Title: After Game 7 failures, Pascal Siakam’s career will be defined by what comes next
Date: September 11, 2020
Original Source: The Athletic
Synopsis: In my latest for The Athletic Toronto, I wrote about Pascal Siakam’s mighty struggle in the Raptors’ seven-game loss to the Celtics and what comes next.
On a January night in New York, Pascal Siakam was surprised by his brother Christian.
Siakam was at the NBA Store on Fifth Avenue, where he was working a shift as a guest cashier. The real reason Siakam was there, though, was an open secret: TNT would be revealing the starters for the 2020 NBA All-Star Game, and Siakam would be among them.
As Siakam watched a highlight package of himself announcing his inclusion to cheers from the gathered patrons, staff and Terence Davis II, Christian emerged from around a corner. Siakam put one hand over his mouth with a lean to his left, slapped his right hand to Christian’s and then hugged. It was played pretty casual, Siakam acting like he wasn’t shocked he’d become an All-Star in his fourth season and like a brother who lives with him in Toronto randomly meeting him in New York was an everyday occurrence.
Blake Murphy Sports Writing 