Boston’s best player keeps torching the league, yet betting markets and national buzz still refuse to catch up.
If you’re looking exclusively at the NBA MVP odds, you wouldn’t even know that Celtics (18-11) forward Jaylen Brown is playing like one of the best players in the league as of Christmas Eve.
According to OddsTrader, which aggregates the best odds for all betting markets (futures, props, games, etc.), Brown is in a six-way tie for the seven-best odds to win the NBA’s top individual honor.
Some of the names ahead of him make sense. Some of the names he is tied with make no sense at all.
Here’s what we’re looking at, as of publishing:
1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander +110 (BetMGM)
2. Nikola Jokic +185 (Caesars)
3. Luka Doncic +500 (BetRivers)
4. Cade Cunningham +8000 (BetRivers)
5. Victor Wembanyama +20000 (Caesars)
T-6. Jalen Brunson +25000 (BetRivers)
T-6. Tyrese Maxey +25000 (BetRivers)
T-7. Jaylen Brown +50000 (BetMGM)
T-7. Anthony Edwards +50000 (Bet365)
T-7. Deni Avdija +50000 (Bet365)
T-7. Donovan Mitchell +50000 (+50000)
T-7. Giannis Antetokounmpo (+50000)
T-7. Mikal Bridges (+50000)
I can live with any of those players in the top five being ahead of Brown: SGA is the best player on a team that’s tracking towards being one of the all-time great regular season groups, Jokic is a perennial candidate for the award, Doncic has come out of the gate playing some of the best basketball of his career, Cunningham has the upstart Pistons (24-6) at the top of the East, and Wembanyama is a freak who has taken an enormous step forward in year two.
Brunson and Maxey ahead of Brown? Get out of here with that. Being tied with the likes of Avdija and Bridges? What are we doing? And why is Giannis in this mix, exactly? He’s only played in 17 games this year.
To be clear, Brown is listed with much lower-odds at various books (FanDuel has him as low as +20000), but the point still stands. How can a guy having the type of season he’s having, given the roster he has around him along with his running mate Jayson Tatum likely out until February (?), be listed anywhere at +50000?
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Even without Tatum in the mix, that blanket disrespect Brown has received almost his entire career seemingly continues to permeate, always being seen as a second fiddle despite decidedly grabbing the mantle as Boston’s lead banana in 2025-26.
Brown is currently fifth in the league in scoring at 29.4 points per game, to go along with 6.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists while shooting 49.7% from the floor. In the last month alone, he’s on fire:
- 31 points vs. Pacers (12/22)
- 30 points vs. Miami (12/19)
- 34 points vs. Detroit (12/15)
- 30 points vs. Bucks (12/11)
- 30 points vs. Raptors (12/7)
- 30 points vs. Lakers (12/5)
- 42 points vs. Knicks (12/2)
- 19-point triple-double vs. Cavaliers (11/30)
- 41 points vs. Timberwolves (11/29)
- 33 points vs. Pistons (11/26)
- 35 points vs. Magic (11/23)
Through any lens you want to use, that’s MVP-level production.
I should note that NBA.com has Brown seventh on their latest “MVP ladder” - a list both players and media pay close attention to. While the betting markets may the best indicator as to who will actually win the awards, this list tells you where Brown’s colleagues around the association have him stacked up.
Not sure how much more Brown needs to do to climb the ladder, the odds board, or the public consciousness in general. Here in Boston, we recognize what the 2024 Finals MVP is doing. But it’s time for the rest of the country to wake up.
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Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.