Pascal Siakam reflects on 'insane' run to 2019 Toronto Raptors NBA title
It’s hard to discuss the history of the Toronto Raptors without including a large chapter about the rise of Pascal Siakam.
A 27th overall draft pick in 2016, Siakam built up quite the resume in Toronto: two All-Star appearances, two All-NBA appearances, and the NBA’s Most Improved Player award in 2018-19, playing 510 games for the franchise over eight years. Of course, his crowning achievement came as a key starter on the 2019 roster when the franchise won its first-ever NBA title.
But it all came to an end nearly 15 months ago, when Toronto shipped him off to the Indiana Pacers, abruptly ending his time with the franchise.
Despite the exit, Siakam recently took some time to reflect on his years in Toronto, sharing a few of his memories from his time in the city.
“I mean, Game 1 of the finals was insane. I didn’t really like think of it [in the moment], I’m just in it, I’m just really playing… I think that was one of those moments that I watched
back and I’m like ‘oh my God that was incredible’? Like this was really the NBA Finals,” Siakam said in an interview that dropped this week with the Young Man and the Three podcast.
Siakam put up 32 points to go along with eight rebounds and five assists in Game 1 victory, a 118-109 win for Toronto at home in their first time hosting the NBA Finals.
Siakam credited much of the team’s success to his former head coach, Nick Nurse, who won the NBA’s coach of the year the following season.
“He would just come one day and just introduce something like the day before the game, and we would do it during the game. Just little things like that, I’d never really seen… like [the strategy of bringing in an extra player to defend on the] strong side corner. Most coaches always told me you’re not supposed to do that. We did a lot of things that a lot of people didn’t do back then. Credit to [my teammates], we [had] a lot of smart guys.”
Unsurprisingly, Siakam also gave props to Kawhi Leonard, who won the 2019 NBA Finals MVP during his lone season with the Raptors.
“I think for me, there was a point where he looked like nobody can stop him, like he could just do whatever he wants. There were points where you just give him the ball and he’s just going to get to one spot, and there was nothing you could do about it… the handle was tight, the three was there, and then he would go and dunk on you too,” Siakam added.
While the Raptors were officially eliminated from playoff contention on Tuesday night, the same can’t be said of Siakam’s Pacers, who sit fourth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 44-31. With the NBA playoffs getting underway on April 19, he’s only a few short weeks away from getting another chance to add to his hardware collection.