![]() Professional career Toronto Raptors (2016–present) 2016–17 season: G-League champion and Finals MVP On 19 April 2016, Siakam declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his final two years of college eligibility. For the 2015–16 campaign, he averaged 20.2 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks across 34 games en route to earning unanimous WAC Player of the Year honors. After redshirting the 2013–14 season due to injury, he worked his way onto the Aggies' starting lineup and then to Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Freshman of the Year honors by the 2014–15 campaign. Siakam enrolled at New Mexico State University in 2013. While at this preparatory school, Siakam was neither widely known nor initially eligible, but he was at least pursued by New Mexico State University the Aggies' coach Marvin Menzies had Siakam on his radar since his pipeline of connections spanned several continents and his roster reserved 14 spots for foreign-born players. He went from one camp to the next to hone his skills before settling in Lewisville, Texas, and attending God's Academy. As Raptors president Masai Ujiri, who had been at this camp, recalled, "His effort was memorable." With Mbah a Moute as a mentor, Siakam moved to the United States at the age of 18. There, despite having had virtually no basketball experience at the time, he gained attention for his apparent athleticism and extremely high energy level. Andrew's, and he returned to it the following year, after which he was selected to attend the Basketball Without Borders camp. Siakam attended Mbah a Moute's camp for the first time in 2011, a year before graduating from St. He was discovered as a player at a local camp by Luc Mbah a Moute, whose parents' home in Bafia was about 2 miles (3 km) from St. Siakam initially had little interest in basketball in stark contrast to his older brothers, all of whom earned scholarships with the sport to various NCAA Division I colleges. By the time he was 15, he did not want to become a Catholic priest. According to a story by Jackie MacMullan of ESPN, Pascal was effectively "hand-picked to embody his family's Catholicism." His father thus enrolled him in St. His father, Tchamo, worked for a local transit company and was also the mayor of Makénéné. Siakam was born in Douala, Cameroon, to Tchamo and Victorie Siakam, the youngest of four brothers. He became the first player to play in the G League and to start an All-Star game. The following year, Siakam lead Toronto to the second-best record in the league, earning All-NBA Second Team while being named a starter in his first NBA All-Star Game. He was named the NBA's Most Improved Player in 2019, becoming the first player to win an NBA title in the same season. Nicknamed "Spicy P", he was selected by Toronto with the 27th overall pick in the first round of the 2016 NBA draft.Īfter being assigned to the NBA Development League (now the G League) as a rookie in 2017, Siakam led Toronto's affiliate team to a league championship, earning Finals Most Valuable Player honors. Siakam played college basketball for the New Mexico State Aggies and was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2016. A two-time NBA All-Star and two-time All-NBA selection, he won an NBA championship with the Raptors in 2019. Pascal Siakam ( / s i ˈ ɑː k ə m/ see- AH-kəm born 2 April 1994) is a Cameroonian professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). AP Honorable mention All-American ( 2016).
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