Pascal Siakam: "Toronto.. thank you for everything" - Player's Tribune

[johanliebert]

"The hardest time of my career by far was the bubble — that’s not unique. Mentally, physically, I just wasn’t my best. And I really struggled with how we finished that season, because I loved our team. I thought we had the pieces to defend our title. So I felt like we let everyone down. And it was tough in those moments. I would get messages from trolls filled with these hurtful things, racist things.And being so isolated in the pandemic, it really weighed heavy on me. "

This !sh makes my blood boil so bad. F all of those guys then, and even all of ya'll now who belittle his contribution to this franchise. Really feel like our struggles now is just some bad karma from a bunch of id!ots in this city who don't know how to appreciate the good things and blessings we have / had. "I'm just keeping it real bro, Trashcal Siakam bro, just calling it like I see it.."... F#k ya'll.

Stop worshipping these men we were all isolated. People were laid off, lost jobs over mandates and dealt with turmoil over the pandemic. None of them made millions and didnt have to worry about provisions or job security Pascal is the last guy i'd worry about.

[___Rand___]

I defended Pascal when some were calling him to go back to Africa. when everyone was saying "he's not a #1 guy on a team". He's our greatest player development story. But he also clearly screwed us over by saying he wouldn't sign with any team when it wasn't true and helped the Pacers in this trade. In the end, he helped himself and doesn't really give a dodo about Toronto nor the Raptors. Another "get me my bag" guy. So long Pascal.

[Boogie!]

A lot of this board never really gave siakam the credit he deserved to be honest. I’ve had issues with raptors in the past for their talent and fit, but siakam was a guy that was never in that same category for me. I always said he’s top 5 most talented raptors ever, he never acted above the team or pretended to be some alpha leader. He just played his role; and when it expanded he tried to do that to the best of his ability as well. But people act like he was this selfish player yet he averaged similar assist numbers to Scottie Barnes as a first option, yet Scottie people act like is some unselfish passing savant. I never saw any selfishness is siakam game and that’s why I appreciated him so much. He was willing to do whatever the team asked and had the play style to match. When they stopped talking about him in the offseason like he didn’t exist it was really disrespectful imo. And then Darko started the season with him basically just standing in the corners and he didn’t complain or go on some media parade about how difficult it was to adjust his role. Consummate professional, should’ve retired a raptor.

[LoveMyRaps]

Cry with me

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=PSy3Ch7pvG4ybe2MpvWFcw

[v1n5anity]

Sign him in the offseason!

[StopitLeo]

Very classy and heartfelt.

One of the best to ever put on a Raptors jersey.

[Kingsway_fan]

Raptors have a history of not extending their top talent ... just the latest....

[galeon110]

Omg it’s a video….???

[WuTang_CMB]

love him

Read on Twitter

[PT416]

Damn you Kawhi. ITBobby shoud have kidnapped you.

[Raptors_Dynasty]

Fak man I love Pascal and OG :')

[Mr_NC]

That last paragraph hit hard sheeeeesh

Down bad even more

He thanked everybody but the Front Office and I respect that

[Syd-TK3]

Wish Siakam nothing but the best it didn't really have to end like this but it unfortunately did.
Hope he gets an amazing tribute and ovation when he comes back

[dublo7]

Makes me tear up man. Another all star that wants to stay here. But the biz forces several hands into unpredictable situations.Well written and thanks for everything Pascal.
...See you back in July.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

[VC15Era]

****.. epic farewell to us... but this needed to be done

he will get his jersey retired here.

[Dennis 37]

No Kawhi signed the max in LAC. He then opted out and re-upped at a max extension and then just recently signed a near max extension that will take him from age 33-36. This is also with a team that is very likely circumventing the cap.

Did we not have his bird rights?

USA Today:

The Raptors own Leonard's Bird rights and can offer him a five-year, $189.6 million deal. Other teams can offer a four-year deal worth $140.6 million. Leonard can also negotiate a shorter contract, too, and it may not be about the most money, either.Jun 14, 2019

Looks like we did, and it looks like Kawhi did leave money on the table.

He's made 194 million in his 5 seasons in LAC.

Yes he did, but only because he took a risk taking a short contract when he got there and the cap increased.

He gambled and won. With his injury history it might not have worked out that way.

Had he signed for 2 and then 4 with the Raptors he would have earned more as the Clippers only had Early Bird rights after the second year.

[Crowned]

What a video. He’s going to be missed.

[SFour]

Raptors FO needs to offer Siakam the max contract in the off-season, just for the small chance he maybe takes it.

[HumbleRen]

Raptors FO needs to offer Siakam the max contract in the off-season, just for the small chance he maybe takes it.

He’s in a better situation, we’ll be better off for it in the long run.

The next time he’ll be in a Raptors uniform is the day he gets his jersey retired.

[Raptorland23]

You don’t put a piece like that together without both parties already knowing he was heading out

His extended version in writing though kind of shows a disconnect and sort of said he didn’t trust Masai which is a problem.

Emotional none the less, we rode with them and became relevant with them, it was a special time