Pascal Siakam held a meeting of the Indiana Pacers team at home ahead of the 2024-25 NBA season. What he said is a big reason why they are in the NBA Finals.
Despite being underrated at every step, the Indiana Pacers had a great playoff run. After a Game 6 victory, they are one victory since they won the NBA Championship.
The Pacers pushed Oklahoma City’s lightning to the limit. In fact, in Game 6, the Pacers forced lightning into the unfortunate history of the NBA Finals.
Their suffocating defenses were absolutely phenomenal, and Jalen Williams’ historically poor NBA Finals served as evidence of their domination.
Pascal Siakam’s Game 6 Heroic was key, but the efforts of the Pacers team were to close them down.
However, the Cameroonians are the catalysts for playoff success, dating back to the meeting before the start of the season.
Obi Toppin spoke after Game 6 of the NBA Finals. When talking about Pascal Siakam as a leader, Toppin shared an interesting story.
He revealed that Siakam held a team meeting at his home ahead of the new season. After finishing the Eastern Conference Finals run, Siakam pointed to the success of the 2019 championship with the Toronto Raptors, reminding the Pacers of what it takes to succeed in the NBA.
“Super meaning. Pascal is a great guy. I welcomed all of us with open arms in his space. He was in this position before, just like he was in the final. He won the final.
“And he understood the team we had last year. We might have been in this position. We might have been in the finals.
“So he made us realize that we didn’t want to be happy just by losing it.
“So he planted it in all of our minds, and we all knew what we had to do to get to this point, so we worked all year round to achieve this success.”
This playoff run was truly a Pascalisia come show. Tyreese Halliburton has won all the accolades for the game’s winner, but Siakam was the Pacers’ most trusted star.
Siakam’s consistency against the New York Knicks led him to win the Eastern Conference Finals MVP Award.
And during these NBA finals, Siakam ensured that Pacers were not satisfied. This leadership resonates with other pacers.
After NBA legend criticized his level of effort, Tyreese Halliburton defended Siakam from Charles Barkley. Obviously, there is a lot of respect for the All-Stars in the Pacers rank.
All the Pacers young players respect Siakam not only because of his championship experience, but also because of the way he carries himself in the locker room.
If the Indiana Pacers begin their comeback in Game 7 and win the NBA Championship, Siakam is the favorite to win the Final MVP Award.