For a long stretch of the 2010s, the regular season and NBA Playoffs felt like a prelude to the inevitable championship clash between the Warriors and Cavaliers. The only question was whether LeBron James would be able to slay the Golden State dragon.
The start of this decade, though, has been far from predictable. Each of the past three NBA Finals series has featured different teams, and there very well could be new participants again this year.
That level of parity means the difference between a deep run and an early exit could be a star's performance.
Ahead of the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs, The Sporting News staff picked a few players who will be feeling the pressure not only because of what's on the line right now, but also because of what postseason success means for their individual legacies.
ALL-NBA TEAMS: TSN's Stephen Noh explains his picks
Which player is under most pressure for 2023 NBA Playoffs?
Joel Embiid, 76ers
Embiid, the favorite to win the 2022-23 MVP award, is coming off the best regular season of his career. He averaged a league-leading 33.1 points along with 10.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.7 blocks and 1.0 steals per game. He also shot a career-high 54.8 percent from the field, dominating inside and from the midrange area.
The challenge for Embiid will be bringing that regular season brilliance to the playoffs. He has not yet advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals in his career, and this may be his best chance to break through that ceiling. The Bucks and Celtics are formidable, but they aren't flawless.
If Embiid and the Sixers come up short again, they will face serious questions in the offseason. Will James Harden decline his player option and leave in free agency? What happens to Doc Rivers? How does the front office build a roster capable of truly contending for a title?
As Embiid knows, the only way to silence the critics is to win.
"Playing in Philly is not easy," Embiid said last month. "It's a lot of pressure that comes with it. Every year, you're expected to win. It doesn't even matter if they believe that you have a good team or a good enough team to win a championship.
"That's the expectations and that's why there's not a lot of people that can play here and survive here."
— Jordan Greer (@jordangreer42)
Nikola Jokic, Nuggets
If Embiid wins the 2023 MVP award it takes a little bit of pressure off of Jokic, but there is still a massive weight on the shoulders of the back-to-back MVP.
Jokic has been nothing short of incredible again this season, posting 24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game while shooting 63.2 percent from the field and 38.3 percent from 3. He led the Nuggets to the No. 1 seed in the West for the first time in the NBA franchise's history, entering the postseason with lofty expectations.
It didn't take long for the appreciation of Jokic's unique greatness to quickly heel-turn to mounting questions about his playoff resume. While Jokic's Nuggets have won at least one playoff series in three of his four postseason appearances, he has only been to the Western Conference Finals once and is coming off of a first-round exit last year.
There is no doubt that Jokic has cemented himself among some of the greatest players to ever play the game. But if he wants to silence his biggest doubters, it starts by getting this No. 1 seeded Denver team back to the Western Conference Finals, at the least.
— Kyle Irving (@KyleIrv_)
Chris Paul, Suns
Chris Paul's Hall of Fame career is only missing one thing — an NBA championship — and this season is his best chance to win a ring and solidify his status as one of the best point guards of all time.
After making the Finals in 2021, the Phoenix Suns ran into a wall in the postseason last year, going down to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. Now armed with Kevin Durant, following a blockbuster mid-season trade, the Suns are in prime position to make a run.
Although the sample size is small, the Suns have been flawless with Durant in the lineup, going 8-0 in games he's played and alongside Devin Booker, and Deandre Ayton, Phoenix has the pieces around Paul to at least advance to the NBA Finals.
Paul struggled with injuries this season, averaging 13.9 points, 8.9 assists, and 4.3 rebounds on .444/.375/.831 shooting splits across 59 games, but at age 37, with a championship-caliber roster and the Western Conference seemingly wide open, he'll have few excuses if the Suns don't hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy in June.
— Benyam Kidane (@BenyamKidane)
James Harden, 76ers
It's strange to think that two players on the same team could be in contention for feeling the most pressure this postseason, but I'm going with Harden based on his partnership with Embiid.
Philadelphia brought Harden in to complement Embiid during a deep playoff run and this is the year when he'll feel the most pressure to show and prove that.
This past season, Harden's workload and usage were low for his standards — his 58 games played were the second-lowest total in his career and his usage rate was the lowest since his Oklahoma City days. The exhaustion reason from years past isn't going to fly in 2023.
As Jordan outlined above, Embiid could very well be the MVP of this NBA season, but if the Sixers want to make good on their title aspirations, he can't do it alone. Harden has to be the guy.
Year after year, the noise surrounding Harden's postseason shortcomings gets louder and louder, so much so that many are expecting him to come up short again this year. On one hand, expectations to come up short may seem like they would relieve pressure, but in the grand scheme of things, that makes this run legacy-defining for Harden.
This may be Harden's last real chance at having this big of a hand in a title run. What he does during this postseason could either be used for or against him when we take a retrospective look at his career.
— Gilbert McGregor (@GMcGregor21)
