Winning an NBA Championship is both a mentally and physically tough task to accomplish. The OKC Thunder and Indiana Pacers are certainly figuring this out the hard way, especially when it comes to the latter aspect.
On top of a full 82-game season, both ball clubs have officially gone through three complete playoff rounds and are currently four games through this year's NBA Finals.
Heading into Monday's Game 5, Oklahoma City has played a whopping 92 games, nine shy of the all-time record for most logged in a single year.
Without question, these eight months of action have certainly taken their toll on the players participating in this title-round showdown, and, during Sunday's post-practice media session, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander didn't hold back when discussing just how taxing this long run has proven to be.
Thunder star acknowledges how tired he is in the 2025 NBA Finals
Though the superstar admitted that "every game's tiring" in the NBA, he made it a point to stress that "it's a lot of games" before delving into the fact that the majority of players on both the Pacers and Thunder have not gone this deep into the postseason in their careers, suggesting that everyone's essentially in the same boat.
"It's tiring for sure... I don't think I'm the only one out there that's tired. It's something new for a lot of us. A lot of us haven't been this late into the season," Gilgeous-Alexander said.
For the better part of the past week, concerns started to arise over Gilgeous-Alexander's energy status, with many arguing the 26-year-old has appeared a bit sluggish both on the court and during interviews.
The point guard is one of the most heavily utilized players in the association, as he ranked fourth in usage throughout the regular season and fifth in the playoffs out of those who averaged 20 or more minutes per game.
Because of this, coupled with the fact that he's logged a ridiculous 3,204.6 minutes in total since October, SGA being fatigued should not come as a surprise to anyone.
The most important area of emphasis moving forward is figuring out how to help lessen the load on the MVP's shoulders. By all accounts, it seems that getting his co-star, Jalen Williams, more involved should be at the top of coach Mark Daigneault's agenda.
Over these last two games, specifically, the All-Star has proven more than capable of serving as a trusty sidekick on this title-hopeful Thunder team, as he's averaged a ridiculous 26.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists on 47.2 percent throughout.
Now, it may be time for him to show his potential as more of a focal point in an effort to help alleviate the pressures on the admittedly exhausted Gilgeous-Alexander.
With Shai publicly noting in his presser that Williams is "one of the biggest reasons why we're here" and that his contributions "takes a lot of pressure off everyone else around him, including myself," all eyes should now be on J-Dub to step up to never before seen heights and help carry this weathered team past the finish line and into an NBA Championship.