2025-26 NBA Fatigue Index

[SBR Andy]

SBR's 2025-26 NBA Fatigue Index reveals the hidden toll of the regular season — from air miles to back-to-backs — ranking every team by how punishing their schedule really is. See which clubs face the toughest path to the playoffs.

Key Takeaways
- Grizzlies take the top spot: Memphis takes No. 1 on this year’s Fatigue Index despite having one of the youngest rosters in basketball (average age: 25.2). The Grizzlies’ blistering Pace (103.69) and a punishing European swing push their fatigue score to 113.3, the highest in the league. Their style of play, fast, physical, and relentless, means recovery time is precious, and scarce.

- The West is a War Zone: The Warriors (107.5) and Clippers (106.2) rank second and third overall, both suffering from aging rosters (average age 29-plus) and long-haul West Coast travel. The West’s vast geography continues to make it a logistical gauntlet, with nine of the top 10 most fatigued teams situated there.

- Portland’s Heavy Mileage: Despite not taking the top spot (No. 4 on the Index), Portland still faces one of the most grueling travel slates: 50,506 miles, 48 time zones crossed, and 15 back-to-backs. Even for a relatively young team, those miles add up, and so does the fatigue.

- Youth and Efficiency Pay Off: Teams like Brooklyn (52.7), Boston (40.0), and Charlotte (43.9) enjoy lighter schedules and the physiological advantage of younger, slower-paced rosters. Boston, in particular, combines the league’s lowest Fatigue Index with one of its slowest tempos (96.59 Pace last season).


Methodology
The goal of the Fatigue Index is to convert the various challenges of an NBA team's 82-game schedule into a single, comparable number. This helps quantify which teams face the biggest hidden disadvantage before the season even begins.

For each of the 30 teams, we collected eight key metrics for the entire season:

• Total Miles Traveled: The cumulative air miles for all road trips.

• Average Trip Length: The average number of games per road trip.

• Time Zones Crossed: The total number of time-zone changes during travel.

• Number of Back-to-Back Games (B2Bs): Games played on consecutive days with no rest.

• Longest Road Trip: The number of games in the longest continuous stretch away from home.

• Longest Home Stand: The number of games in the longest continuous stretch at home.

• Average Team Age: The average age of a team where the older a team is the greater the impact on fatigue.

• Pace: A stat that measures the number of possessions a team has per 48 minutes. We took every team’s Pace from last season and applied it to the formula where the higher the Pace, the more fatigued a team becomes.

Rank	Team	Fatigue Index	Miles	Time Zones	Back-to-Backs
1	Memphis Grizzlies	113.3	50,464	50	14
2	Golden State Warriors	107.5	46,849	46	16
3	LA Clippers	106.2	46,572	46	15
4	Portland Trail Blazers	105.9	50,506	48	15
5	Dallas Mavericks	100.2	45,846	38	16
6	Phoenix Suns	100	46,551	50	16
7	Orlando Magic	98.8	54,279	38	14
8	San Antonio Spurs	94.9	46,394	36	16
9	Utah Jazz	94.7	45,120	42	14
10	Miami Heat	94.1	46,997	30	15
11	Sacramento Kings	93	44,899	44	15
12	Oklahoma City Thunder	92.8	44,550	40	14
13	Houston Rockets	92.3	45,431	34	14
14	Denver Nuggets	91.5	43,850	36	14
15	Los Angeles Lakers	89.6	43,150	44	15
16	Minnesota Timberwolves	88.2	44,200	38	14
17	New Orleans Pelicans	86.3	43,500	34	14
18	Atlanta Hawks	84.1	42,100	32	15
19	Cleveland Cavaliers	77.7	41,500	30	15
20	Detroit Pistons	72.7	40,900	28	15
21	Washington Wizards	72.1	40,300	26	15
22	New York Knicks	68.3	39,700	32	16
23	Chicago Bulls	59.1	40,125	32	15
24	Philadelphia 76ers	56.9	38,500	28	16
25	Indiana Pacers	56.3	39,400	28	14
26	Brooklyn Nets	52.7	39,100	30	16
27	Milwaukee Bucks	52.7	39,558	30	15
28	Toronto Raptors	49.4	39,214	30	16
29	Charlotte Hornets	43.9	38,970	28	16
30	Boston Celtics	40	38,156	28	16

Rank	Team	Fatigue Index	Longest Road Trip	Longest Homestand	Average Age	Pace
1	Memphis Grizzlies	113.3	5	9	25.2	103.69
2	Golden State Warriors	107.5	6	8	29	99.37
3	LA Clippers	106.2	7	5	29.3	98.24
4	Portland Trail Blazers	105.9	5	5	25.7	99.51
5	Dallas Mavericks	100.2	6	6	27.4	100.15
6	Phoenix Suns	100	6	5	26	98.31
7	Orlando Magic	98.8	5	6	25	96.51
8	San Antonio Spurs	94.9	5	6	25	100.08
9	Utah Jazz	94.7	6	5	26.3	100.85
10	Miami Heat	94.1	5	4	26.1	97.08
11	Sacramento Kings	93	5	5	27.1	98.91
12	Oklahoma City Thunder	92.8	5	6	25	100.9
13	Houston Rockets	92.3	6	5	26.1	99.03
14	Denver Nuggets	91.5	5	6	27	100.67
15	Los Angeles Lakers	89.6	5	5	28.2	98.34
16	Minnesota Timberwolves	88.2	5	5	26.2	97.95
17	New Orleans Pelicans	86.3	5	5	25.3	99.77
18	Atlanta Hawks	84.1	5	5	25.3	103.41
19	Cleveland Cavaliers	77.7	5	5	26.7	100.31
20	Detroit Pistons	72.7	5	5	25	100.27
21	Washington Wizards	72.1	5	5	25.4	101.82
22	New York Knicks	68.3	5	5	28.1	97.64
23	Chicago Bulls	59.1	5	6	25.5	103.61
24	Philadelphia 76ers	56.9	5	5	26.5	98.13
25	Indiana Pacers	56.3	5	7	25.9	100.76
26	Brooklyn Nets	52.7	5	5	23.8	96.73
27	Milwaukee Bucks	52.7	5	5	27.2	99.92
28	Toronto Raptors	49.4	5	5	25.1	100.62
29	Charlotte Hornets	43.9	5	7	25.6	98.22
30	Boston Celtics	40	5	4	25.6	96.59

[JAKEPEAVY21]

NBA Fatigue for viewers is a real thing as well. I used to love the NBA growing up in the 80s/90s but reached my breaking point around 5-10 years ago and have never gone back and doubt I ever will. Adam Silver ruined the league that David Stern built.