Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Pascal Siakam Reclaims Spot as One of NBA's Best With All-NBA Honors for 2021-22
Pascal Siakam has once again solidified himself as one of the NBA's very best.
It had been a miserable year and a half for the 28-year-old Toronto Raptors forward coming into the 2021-22 season. After an All-NBA caliber 2019-20 season, Siakam's Cinderella Story of a career suddenly took a sharp turn. He struggled to deal with COVID-19 restrictions and a fear of the global pandemic. Just when things were beginning to get better and the disappointing Tampa season came to a close, Siakam was dealt another blow, a season-ending injury to his shoulder that required offseason surgery.
"For me personally, it just felt like the bottom, just being in a place where I’ve really never been before with an injury and feeling really down. It was tough," he said. "It was a hard time not really knowing what the future was going to hold. Going through the rehab process, obviously, first the surgery was completely hard for me."
Now, all those struggles appear to be in the rearview mirror. Siakam's 2021-22 season was the best of his career. He became a better playmaker, a better scorer, his defense returned his an elite level, and, on Tuesday night, he's once again earned All-NBA honors for the second time in his career. This time as a third teamer as he joined Vince Carter and DeMar DeRozan as the only two-time Raptors players to earn All-NBA honors.
"Obviously being one of those top players because of all the hard work and everything that’s going into it, Again, I tend not to really worry myself about things I can’t control. So, yeah, it’d be fun, it’d be cool but then again it’s out of my hands and we’ll just see what happens," said Siakam during his season-ending media availability on the possibility of earning an All-NBA spot.
Siakam is joined by Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Devin Booker, and Jayson Tatum who earned first-team honors, Joel Embiid, Ja Morant, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and DeMar DeRozan on the second team, and Karl Anthony-Towns, LeBron James, Chris Paul, and Trae Young on the third team.
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