What it Means to Be Clutch in Basketball’s Biggest Moments

Legends are made in the N.B.A. finals, which begin Tuesday. Basketball players who have come through in high-stakes moments like this explain how they did it.

They are the moments dreamed about in childhood while on an empty playground. An imaginary game clock dwindles. A couple of dribbles are taken. A game-winning shot is launched. “Throwing out the trash. Playing in the backyard with my brothers,” Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale said. “There’s always a countdown for everything.” “Just in the house messing around on a Little Tikes hoop,” the former Gonzaga guard Jalen Suggs said. “You always practice, messing around, pretending to be in those moments.”