They say that time is a healer, but sometimes, as the years roll on, time can also provide you with greater insight to past experiences.
NBA champion star: “I enjoyed it, but not at the level I think I should. It was the most fun I’ve ever had playing basketball”
More than five years after the Raptors’ only NBA title, Pascal Siakam admits he didn’t fully grasp what they achieved, at least, not at the time.
Siakam reflects on coming through the NBA
On The Young Man and the Three podcast, the now-Pacers forward opened up about the 2019 championship run, his breakout Finals performance, and what it all meant in hindsight. “I enjoyed it and celebrated it,” he said, “but it wasn’t to the level that I feel like I should have.”
Siakam, now 31, was just in his third NBA season when he helped power Toronto past the Warriors. Game 1 of the Finals? A blur of dominance: 32 points on 14-of-17 shooting, plus eight rebounds and five assists. But during the moment, he was too locked in to realize just how special it was.
“I’m just in it, just really playing,” he said. “One of those moments where I watch back and I’m like, ‘oh my God, that was incredible.‘”
Watch the conversation unfold for yourself:
Raptors rising expectations never fulfilled
After lifting the trophy, Siakam expected more of the same. “I’m thinking ‘oh, we’re gonna do this again,‘” he said. But the Raptors never made it back. Kawhi Leonard left. The pandemic hit. The team played a season in Tampa. Toronto stumbled, and Siakam’s role – and confidence – took hits.
Only now, post-trade, as a key veteran with Indiana, does he recognize how rare that 2019 squad really was. “We had Freddy, Norm, Marc, Serge. You go over here and it’s Kawhi. You set a screen, it’s me,” he said. “The defence was crazy.”
He credited coach Nick Nurse for tactics “not common in the NBA,” especially in the series against the Bucks. And while Siakam has added two All-Star nods to his resume, nothing compares to that first ring. “The most fun I ever had playing basketball.”
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