The NBA Playoffs have always been the stage where the lights are the brightest, all eyes are on the 16 teams as they take part in the highest-stakes basketball games of the year.
There is no question that teams will feel pressure, whether you’re “the guy” or the guy at the end of the bench, you will still feel the pressure of having to need four games in order to reach the top of the NBA mountain.
However, the superstars of the league are experiencing higher pressure every playoff time and it got me thinking, which superstars are under the most pressure this season?
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
- Anthony Davis
- Kawhi Leonard
- Paul George
- Joel Embiid
- Damian Lillard
NO. 3 – James Harden and Russell Westbrook
In the beginning of the season, a lot of people were expecting the Houston Rockets to finish at the very least in the top 3 in the Western Conference with 50 wins under their belt. I can’t complain to those expectations since they got two former MVPs of the league in James Harden and Russell Westbrook.
However, things didn’t pan out the way Houston wanted it to, but they still finished as the fourth seed in the West with a 44-28 record (tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Utah Jazz).
The Rockets are taking on the fifth seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs, a team that Houston has an interesting story with and had a direct hand in putting Harden and Westbrook together in the first place.
Harden and OKC’s point guard Chris Paul played together for two years in Houston and reached the West finals before losing to the Golden State Warriors in seven games back in 2018.
At the beginning of the season, Paul was traded for Westbrook.
Harden is under the pressure to beat his former teammate so that he can have a deep run without him. As for Westbrook, he’s under the pressure of beating the team he left, one that seems to have thrived after his departure. He also needs to stop Paul from doing what he failed to do in the last three years: make it out of the first round.
Aside from that, Harden and Westbrook also need to be successful in this year’s playoffs because the last time two former MVPs played together, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry brought back-to-back title to Golden State.
Houston has done everything they needed in order to complement their superstar duo, and it’s now at the hands of Harden and Westbrook on how far the team will reach in the playoffs.
NO. 2 – Giannis Antetokounmpo
In the last four years, Giannis Antetokounmpo has solidified himself as a superstar and is on track to go down as one of the All-Time greats of the sport. He’s gone from being the unknown kid from Greece that got selected 15th in the 2013 NBA draft, to the Most Improved Player in 2017, and then the MVP of the league last season. He is now a position to go back-to-back this season with a stat line of 29.5 points, 13.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists with one block and one steal per game.
The Greek Freak is undoubtedly one of the greats but this year, he will have to prove that he’s not just a great individual player but a CHAMPION as well.
The idea that Antetokounmpo is still gaining playoff experience is now out the door. Last season, he led the Milwaukee Bucks to the Eastern Conference Finals where they got bounced out by Leonard and the Toronto Raptors in six games.
That series exposed his inability to shoot from the outside and to come up clutch when they needed him the most.
This season, Antetokounmpo will have to at the very least reach the finals, because failing to compete for a title would give him the image of a superstar that can’t win without joining a “Super Team” like LeBron James and Kevin Durant.
Antetokounmpo has all the tools he needs to win, he has an elite co-star in Khris Middleton, great veteran role players in Eric Bledsoe, Brook and Robin Lopez, George Hill and Wesley Matthews and an elite coach in Mike Budenholzer.
Failing to win the title, or at least compete for a title, this season would severely affect his image as a superstar. Plus, the fact that he hasn’t signed for an extension yet with Milwaukee could lead to a big move in the future.
Antetokounmpo has said in the past that he wants to stay and turn Milwaukee in to a championship team. But we’ve seen that statement in the past have we? And we all know how that turned out.
Hopefully, if Antetokounmpo missed out on a title this season we won’t be seeing him end up like the other superstars.
NO. 1 – LeBron James
There is no question that LeBron James is one of the greatest of all time. If you don’t agree on that, then you may need a reality check.
It’s also no secret that King James is chasing the ghost that played in Chicago.
2020 has been a very successful year for the LA Lakers. In the offseason, they signed Anthony Davis and in the regular season the James-Davis duo clicked and gave the Lakers the first seed with a 52-19 record.
But now the real competition starts and all eyes are on the best basketball team in Los Angeles, especially on the kid from Akron.
A season ago, James failed to carry the Lakers to a playoff seed. Now, they have a shot to win it all.
The King is in must-win mode this season because missing out on another title would hurt his chances on becoming the Greatest of All-Time. He is also running out of time before his body begins to betray him. He turns 36 in December, and while he’s still playing at a world-beater level, all of that accumulated wear and tear since he debuted in 2003 has got to eventually catch up. Father Time is the one thing that nobody in the world can’t beat, and James knows that.
James has a great team, aside from Davis, he got guys like Kyle Kuzma, Danny Green, JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard to name a few. If James fails to lead this team to a title, he will never be seen as the singular GOAT.
The reason for it is simply because he failed to conquer one of the most competitive NBA playoffs in recent memory. The NBA today is very balanced, each playoff team only have two superstars on its team, and if James fails to beat them all, you already know the critics and fans would be giving it to him.
Which other players are under heavy pressure? Do you think Giannis will leave? Do you think King James is already the GOAT? Sound off below in the comment section.
