“Pascal’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen, ever,” said teammate Khem Birch. He wants to squeeze every of ability he has, he wants to get it out.” I’ve worked with a lot of people and he’s right up there with the hardest workers I’ve ever been around… He wants to be a great. Sometimes I have to tell him we can’t come back to the gym. He’s always tried to make winning plays and he’s always been a great guy. “He’s been that way ever since I’ve known him,” said player development guru Rico Hines, Toronto’s new assistant coach, who hosts the famed and star-studded UCLA runs in Los Angeles every summer and has been working with Siakam each offseason since before he was drafted in 2016. That’s a credit to the work he has and continues to put into his craft and his drive to be great. If not for that approach, Siakam – a former 27th-overall pick, who didn’t even start playing organized basketball until he was 17 – wouldn’t be where he is today. He should aim high and refuse to settle for anything less.
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You’ve got Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker, Anthony Davis and Paul George, and that’s not even including the centres – Jokic and Joel Embiid – or the many great guards in the game.īut whether it’s attainable or not, that’s the mindset you’d want an elite professional athlete to have. Kawhi Leonard is back healthy this season. Antetokounmpo and James aren’t going anywhere, neither is Kevin Durant. Just look at all the talent at Siakam’s position alone. There were certainly stretches where he looked the part of a top-10 player, if not top-five.īeing one of the best five players in this league is a tall task for anybody. In his sixth NBA campaign, Siakam took a big step forward as a playmaker, and while his defensive effort remained up and down, he was locked in more often than not.
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Only three players equalled those numbers over the course of the full season, and they’ve won eight of the last 14 MVP awards: Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James. In spite of it all, over the final 63 games of the season, Siakam averaged 23.5 points, 8.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists on 50 per cent shooting while leading the league in minutes played. He missed the first 10 games and needed another five or so to get his rhythm and conditioning back. Not only did the injury limit Siakam’s generally extensive offseason training regiment in the summer of 2021, but it cost him the start of last season.
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It was the latest in a series of adverse situations that he faced, dating back to the start of the pandemic, his bouts with COVID, his poor performance in the bubble and uneven 2020-21 season. It’s an ambitious goal, to be sure, but before you write it off as wishful thinking, consider the season he just had.Ī year ago at this time, Siakam was a spectator at Raptors training camp, still weeks away from being cleared by the medical staff following offseason shoulder surgery. I want to be one of the best, and I’ll do everything I can to make that happen.” I want to be a top-five player in the league. “I think for me, after the year that I had, just accomplishing that level of play – I’ve been All-NBA, I’ve been an All-Star. “It’s time to take another step,” the 28-year-old told reporters on media day. “I want to be a top-five player,” he continued – a goal he shared publically earlier this week. “That’s not good enough,” Siakam replied. Well, essentially, it meant that he was a top-15 player in the NBA. “What does this mean?” he asked of the honour that he had just received – a bit of an odd question considering he made All-NBA second team back in 2019-20, which increased the value of his contract by three per cent. The day after he was named to the All-NBA third team in late May, and just a few weeks following his team’s first-round elimination from the playoffs, Siakam called his agents. VICTORIA – Pascal Siakam didn’t allow himself much time to bask in the glory of his career season.įresh off a bounce-back 2021-22 campaign and his second All-NBA selection, the Raptors’ forward was already on a new mission.
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