The 2024 NBA Finals is just one day away from starting, with fans anticipating a great matchup between the Dallas Mavericks and the Boston Celtics. The Finals are a place that starts with many questions and storylines coming into it. This year the Finals have two players searching for their first ring in Luka Dončić and Jayson Tatum. Both players are trying to make a name for themselves in these Finals, which brings up a very important question. Who is under more pressure to win their first ring, Luka or Tatum?
Who is Under More Pressure: Luka Doncic or Jayson Tatum?
The Case for Luka Doncic
Luka Doncic is in a very interesting situation where he faces pressure to win his first ring, even though this is his first time in the Finals. He is trying to become one of the best basketball players ever in the NBA and to be able to do that you need to win multiple rings. With the West being as deep as it is, with a lot of young talented teams, it just makes it that much tougher for Luka to get back to the Finals. Luka has a lot of things on his resume already being named to the All-NBA first team five times, winning Rookie of the Year, winning the EuroLeague championship, EuroLeague MVP, and a lot more all while still being just 25 years old. The one thing he is missing is winning MVP and the NBA Championship.
If Luka can win the title, there will be a real argument for him being the best player in the world as well as the new face of the NBA. Even with this being his first appearance in the NBA Finals there is still a lot of pressure on him to win the title this year. So, he can start to enter conversations that he wants to be in.
The Case for Jayson Tatum
Jayson Tatum is in a different situation than Luka because this is his second appearance in the Finals. There are a lot of narratives out there about him like: Can he be the number one guy on a championship team? Does he have that alpha mentality that you need to be great? For Tatum to be able to change these narratives, he will need to win a championship. He was on the best team in the NBA and was barely in the top six for MVP voting. Usually, that doesn’t happen when you are leading a team to 64 wins. That shows you what people think of Jayson Tatum and how some even question if he is the best player on his team.
With this being his second appearance in the Finals, and with the Celtics going all out with trading for guys like Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis. There is a lot of pressure on Tatum to win the championship this year. If he is unable to, there will be a real argument if he can ever get a ring. There also could be rumbles about if he is overrated and if you can win with him being your best player.
The Last Word
Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum both have different and unique reasons why they both have pressure to win their first ring. However, it just seems like there is more pressure on Tatum to be able to win, because of these three simple reasons. This is his second appearance in the Finals and Luka’s First. Tatum is trying to change the narratives surrounding him, while Luka is trying to use this championship to improve his legacy. Finally, if Luka loses he will still be considered a top-five guy in the league with a great career still ahead of him, whereas if Tatum loses there will be a lot more question marks about him. Because of those reasons, Jayson Tatum has more pressure on him to win the Finals than Luka.
