Aaron Wiggins Has the Hardest Job in the NBA

It has become a meme in Thunder circles. A rallying cry on social media. Aaron Wiggins saved basketball. This led to a cult following in Bricktown soon after the No. 55 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft touched down in Oklahoma City.

On Sunday, Wiggins saved the Thunder's season. As the Oklahoma City Thunder evened up the NBA Finals at a game a piece against the Indiana Pacers, it was the swingman off the bench that played a heroic role.

Sure, the Thunder beat the Pacers comfortably, 123-107, but this cardiac club from Indiana is known for its comebacks. Including in Game 1 of these very Finals. Tried as they might to keep that fairytale alive, it was timely buckets from the Maryland product that officially dashed any hopes of the Pacers' fourth straight 2-0 series lead this postseason.

This has stayed in line with the Thunder's identity to this point. In these playoffs they have gotten surprise games from Jaylin Williams, Kenrich Williams and now Wiggins to help guide them to 13 playoff wins to date.

After not playing but 11.8 minutes per game in the Western Conference Finals, most of it garbage time in lopsided loss in Game 3, Wiggins was cold called in the NBA Finals and delivered.

"It's the hardest job in the league, I feel like. I think he's underrated -- that's a really good question. That goes underrated. It's really hard to stay engaged and stay ready. For him to be able to do that on the biggest stage he's ever played on and have a really good game, very special player. I always keep that in mind. Yeah, it's a really tough job. He does it very well," All-Star Jalen Williams said postgame.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have seen this from Wiggins routinely throughout his four-year career. His minutes fluctuations but his impact on winning never does.

"Obviously you're not going to like the downside to low minutes or not playing consistently a lot every night. But it's the NBA. There's a lot of highs and lows. There's a lot of other guys going through similar things and guys who have just kind of earned their rights. Understanding that I'm still blessed to be in the NBA and do what I love. At this level, you can't take it for granted. Just continuing to stay ready and take advantage of the opportunities I get," Wiggins explained following Game 2.

Sometimes, players just have a knack for making high-impact plays, and the 26-year-old fits into that category. The ways in which he moves the scoreboard in a positive direction are not always the same on a given night, but when called upon, he helps the Thunder win ball games.

"Win-first mentality for me. Not thinking about how many points I'm going to score or what it looks like. I just want to go out there and play more than anything. If I score zero points but I get 15 rebounds and I'm playing 20 minutes, I'm happy. Not itching to have a big game by any means. Just trying to help the team win," Wiggins detailed.

It was a special moment for the second round pick to get to display his skillset on the NBA's biggest stage, but he also played a major role in the Thunder's ability to turn in a historic 2024-25 campaign in the regular season. Wiggins went on a heater in the month of February averaging 18 points, five rebounds and two assists per game while turning in 54/45/91 shooting splits.

The future has yet to be written about his series and if Wiggins can duplicate his 18 point outing off the bench from Game 2 where he splashed in five timely triples to extinguish any Pacers run on Sunday.