“Ridiculous”: Bill Simmons Trashes Jaylen Brown’s Finals MVP Win

Back in 2024, ESPN's "Get Up" aired a reported tension between Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown out of nowhere. It framed a candid celebration photo as evidence of some hidden resentment. Bill Simmons was among the loudest voices calling that segment out as absurd at the time. Two years later, Simmons himself is the one reigniting scrutiny of that same Finals run, except this time, his criticism is about the MVP trophy.

On the latest episode of "The Bill Simmons Podcast," co-host Joe House brought up Brown's name after noting he's no longer a Celtic. It prompted Simmons to revisit his long-standing frustration with how the 2024 Finals MVP vote played out.

"Jaylen Brown should not have won Finals MVP," Simmons said. "That was ridiculous. One of my things that I would change about the NBA is more than five people should vote on the Finals MVP. You should not be able to win Finals MVP by a 3-2 vote. Have 15 people. You have a million reporters there."

Simmons' complaint had one notable flaw: the Finals MVP vote isn't decided by five people, or by a 3-2 margin. Eleven media members actually voted on the award, and Brown won it comfortably, earning seven votes to Tatum's four.

The numbers complicate Simmons' case further rather than settling it in Tatum's favor. Brown averaged 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.8 blocks across the five-game series, shooting 44% from the field.

Tatum's stats were superior on paper - 22.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.0 steal, and 0.6 blocks - but came on considerably worse efficiency, shooting just 38.8% from the field and 26.3% from three.

After the clip spread online, Simmons posted a partial clarification on X rather than a full retraction.

"I shouldn't have said 'ridiculous,'" he wrote on X. "But I thought Tatum should have won and said it at the time — esp. after what he did in Game 5. I'm always gonna think the best guy on a champ should win Finals MVP unless something insane happened."

He cited Tatum's Game 5 performance - 31 points, 11 assists, and eight rebounds in the closeout win - as the moment he believes should have tipped the vote.

He also pointed to historical precedent for his overall philosophy, name-checking Tim Duncan in 2007, Kobe Bryant in 2010, and Stephen Curry in 2015 as examples of the "best player on the champion" standard he believes should always apply.

Brown was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers this past offseason, a move that's fueled months of reporting about a sour relationship between him and Tatum, something Brown has pushed back on in interviews since.

Brown finished sixth in MVP voting during the 2025-26 season and was a central figure in Boston's championship core for a decade before the trade. His résumé makes Simmons' "ridiculous" take, retracted or not, notable, especially since Brown is still actively working to define his own narrative in a new city.