NBA Finals 2022: Steph Curry Or Jayson Tatum Expected To Win MVP?

When the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics meet in the 2022 NBA Finals, much of the focus will be on two players. Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum might ultimately determine which team wins the championship.

The two stars enter the series as the overwhelming favorites for the 2022 NBA Finals MVP award. Curry leads the way with +110 odds to be the NBA Finals MVP at BetMGM. Tatum isn’t far behind with +175 odds for the award.

There’s a massive dropoff from Tatum to the next-most likely player to win the award. The Celtics' Jaylen Brown has +1000 Finals MVP odds. The Warriors' Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are at +1400 odds.

Jordan Poole (+2500), Marcus Smart (+3000) and Andrew Wiggins (+4000) are the only other players with better than +8000 odds.

Curry and Tatum were the winners of the inaugural conference finals MVP awards. Curry averaged 23.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game in Golden State’s five-game series victory over the Dallas Mavericks. In seven games against the Miami Heat, Tatum put up 25.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game.

Much has been made about Curry having three championship rings but no NBA Finals MVP awards. Kevin Durant got the nod over Curry in 2017 and 2018 when Golden State won the title. Andre Iguodala improbably won the 2015 NBA Finals MVP over Curry after the Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games.

Curry has won two regular-season MVP awards. The 34-year-old has scored at least 30 points in seven games during the 2022 playoffs.

Tatum has taken the leap to join the NBA’s elite group of superstars this season. The 24-year-old was a First-Team All-NBA selection for the first time in his career. In three elimination games this postseason, the Celtics’ forward is averaging 31.7 points per game.

Tatum’s defense has been particularly good this postseason. The Celtics have given up 105.1 points per 100 possessions in the playoffs, compared to the Warriors’ 111.0 defensive rating.

The NBA Finals MVP is almost always a player who is considered to be one of the league’s top superstars. Even All-Star-caliber players on the level of Brown or Green rarely win the award.

Aside from Iguodala, Durant, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard and Giannis Antetokounmpo have won all of the Finals MVP awards in the last decade. Dirk Nowitzki was the 2011 NBA Finals MVP. Kobe Bryant won the award in 2009 and 2010.

The Warriors are -160 favorites to win the NBA Finals. The Celtics have +130 championship odds.