"I love helping people": Siakam embracing veteran role with young Raptors
Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam hasn’t always been known for being the most vocal during his NBA career.
But the mild-mannered Siakam hasn’t been shy to pick up the accolades during his time with Toronto, landing a spot on the All-NBA third team last week.
It was the second time he’s landed on the year-end list, making the NBA’s second team back in 2019-20 where he was also named an All-Star for the first time in his career.
With long-time team veteran Kyle Lowry departing for the Miami Heat last offseason, Siakam admitted it was a bit out of his “comfort zone” to take on the leadership reins of the team alongside Fred VanVleet.
“I don’t know if I feel like [my teammates] need my help or things like that,” Siakam told reporters at a media availability this past weekend. “I always ask myself those questions, but I got better. Those things kind of go away, once you start seeing the feedback that you get from it. It just, it makes me happy. I mean, I love helping people.”
In 68 games this season, Siakam averaged 22.8 points, as well as career highs of 8.5 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 37.9 minutes per game.
But after a season as serving as one of the team’s veteran players, Siakam said he’s found a new appreciation for his leadership skills.
“It makes me happy to know that I can talk to somebody that is going through a similar period that I’ve been through,” Siakam said. “If I can give them one point or two to actually help them, I think that that will give me great gratitude.”
The Raptors sported the league’s 10th-youngest opening day roster this past season, including NBA Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes. 15 of the 23 players to suit up this season were in their first year with the team.
“We felt like we had an all-new team, basically,” Siakam added. “But now, there’s a little bit of more familiarity, we know each other a little bit more and… Scottie is not a rookie anymore. We don’t have rookies anymore. Everyone is evolving, everyone’s getting better.”
I asked Siakam about what next season looks like with some more familiarity throughout the #Raptors lineup:
"Scottie's not a rookie anymore."
Full answer: https://t.co/o34VEQrxG3 pic.twitter.com/KzsQXzex2N
— Adam Laskaris (@adam_la2karis) May 27, 2022
Toronto currently has 11 players signed through for next season, including all six of their most-commonly used players this year.
Siakam also spoke about the Raptors culture of on-court accountability that helped them to a 48-win season this past year, saying the team is “expecting more” in 2022-23.
“We are young and we’re going to make mistakes, but I think now we can hold each other a little bit more accountable knowing we’ve been through a season and and we kind of know a little bit what to expect,” he said. “You’re always gonna learn along the journey, but I think that we got a little bit more wise and, and we understand each other a little bit better. The chemistry is going to continue to grow, and we’re going to work on that as much as we can.”
Siakam touched on getting into basketball later than most of his peers. Growing up in Cameroon, he didn’t even particularly begin playing basketball until attending a camp in 2011 held by former NBA player Luc Mbah a Moute.
“I feel like I have a different type of vision on that,” he said. “Something I always have to remind myself, 10 years ago, I don’t know what I was doing. I have a different path. Everyone started playing when they were three, four years old… it’s all they know.”
Siakam also has big personal ambition for next season with the Raptors.
“I expect myself to play at a level that I probably haven’t played before,” he said. “I feel like there’s there’s always more to achieve. And I’m excited about that.
As for the advice he’d offer a teenage version of himself?
Pascal Siakam on what he'd tell a teenage version of himself:
"Be fearless, be patient. It's gonna be hard. It's not gonna be easy. Just always believe in yourself. You are way more powerful than what you can imagine… the world is yours."
(Q via @Amit_Mann) pic.twitter.com/suj4Hh6HbI— Adam Laskaris (@adam_la2karis) May 27, 2022
“Be fearless, be patient, it’s gonna be hard, it’s not gonna be easy, and just always believe in yourself,” Siakam added. “Man, you are way more powerful than what you can imagine and those thoughts that you have in your head that you thought were maybe too great achieve or those goals that you feel are too great to achieve, don’t underestimate yourself, go for it, stay humble, work hard, and the world is yours.”
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