5 NBA players who have the most to gain from winning a title this season

The NBA Playoffs are just around the corner and players are looking to make their mark, transforming themselves from superstars to legends. These are the moments teams have been preparing for the entire season and only one will raise the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

Playoff performance is an inescapable part of a player's legacy even when it risks overshadowing other successes. There are a lot of players who are looking to win their first championship this season and several others trying to add to an already stacked trophy case. Here are the five players with the most to gain from winning a championship.

5. Damian Lillard

When Damian Lillard was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, the expectations became championship or bust. Before coming to the Bucks, Lillard was a seven-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection, and named as one of the 75 greatest players in NBA History.

In his prime Lillard was one of the best players in the NBA. From 2018 to 2021, Lillard received MVP votes every single year and averaged 27.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists and one steal on 45/38/91 shooting splits. During this time, he made the playoffs every single year. In 2019 he led the Trail Blazers to the Western Conference Finals and had one of the greatest playoff games ever in 2021.

Those four seasons of Lillard's are some of the best of any player during this era but the conversation has always been that he is not good enough to lead a team to a championship. Not only that, but he was also in the boat of one of the greatest players to never win a title. Hence the trade to the Bucks was supposed to give him the chance to compete for a title.

Winning a title this season would remove him from the list of greatest to never win it all. Along with that, Lillard's questionable 75th Anniversary Team selection is much more reasonable and be mentioned as one of the greatest point guards ever. Lillard has a lot to gain from winning a title this season.

4. Jayson Tatum

Jayson Tatum is one of the most unique players in the NBA because ever since making the Eastern Conference Finals in his rookie season, the expectations have been on him to break through and win a championship.

Throughout Tatum's seven-year career, he has been a five-time All-Star, a three-time All-NBA selection, and will probably make his fourth this season. He has also averaged 23.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.1 steals on 46/38/84 shooting splits. He has already made the Eastern Conference Finals five times and the NBA Finals once in 2022.

This season the Boston Celtics had by far the best record in the NBA, 64-18, which was seven wins more than any other. On paper, the Celtics starting five of Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Kristaps Porzingis are the most talented in the NBA. This is the best opportunity for Tatum to finally win his ring.

Despite all of Tatum's postseason success, it is an open question as to whether he can be the best player on a championship team or if he can deliver in the biggest moments. There is a reason, despite being the best player on the best team in the NBA, he is likely to finish outside the top five in MVP voting.

Jayson Tatum winning a championship would put him in the thick of the conversation for best player in the league. Winning a championship would also allow Tatum to be recognized as one of the greatest Celtic players ever and be remembered as one of the greatest players of this era.

3. Joel Embiid

There is almost nothing negative you can say about Joel Embiid outside of his health. His first full season, 2017-18, the 76ers instantly became one of the best teams in the NBA and have been one of the best since.

Embiid is a seven-time All-Star, a five-time All-NBA selection, a three-time All-Defensive team section, an MVP and has averaged 27.9 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.7 blocks on 50/34/83 shooting splits over his career. Over the last four seasons, he's averaged 31.5 points, 10.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.5 blocks on 52/36/85 shooting splits.

Up until last season, a lot of people felt that Joel Embiid was robbed of the MVP in 2021 or 2022 so when he finally won it in 2023, he had accomplished almost everything you can in a career. The one thing he hasn't won is a championship.

In 2018, the 76ers lost in five games in the second round of the playoffs to the Celtics, led by rookie Jayson Tatum. In 2019, they lost in seven games to the Raptors in the second round because of one of the craziest game-winners ever. In 2020, they were swept by the Celtics in the first round. In 2021, they lost to fifth-seed Hawks in seven games in the second round. In 2022, they lost to the Miami Heat in six games in the second round, and last season they lost to the Celtics in seven games in the second round.

For the last six seasons, Embiid has not been able to get past the second round. The reasons include youth, teammates, health and historic bad luck. Nonetheless, the inability to even get to a conference final is harming the legacy of Joel Embiid. If he can break through the second round and win a championship, those conversations will end and he can go down as one of the most dominant bigs in NBA history.

2. Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis Antetokounmpo is the most unorthodox All-Time great in the NBA because he has accomplished so much in a short time frame. But he often isn't recognized for it because he can't shoot in an era that emphasizes shooting.  

Throughout his career, he is an eight-time All-Star, about to make his eighth All-NBA team, most likely his sixth first-team selection, and a five-time All-Defensive team selection. He's also won two MVPs, a Defensive Player of the Year, a championship and a Finals MVP and has averaged 23.4 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.2 blocks on 55/29/70 shooting splits. Since the 2017-18 season, he has averaged 29 points, 11.7 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.2 blocks on 56/29/69 shooting splits.

To put into context how great Giannis has been throughout his career, there are only two players to have won two MVPs, a DPOY, and a Finals MVP. Those two players are Giannis and Michael Jordan. He has also been unanimously selected to the All-NBA first team for five straight years. Giannis is the only player to average at least 25 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, one steal, and one block per game in multiple seasons and he just became the only player to average 30 points per game on 60 percent shooting in a season this year as well.

Even though Giannis has accomplished things that either no one has or only a few have done, people don't see him as one of the 15 greatest to ever play. Winning another championship would allow Giannis to enter the conversation as a top 10 player of all time. He would also be viewed as the greatest player of this era, and he would enhance the career of Damian Lillard. He would also have helped save the career of Mike Budenholzer, who wasn't viewed as a championship coach and Doc Rivers who is viewed as a playoff choker.

1. Nikola Jokic

Nikola Jokic is in a very similar situation as Giannis Antetokounmpo when it comes to winning a championship. For the longest time, he and the Nuggets were heavily disrespected despite the Nuggets having the third-best record in the NBA since the 2018-19 season.

During Jokic's career, he has been a six-time All-Star and a five-time All-NBA selection, making his sixth this year and which will likely be his fourth first-team selection. He's also a two-time MVP, may win his third this season, is a Finals MVP, has won a championship and has averaged 20.9 points, 10.7 rebounds, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.2 steals on 56/35/83 shooting splits. Since the 2020-21 season, he has averaged 26.1 points, 12.2 rebounds, 8.7 assists and 1.4 steals on 59/36/83 shooting splits.

Jokic, like Giannis, had accomplished so much in his career but was overlooked until last season. Ever since he won the championship, he has been viewed in a much higher regard than Giannis after he won his. Even though he is viewed as one of the greatest players ever, he has the most to gain from winning a championship.

First off, winning a championship this season would mean the Nuggets would have won back-to-back titles. This would mean that the Nuggets would be entering dynasty territory. The Nuggets aren't viewed as a super team but a title this year would give them two in two years with just one player (Jokic) making an All-Star and All-NBA.

To go even further, if Jokic does win his third MVP this year, he would become the ninth player ever to do that and the first player since LeBron to win three MVPs in four years. To add a championship and Finals MVP with a third MVP, Jokic will enter the conversation as a top-10 player in NBA history. This era of basketball would be viewed as his era, and he would be in conversation for the most unstoppable players to ever lace them up.