Discussion: Who is the Celtics MVP this year?

Yup, it is that time of year again. Time for looking back on the year that was (whether you want to or not). This one is pretty standard and straightforward. Who is the Celtics’ MVP this season?

To me there are really only two (pretty obvious) choices.

Kyrie Irving - the (counting) stats speak for themselves. He’s far and away the leading scorer and distributor and he’s the most effective crunch time producer the team has. All that makes sense. He’s Kyrie Irving, Uncle Drew, best-handles-in-the-game, All Star, Championship clinching shot making superstar. He should be the team’s MVP. Except you have to account for...

Al Horford - the quietest superstar there is. He’s so underrated and enough educated fans recognize his talent that he’s threatening to be overrated. Let’s just say that Above Average Al is beloved by those that understand the game beyond box scores and cap sheets. Spend any amount of time on advanced stats and the story becomes clear.

Dark horse: Marcus Smart - Talk about a guy that isn’t always appreciated enough. Marcus brings it every night, should be in the Defensive Player of the Year running, and has even discovered how to shoot this year. He’s already won the Red Auerbach award.

Are there any other candidates? Early in the year you could have made a case for Marcus Morris but he’s tailed off quite a bit. The team really misses Aron Baynes when he’s out but I’m not sure he’s a candidate for MVP. I would have hoped in preseason to mention guys like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Gordon Hayward, but none of them has been consistent enough to deserve consideration.