The Philadelphia 76ers finished the 2022-23 NBA season with a 54-28 record. That mark represents the team's highest win total since the 2000-01 season -- the last time that the franchise advanced to the NBA Finals. This year, similar playoff results are expected, and as a result, the Sixers enter the postseason facing a whole lot of pressure, both collectively and individually.
As a team, the Sixers are one of the league's oldest and most storied franchises, but they haven't made it out of the Eastern Conference since 2001, as mentioned, and they haven't hung a championship banner since 1983 -- before a prominent percentage of the current fanbase was even born.
The organization underwent the most controversial rebuilding strategy in recent memory, and Philly fans and skeptics alike are impatiently waiting for "The Process" years to yield something greater than a second-round exit. The frustration in the city will be palpable with another early postseason goodbye. Plus, there's always the concern that key contributors could grow frustrated with continued disappointments in April and May.
The Sixers also have a payroll north of $150 million this season, and it's safe to say that the heat is on. As a well-regarded and widely respected executive who has yet to construct a championship roster, president of basketball operations Daryl Morey will shoulder a lot of that organizational pressure.
Then there's the players. James Harden has established himself as one of the best -- and most productive -- offensive players ever, and he has the hardware to prove it. Harden is a 10-time All-Star, a three-time scoring champ, a former MVP, and he's a shoo-in to be a first ballot Hall of Famer when he ultimately calls it a career. However, despite all of his success, he has developed a reputation as an underwhelming postseason performer.
He's been to the playoffs every single season of his career -- an impressive feat -- but he's only made it to the Finals once -- back in 2012 when he was a reserve guard with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Specifically, Harden has been criticized for playing poorly, or at least not up to his usual high level, in elimination games. Most recently, he looked mostly pedestrian during Philadelphia's playoff run last season.
A championship ring is really the only thing missing from Harden's already-brimful trophy case, and adding one would certainly help to solidify his legacy as an all-time great. After all, legacy is all that Harden is really playing for at this point, and he has an opportunity to completely rewrite a long-lingering narrative with a great stretch of play this spring. On the flip side though, a rough run will only amplify that very same narrative.
Additionally, Harden, 33, is widely expected to turn down his player option for next season and look for a new deal in free agency over the offseason, and any new contract that he may get in Philadelphia, or elsewhere, will be based, at least in part, on how he performs in these playoffs. If he plays well, the price goes up. It could be argued that Harden is under as much pressure as any player in the league this postseason.
Similarly, reigning two-time NBA scoring champion Joel Embiid has his own playoff demons that he needs to exorcise. Like Harden, Embiid has established himself as a generational talent. He's finished as the MVP runner-up in each of the last two seasons, and he has an excellent opportunity to win the award this season. He's stamped his name all of the Sixers' record books and is clearly on a Hall-of-Fame path, However, he's never advanced past the conference semifinals. In his five previous playoff appearances, he's been eliminated in the second round four times, and the first round once.
Not all of Philadelphia's recent postseason failures can be pinned on the star center, but as the team's best player he's going to get the bulk of the blame. He's certainly talented enough to lead a team on a deep playoff run, and the fact that he's been unable to do so to this point in his career is the biggest blemish on his otherwise sterling resume. Plus, Embiid himself has admitted that he hasn't always played as well as he would have liked to in the postseason. Embiid is several years younger than Harden, so his postseason track record isn't as long, but they're both battling to dispel the same narrative.
Lastly, there's Doc Rivers, who is entering his third postseason with Philadelphia. After consecutive second-round exits, the pressure is on Rivers to lead the team to the conference finals, at least. If he's unable to, there could be repercussions. Rivers has been a solid regular season coach for the Sixers, but his lengthy playoff resume includes several collapses, as he's the only coach in league history to lose multiple series after building a 3-1 lead. He was able to guide the Celtics to a title in 2008, but he's been unable to duplicate that success since.
Rivers could be coaching for his job this postseason, and though he almost assuredly isn't concerned with how he's perceived, he's also coaching for his legacy, much like Harden and Embiid are playing for theirs.
The Sixers are far from the only team who will be under a microscope this postseason, but I'm hard-pressed to think of another squad facing quite as much collective and individual pressure. Another early exit for Philadelphia could lead to a shakeup that could reverberate throughout the entire organization.
