The Boston Celtics have jumped out to the best record in the NBA this season and that’s largely due to the MVP caliber season that Jayson Tatum is putting up. Surprisingly though, Tatum hasn’t gotten as much buzz for the award as other players have. In any case, voters are definitely going to have to think hard when casting their votes. In the meantime, Tatum picked up a ringing endorsement from his new Celtics teammate, Xavier Tillman who recently made an appearance on former NBA player Gilbert Arenas’ podcast, ‘Gil’s Arena.”

“I thought at first he was just a scorer until I realized his defensive, passing and rebounding ability,” Xavier Tillman said. “If you leave him, he’s going to the cup and finishing and getting fouled. Or if you double him when he’s driving, he’s got this sick around the back he’s mastered. I didn’t have the respect for his passing ability before I got here, you don’t see the passing in the highlight reel you just see the scoring.”

Tillman also described how Tatum plays on both ends of the court, saying: “We went to New York and he had a couple chances to guard Jalen Brunson and he was locking him up. . .he definitely needs to be in that discussion, not to mention we’re No. 1 in the league.”

This season, Jayson Tatum has been the MVP for the Celtics, averaging 27.0 points per game, 8.5 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.0 steals with splits of 47.5 percent shooting from the field, 36.1 percent shooting from the three-point line and 82.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line.