The Boston Celtics are on a tear this season. They are resting comfortably at the top spot in the Eastern Conference standings, with just seven losses this season, and are also the only team with a single-digit loss record. The major reason for their success this season has been their All-Star forward, Jayson Tatum, who is posting impressive averages of 27.5 points on 47.9 percent from the field and 36.7 from beyond the arc, to go along with his 8.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists.

Yet, despite his impressive season and his team’s standing, the 4-time NBA All-Star finds himself trailing five other players to clinch the coveted MVP title. According to DeMarcus Cousins, this is due to the NBA pushing the “global” agenda and favoring European players over talented individuals.

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In a recent episode of All The Smoke, when asked what might be the reason behind JT being snubbed in the MVP conversations, Boogie hesitantly replied, “The last five years it’s been Europeans to win MVP…Every year it’s Europeans.” He is not wrong. In the last five years, European players have dominated the MVP rankings, with Giannis and Nikola Jokic winning two apiece and Joel Embiid winning last year. This year, Embiid and Jokic are once again leading the charts.

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However, Boogie discredits their performance by attributing the recent surge of European dominance in the league to the NBA’s pursuit of expanding its global presence. He might be on to something here. Before Giannis won the MVP award in the 2018–19 season, only four European players had won the accolade in league history. Let that sink in.

With the league trying to increase its revenue, having players from other countries has greatly contributed to the increasing viewership, which in turn brings more money into the league. “Business is business and we wanna be global. The NBA wants to be global. It wants to be a global gang,” added Cousins.

Are Boogie’s statements valid?

While there may be some truth to his statements, the level at which the European players have been performing recently has been unmatched by any American player since Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. And even that was 15 years ago. Yes, players like Ja Morant and Zion Williamson have made a significant impact, but they are yet to break into the upper echelons, and with all the controversy surrounding them, the likelihood of that happening appears dim.

As Kobe Bryant once said, “They are just taught the game the right way at an early age. … They’re more skillful. It’s something we really have to fix. We really have to address that… In Italy, the Red Auerbachs…all those great coaches were doing clinics and camps in Europe…the club coaches were following their advice and their fundamentals like the bible, and they were teaching all of us kids that type of stuff. We’re a product of that. It’s a big difference.”

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Thus, while the league may have started giving European players more attention for expansion purposes, it’s crucial to acknowledge that their inclusion in the MVP conversation is well-deserved.

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