By Only Players Staff
Updated 6/2/24 3:36am ET
With the Boston Celtics around -200 favorites to win the NBA title, Jayson Tatum is the understandable favorite to win the Finals MVP. However, Boston is far from a one-man team, accentuating the intrigue surrounding this index bet.
Caesars Sportsbook lists Tatum as the slight odds-on MVP favorite at -115. This comes on the heels of Tatum opening as a -220 Eastern Conference Finals MVP before Jaylen Brown eventually won the award with about +500 opening odds.
Luka Doncic has the second-shortest Finals MVP odds at +200, which is a slightly better payout than the Dallas series price of +180. Kyrie Irving (+1800) is the only other Maverick player among the top seven favorites.
Brown (+550) is the third favorite and the rest of Boston’s starting five has much larger payouts: Kristaps Porzingis (+2800), Derrick White (+3000) and Jrue Holiday (+6000).
Jerry West is the only player ever to win the Finals MVP from the losing team. He averaged 37.9 points, 7.4 assists and 4.7 rebounds in the 1969 Finals, although the Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Boston Celtics in seven games. This was the first year the MVP had ever been awarded.
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