SALT LAKE CITY—There’s a little conflict going on in Pascal Siakam.
He lives for team success, but must enjoy individual achievements and honors. And it was a delicate balancing act he had to pull off hanging out with the best basketball players in the world during NBA All-Star Weekend.
The Raptors don’t have a particularly good record or place among legitimate championship contenders, but Siakam is putting up historically good numbers. The former is why the Eastern Conference coaches left him out of their All-Star reserve selection. The latter — he’s the only player in the East averaging 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists per game — made his addition as an injury substitute a no-brainer.
“I’m so happy he made the All-Star team, he deserves it,” said Detroit coach Dwane Casey, who coached Siakam in Toronto early in his career. “I don’t know what the other crazy coaches – 14 coaches, 13 coaches, whatever – were thinking about. He should have been on the first ballot… He deserved it.”
This is the essential part of the apparent conflict. Team success is a big part of selection for an all-star team, as the coaches will tell you, and the Raptors’ rocky start to the season held Siakam back.
“Obviously we’ve benefited (from team success) in the past and we haven’t this year,” said Raptors coach Nick Nurse. “Surprised he didn’t make it, so I guess when they wanted to add something he had to be at the top of the list. Good for him… He certainly played like an All-Star this year.”
But getting the honor led to this little clash for the 28-year-old native of Cameroon.
“Of course, the player that I am goes hand in hand with the team’s success,” he said in an interview with the star. “I want to win, that’s the only thing I really focus on, so it was tough, especially after I didn’t make it the first time.
“It was hard to get up to want to do it, but at the end of the day it’s a blessing, and that’s how I see it: to be blessed to be able to have this opportunity. But the success of the team is above everything else for me.”
Siakam, selected by Giannis Antetokounmpo as “my African brother” in the Draft of Reserves, had 12 points in 15 minutes as Team Giannis beat Team LeBron 184-175, behind an All-Star Game record 55 points ahead of Jayson Tatum Boston, the Game MVP.
No captain lasted the entire game. Antetokounmpo scored the first basket of the game and immediately committed a foul so he could get out of the game and rest his injured wrist. James, who was hailed as the league’s top scorer at half-time, sat out the second half after suffering a hand injury.
Hamilton’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder scored nine points in 10 minutes in his All-Star debut.
Siakam should serve as the perfect example of pushing oneself to individual honor while leading by example as a leader. He made his second All-Star Game appearance on Sunday, has been named to two post-season All-NBA teams, has one championship to his tally and was the league’s most-improved player in 2019.
“I have never set a ceiling on what I can achieve. It’s just me, period,” he said. “For some people (the confidence and determination) may be seen a certain way, but I believe in myself and I believe in the work I do and I will not put limits on what I can achieve. “
When young Raptors teammates like Precious Achiuwa and Scottie Barnes don’t see what Siakam’s work ethic can bring if they don’t follow his example, it speaks to their character, not his.
“I never want to see it as a carry (a team) because I know we have tremendous talent … You want to be able to separate, that’s how I see it and that’s my way of leading,” he said. “I want to show that I’m 100 per cent committed to it and I really love that and I want to do that and I really want to win and that comes from working really, really hard every day. Go to the gym first, go last, do all the extra stuff. That’s me and that’s my way of showing it.”
It’s evident that Siakam had fun for most of the All-Star weekend, even if his late addition messed up plans for a warm-weather family vacation. He was front and center to film Mac McClung’s incredible performance in the dunk contest and he watched Barnes play in the Rising Stars event. There were events for African basketball and Basketball Without Borders that were important to him.
No question, he was one of them.
“For people who know my journey, know my story, it’s a blessing to have anything, and just knowing how hard it’s been for me to get where I am, I just feel… blessed every time.” , when good things happen because I know bad moments . So when the highlights happen, you have to be able to enjoy them.”
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