Siakam accidentally thanks Raptors at Pacers press conference
Pascal Siakam may no longer be a member of the Toronto Raptors, but the team is clearly still on his mind.
Today, the former Toronto star met the media in Indiana to officially announce his previously reported multi-year contract extension with the Pacers.
But in his opening remarks, Siakam had a bit of a slip-up. He accidentally thanked his old team instead of his current one.
“I want to thank the Raptors- the Pacers organization just for trusting me. I think it’s so it’s so hard [to play in the NBA sometimes], for me I spent my whole life with one team [before the trade],” Siakam said.
Pascal accidentally thanked the Raptors instead of the Pacers 🥺 https://t.co/cOcXwptRLs pic.twitter.com/x99TYhOWAj
— OG's Scarf (@OGsHeadband1) July 8, 2024
During his eight seasons with the franchise, Siakam was a key piece of Toronto’s 2019 NBA championship run while also picking up a whole host of individual accolades. He was also named a two-time NBA All-Star, the recipient of the 2018-19 Most Improved Player award, and two All-NBA selections.
Though he was one of the most popular players in franchise history — along with one of their most successful — indications from the past season suggested all along that Toronto was looking to move on from their star man.
On January 18, just about halfway through the year, the Raptors finally pulled the trigger, moving Siakam to Indiana for a multi-asset package centred around three first-round picks as well as Bruce Brown.
Siakam averaged 22.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.9 assists in 39 games for the Raptors this season while putting up 21.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in 41 games for the Pacers following the trade. In the postseason, those numbers stayed about on line, as he averaged 21.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 3.8 assists in 17 games in the 2024 playoffs with Indiana, who fell to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.
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