No coach in the league deals with more pressure to win than Joe, and as we continue to see, no team has won more. 

So what gives? Respect Joe Mazzulla, it's really not that hard.

Listen, nobody is throwing a parade in Boston over winning Player of the Week or Player of the Month (2x). We all know that. But it's perfectly fine to take a second and appreciate what we're witnessing. The evolution of the Jays is what this entire thing is about. They are the cornerstones. They are the pair that the franchise and the fanbase have put all their hopes and dreams into, and they've never looked better. 

Oh yeah, neither guy has even entered their NBA prime years yet either. That seems like an important tidbit to point out.