You don’t have to win an NBA championship to understand how difficult it is. Just ask standout Boston Celtics player Jayson Tatum, who led the Celtics to the 2022 NBA Finals but fell short against the more seasoned and disciplined Golden State Warriors.

It’s not simply skill, focus, or having been there previously; a certain element of luck is also involved. Injuries are practically unavoidable throughout the course of four, high-intensity seven-game series, so the question becomes how vital the injured player is to the team’s title prospects, if there’s adequate depth to compensate — and how long that injury will keep them out.

On a recent episode of the “Point Forward” podcast, the St. Louis native weighed in on the arduous ride that is the quest of a title, revealing how much he’s learned about what it takes to win it all.

“I already had a lot of respect for the Warriors, their traditions, everybody on the team, staff and everybody,” Tatum said.

“It just skyrocketed after we played (them) in the finals, because it was my first time making it past the conference finals.” The first time we reached the finals, we defeated the Brooklyn Nets in four games. However, the differential in each game was less than eight points. We faced Giannis Antetokounmpo, went to seven, and beat the (Miami) Heat in seven.”

“We had a hard row to get to the finals,” the Duke alum said.

“(The Warriors) beat us — they were the better team,” Tatum explained. “We didn’t play well enough to win.”

“However, it made me realize how hard you have to work to get there.” And I had no idea how much harder, tougher, more united, and sharper you had to be to win. Obviously, winning a championship is difficult, yet many people are unaware. Only a certain number of people have won, and only a certain number of people have advanced to the championship.”

“You realize, ‘Oh, what they have been able to do is special,’ and you just have got to tip your hat — they beat us,” said the former Celtics player.

“And for them to do that four times … there’s a reason — it’s not luck — there’s a reason why (Golden State won) and it makes you go back to the drawing board,” Tatum said.

“I’m not doing enough,” he continues. “I did enough to get there, but it’s clearly some more you’ve got to do to get over that hump.”