The NBA’s most improved player, Raptor Pascal Siakam, takes his game to another level with relentless hard work and just enough self-confidence,
Confident but not cocky, most-improved candidate worked hard for success
It’s not so much about getting an opportunity for many young NBA players. It’s about doing the most with it, taking a role and relishing it, gaining responsibility and not screwing it up, asking for acceptance from veteran teammates and not letting them down.
And those traits are glaring when it comes to the emergence of Pascal Siakam into not only a key player for the Raptors, but a rising star in the NBA.
All too often, those things don’t come to fruition. Young players can’t handle an increased role. Veteran teammates aren’t willing to cede any ground to an upstart. Careers sputter and never reach their full potential. Siakam? He got his chance and thrived. Teammates trusted him and he paid back that trust with continued improvement. He is humble and hungry and immensely talented and, really, just scratching the surface.
“He plays the game with a great energy, almost a joy,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said of Siakam. “He practises that way, so there’s a great motor there that can keep him going and working.
“Then he’s just found his way in a lot of stuff. For a guy like him — right time, right place, right situation, you know? He ends up with a hole kind of opening up to start the year that maybe we didn’t know was going to be there, and he jumped right through it and said, ‘OK, I’m not letting go.’
“Credit to him. He’s worked.” And worked. And worked. And worked.
“I think his motor is more special than a lot of guys,” Nurse said. “There’s a lot of guys walking around the league with the same quickness and jumping ability and length. But he’s put it together, taken advantage of the skills.”
Needed to be a better ballhandler? He tightened up his dribbling so much that he’s lethal in leading the transition offence.
Needed to exploit his speed advantage? He gets six or eight or 10 points every game simply by beating opponents down the floor.
Needed to broaden his shooting depth? He hit the gym and worked tirelessly, and all of a sudden he’s Ray Allen-like from the corner, having made 12 of his last 16 three-point attempts. This from a guy who missed 37 of 38 tries at one point last season.
“You remember me saying, ‘Look, he’s a good shooter, he’s going to start making ’em.’ I said that a lot early in the year,” Nurse said.
“I know his mechanics are good. They’ve been good here now for 18 months. The work has been there. He does it religiously. He shoots a really, really high percentage in practice. It was just a matter of time — getting comfortable, seeing them go in in a game — so I’m not all that surprised.”
One of Siakam’s more endearing qualities is his humility, which blends perfectly with his self-confidence. He knows he’s good, but he never lords it over anyone. He works hard, but doesn’t hammer that fact home in every interview. The 24-yearold just does what he does and continues to get better.
The three-point shooting is just another example of how he has grown into the game.
“I started shooting threes two or three years ago,” he said. “I know it’s going to be hard. I’m not my best. I’m nowhere near close to that. I’m always going to try to get better and obviously just trust my work. I always put the work in.”
Siakam’s season will almost assuredly end with him being named the league’s most improved player. It’s hard to think of anyone who has come close to advancing as far as he has in such a short time.
He will undoubtedly be asked if he’s surprised by how far he’s come, and the native of Cameroon will humbly say no.
“I always get that question. What do you expect me to say? I was surprised? I don’t think I’m surprised,” Siakam said.
“That’s why you work. If I didn’t think I would be at this level, I wouldn’t be at this level. I think it’s just me believing in myself and continuing to trust the work that I put in.”