Top Five Players with the Most Pressure Headed into the NBA Playoffs
NBA Playoffs have arrived! Now with the playoff brackets set, it’s time to take a look at the expectations of each player to win the 2024 Championship. There will be a lot of pressure riding on a lot of star players heading into this year’s playoffs. Here’s a list of the top five players who have the biggest pressure to succeed in this year's playoffs.
5. Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving
The Dallas duo has worked out to perfection after all. The Mavericks ended the season winning 12 of their last 13 when Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving were on the court together. After acquiring PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford at the trade deadline, this team has come to completion and has no excuses. Although both Doncic and Irving have a fair share of individual accomplishments, this postseason holds a lot of weight.
Doncic is one of the biggest stars of the new generation and has plenty of time in his career for postseason success. However, after having been to a Western Conference Finals in 2022 and putting on an MVP-caliber season, Luka finally has all of the pieces to take the next step of stardom. As for Irving, his last two experiments on the Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics did not go smoothly. Irving can erase the negative stigmas about his chemistry, debatably been playing the best basketball of his career heading into playoff time. In a situation that seems to be working, a title run would go a long way for Irving’s resume to complete his first championship team since his days with LeBron James in Cleveland.
4. Kevin Durant
Yet another player who has one of the most impressive resumes in NBA history, Kevin Durant has a chance to move himself even higher on the totem pole. Durant’s playoff success can always be looked at with a grain of salt, having signed with the 73-9 Golden State Warriors to collect his two Finals MVPs. He was then a part of the biggest debacle in history, having failed an experiment in Brooklyn with Kyrie Irving and James Harden. Once more Durant has helped assemble a superstar trio in Phoenix, with Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. The Suns have one of the toughest roads to the championship, playing the Timberwolves then likely the reigning champions in Denver before the Western Conference finals. Surrounded by superstar talent, Durant aims to push past an impressive postseason gauntlet and create his own success away from the Warriors dynasty.
3. Joel Embiid
Injuries aside, Joel Embiid is often considered as the most dominant force in the NBA. Before hurting his knee and missing a significant amount of time, Embiid was putting on the best year of his career and was the easy favorite to win back-to-back MVPs. Now healthy once again, he looks to make his first real playoff run, having never made it to the Eastern Conference finals. The 76ers are 32-8 with Embiid and on a nine-game win streak to close the season, looking as unstoppable as ever. If Embiid wants to erase the criticism when it comes to his playoff history, now is the time for the reigning MVP.
2. Damian Lillard
No less than two years ago, Damian Lillard’s name was in conversation with Stephen Curry for best point guard in the league. Lillard has put up incredible numbers in his career but was never given the team around him to go on playoff runs. He was finally granted this after being traded to the Bucks, putting him on the same court with one of the NBA’s best in Giannis Antetokounmpo. Now with Antetokounmpo entering the playoffs banged up, the pressure weighs on Lillard to prove his trade value and take this superstar duo to championship status.
1. Jayson Tatum
To no surprise, the leader of the NBA's best team in the Boston Celtics faces the most pressure. Ever since he was a rookie Jayson Tatum went toe to toe with LeBron James in the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals, expectations have been through the roof for Tatum. And consistently, he has fallen short. The Celtics have seen three conference finals and one NBA Finals since then, and come in as heavy favorites to make it there once again. Tatum has the best team he has ever had around him, after adding two offseason talents in Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis. Leading the best team in the NBA, Tatum has every expectation to bring a Finals MVP trophy back to Boston.
