NBA
Siakam Feels He Has More Respect With Pacers Than Raptors
Vivek Jacob is a freelance sports writer with over seven years experience. During this time, he has written for outlets including The Athletic, Yahoo Sports, Sportsnet, CBC, and Complex. Primarily covering the NBA, Vivek also covers tennis, soccer, and cricket.
Get to know Vivek Jacob betterPublished06 Apr 2025
Speaking on ‘The Young Man and The Three’ podcast, Pascal Siakam hinted that he gets more respect from the Indiana Pacers than he did at the end of his Toronto Raptors tenure.
Siakam was traded by the Raptors to the Pacers in January last year for Bruce Brown, Kira Lewis, Jordan Nwora, two 2024 first-round picks, and a conditional 2026 first-round pick.
“Being on a team where you’re there for a while and you see new people coming in and out, your voice can fade a little bit,” Siakam said. “When you go to a new organization, new situation, they see you as somebody that’s won, that’s done it at the highest level. I think it just helps a lot as a player to feel comfortable, letting your voice kinda lead.
“I’m not a ra-ra person, but just finding my way in that has been a blessing to have a team like that and just continue to have my leadership be a part of the program. For me, just do what I do every single day, it’s like clockwork for me.”
During his Raptors tenure, Siakam was a two-time All-Star and won an NBA championship in 2019. He also won the Most Improved Player award in 2019 and was the second-leading scorer on the Raptors’ title team.
Siakam was an All-Star once again this season and is averaging 20.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.4 assists. He’s shooting 51.9 percent from the field including 38.6 percent from three.
Pacers Gearing Up For Playoffs
Siakam made the appearance on the show alongside teammate Andrew Nembhard, discussing where the Pacers are at. The full episode is below:
Indiana is currently locked into the fourth seed, three games behind the New York Knicks for third and three games ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks in fifth.
It remains to be seen if they’ll go up against the Bucks or Pistons, as Detroit is just a half-game behind Milwaukee.
What is most encouraging is that Tyrese Haliburton is back in full flight after a tough first half of the season. With him at his best, the plan would definitely be to try and at least repeat the conference finals run from last year.
