It is a mind free of clutter, devoid of negative thoughts and memories of underachieving, that has unblocked Pascal Siakam and allowed him to play some of the best basketball of his career.
He is, by his own admission, tremendously hard on himself in difficult times. But now that he fully accepts things won’t always go his way, he’s been able to thrive as the Raptors continue to improve and rise through the NBA Eastern Conference ranks.
“Sometimes I’m super hard on myself, wanting to be the best that I can be so bad that sometimes you don’t want to have bad games — it feels like it’s the end of the world,” Siakam said Thursday.