There Are A Ton Of Players Whose Entire Career Narrative Could Be Changed By Winning A Title This Year
Juan Ocampo. Getty Images.I was having this debate with a friend of mine over GChat today and decided to take the question to the masses. For me, one of the reasons this year's playoffs is going to be so interesting isn't solely just because things are wide open. But because the fact that it is so wide open could drastically change how we view the career narratives of some of the best players the league has.
It's important to clarify what I mean when I talk about a player's career narrative. A very popular answer to this question was Chris Paul, but I tend to disagree. Whether he wins a title or not, Paul is already considered one of the greatest point guards of all time and a first ballot hall of famer. It would just be a nice cherry on top of an awesome career, but it wouldn't change the narrative around him in my opinion.
As of the writing of this blog there are about 97ish responses, let's pick a couple
Two guys who were very high on my list and might actually be the right answer. With George, he's largely considered a top 15 player in the league, is a regular season monster, but we all know about his playoff shortcomings. That's sort of becoming his narrative and the bubble sure as shit didn't help. If the Clippers win their first ever title and George plays really well? That narrative surrounding him changes drastically.
Then there's Giannis. It's rare that we see someone so dominant, win multiple MVPs, be argued as one of the best players on the planet, and still have serious questions if you can build a championship team with him being the centerpiece. Like George, his recent playoff outcomes don't help matters much, but if he pulls this off and the Bucks finally win a title for the first time since 1970-71 and he does it without a "superteam" and in a small market, he gets a massive career narrative boost in my opinion
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Here's my thing with Harden. He should get a massive career narrative boost if the Nets win the title and he plays a major role, but we all know he won't. He's going to get the KD/GS treatment. Has KD's narrative changed since he won those two titles? For a lot of people it didn't change a damn thing. I find that outrageous, but it's the truth. The same will the said about Harden. They'll say he proved nothing as a playoff performer and needed to join a superteam to win.
Can you imagine if Westbrook somehow leads the Wizards to the title? I'm pretty sure people's heads would explode. I almost want it to happen. This might be the best answer now that I think about it out loud. Think of how many people discredit what Westbrook does because he doesn't have a ring. How his style doesn't translate to winning. He may not care about the narrative change, but that would be a massive one.
Another good one. Anyone with eyes and a working brain knows how fucking dominant Embiid is. But what's the knock on him so far? Can't get over the hump in the playoffs. Regular season hero, postseason zero. If he carries the Sixers with an MVP caliber regular season and then puts the team on his back and the Process finally wins a title? A lot changes about how we think and talk about Joel Embiid. You could say the same thing about Simmons as well.
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I do wonder if Dame has the same issue as Chris Paul in this exercise. Do people really talk about Dame as a playoff failure the same way they do someone like CP3 or Paul George? I feel like his narrative is pretty well established that I don't know if it changes with a title. He's already considered a top 5 PG in the league, but maybe it would adjust to the idea that he can actually be a #1 on a title team?
If Melo wins it, it'll be in a supporting role so I don't think that changes much, plus he's been in the league so long his narrative is pretty much already written in stone. He's one of the best individual scorers the league has ever seen and a first ballot HOFer. That's still true even without the ring
Jokic is interesting because it would force people to actually admit that he's a fucking unicorn. Then you wouldn't have shit like what we saw with Nick Wright today. I don't know if it "changes" the narrative around Jokic as much as it officially stamps his narrative as one of the best players in the league and a generational talent. People think that now if you watch him, but it would be known to the masses if that happened.
Holy shit, imagine if Randle carries the Knicks to a title? It doesn't just change the narrative of his career, he becomes a living god. I mean that whole heartedly. He's already done a great job of changing his narrative this season to become a legit monster who dominates pretty much every night, but a title in that city, for that team, would be absolutely insane. It would probably what, vault him to a top 10 player? Who else can you say that about.
For me, if we kept things to players who actually have a legit shot, I'd probably go
Giannis
George
Embiid
Harden
Of the names I saw, there were definitely some Celtics in there and I chose to leave those out on purpose. I'm not jinxing shit. There would be some interesting narrative changes there for sure, but I'm not saying a peep until it actually happens and then I will be even more insufferable. It's happened 1 time in my 34 years on this planet so you never know!