Great regular seasons bring NBA players wealth and fame, but it`s success in the playoffs that truly makes them legends. This standard has always held true and will continue to do so.
Charles Barkley, whether fairly or not, is often judged by his lack of a championship. Kevin Garnett went from being seen as a struggling star after seven consecutive first-round playoff exits with Minnesota, to embodying leadership after winning a title in Boston. Jerry West was one of the league`s great champions, but the anguish of losing his first eight trips to the Finals significantly defined his career in many ways. As Pat Riley, a man with nine rings, famously said, “there is winning and there is misery.”
More recently, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic used their title runs to validate the MVP trophies they had already earned.
As the playoffs commence, here are six players who have not yet won a championship and for whom a deep playoff run this season could cement their place in the game`s history.
Luka Doncic, Los Angeles Lakers
Doncic did not request a trade, nor did he prioritize moving to Los Angeles, unlike many stars over the decades.
However, he is now a Laker, which comes with specific expectations. Doncic`s brilliant run to the Finals last season included a jaw-dropping Western Conference Finals performance—he averaged 33 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals—which only increased the stakes. Yet, his numbers dipped in the Finals; his 24% 3-point shooting and 23 turnovers in the five games against the Boston Celtics were below his standard, and his Game 3 disqualification showed a need for a better performance.
Doncic has started strong, scoring 37 points in Game 1 of the Lakers` first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, although the Lakers lost in a 117-95 blowout.
Another deep run, now with his new team, would not only impact a still-disappointed Dallas Mavericks fanbase but also provide a strong proof of concept for the Lakers, both presently and for the long term.
James Harden, LA Clippers
Harden has had an unusual career trajectory for a superstar. Following the self-inflicted negative reaction stemming from three trade requests in less than five years, his play over the past two seasons has actually led to him being *underrated*. He scored seven of his 32 points—a team high—in overtime of the Clippers` Game 1 loss, then took a backseat to Kawhi Leonard while posting a solid 18 points and seven assists in Game 2. The 11-time All-Star and 2017-18 NBA MVP, unfortunately, has a lengthy list of disappointing playoff games on his resume, which has contributed to a narrative that he struggles in crunch time. However, he has played in more than 125 career playoff games because, an underappreciated statistic, Harden has made the playoffs in each of his 16 seasons. Still, he hasn`t reached the Finals since 2011-12 with the Oklahoma City Thunder, his third season, and hasn`t advanced beyond the second round since 2018 with the Houston Rockets, three teams ago. Leading the Clippers to the Finals this year would quiet some of his many critics, who have argued for years that such an accomplishment wasn`t possible.
Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers
Mitchell has been on teams with a .600 winning percentage or higher in five different seasons. Twice he has led those teams to win more than 70% of their games, including this season`s 64-win Cavs. Mitchell has had a number of terrific individual seasons. He has made six All-Star teams and is expected this season to make the All-NBA team for a second time. Mitchell has made the playoffs eight times—five with the Jazz and three with the Cavaliers—but has yet to lead his team past the second round. Last season, the Cavs were routed by the eventual champions, the Boston Celtics, with Mitchell sitting out for two of those games.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
After finishing as the runner-up last year, SGA is the leading candidate to win MVP this season. This honor carries tremendous weight and is the biggest indicator of a potential Hall of Fame career. It also brings with it a certain expectation that there is only one ultimate goal left to attain: leading a team to a championship. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, despite a resume that is about to include three consecutive first-team All-NBA honors and three straight top-five MVP finishes, is entering a different level of pressure. After an early exit last year despite the Thunder being the No. 1 seed in the West, not making a deep run this year will have reputational consequences—something Gilgeous-Alexander hasn`t yet faced.
Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
Brunson`s reputation in New York, where he led the first back-to-back 50-win seasons since Pat Riley`s teams in the 1990s and is the first Knick player since Richie Guerin in the 1960s to average 25 points and five assists in back-to-back seasons, is stellar. But there is already growing impatience that this Knicks era of contention hasn`t been prolific enough and that this team, which made a pair of all-in trades last summer, won`t be able to end the Knicks` title drought, which stretches back to 1973. Brunson, as the heart of this core, is the face of both the team`s successes and its failures. The 0-10 record against the Cavaliers, Celtics, and Thunder has only increased the pressure to reach the conference finals for the first time since 2000.
Jimmy Butler, Golden State Warriors
No one questions Playoff Jimmy`s ability to deliver when it matters; he led the Heat to a string of upsets and two Finals runs during his time in Miami. But the unceremonious way his tenure there ended and the manner in which he handled his trade demand process, ultimately leading to a nine-figure extension from the Warriors, makes postseason dominance a necessity. In other words, he needs to be worth the investment.
He usually is. Butler has made a tradition of saving his best performances for the playoffs. (He hasn`t made an All-Star Game since 2022 and has made just one All-NBA team over the past five years.) His new team—a dynasty in the Bay Area—is counting on it.
He`s off to a fine start. After sneaking into the playoffs via the play-in this season, the Warriors claimed Game 1 of their first-round series against the No. 2 Houston Rockets. Butler had 25 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 steals. What Playoff Jimmy has never done? Win a title.
