Pascal Siakam Press Conference | Indiana Pacers

Pascal Siakam Press Conference | Indiana Pacers

thank you everybody for coming out today we really appreciate it um every smile I like this sorry sorry Mike that’s okay everybody say Eastern Conference Finals say Championship I want to say exactly he said he wants to say Championship so I like that so we’re going to start today with president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard he’s going to toss it over to head coach Rick Carlile who will then in turn toss it over to Pascal sakam for opening remarks and then we’ll open it up for uh questions Kevin thank you uh first of all thanks for being here man it’s really cool you know sometimes in the summer you get away and getting everybody back in the building and showing support it’s it’s it’s great to see everybody so thanks for showing up um I want to first thank uh Todd ramasar and and Jafar chaani um you guys have been amazing to work with and um there’s no doubt in my mind that this doesn’t happen with working with you guys and uh you know in your business there’s some good ones and there are some great ones and you guys are the great ones and we really appreciate how hard you worked on this means a lot to us that that we have it known you Todd for a long time and standup guy and you you really made this happen so thank you very much um you know as a as I’m thinking about this um over the P past 18 years that I’ve been here um there are some big decisions that happen uh during a year and to give a little context of of kind of how this came about is you know we came into this year and we had a goal of making the playoffs and trying to get a good seed and the best seed that we possibly could and we were able to get to the um inseason tournament finals and I remember sitting down with Chad and Kelly and Ted and going you know maybe we’re not that far maybe we should be really aggressive and throwing going and and trying to find another player um that that could fit uh with what we’re doing and you know fast forward to the trade deadline right before the trade deadline there was there was only one person for us and uh when we really decided to go after him we we got in negotiations with Toronto and uh we were able to get that done and and quite frankly we gave up a lot but um as Pascal came to us um you know we watch a lot of film we we try to analyze everything that you Poss possibly can to to see if the that player fits us both culturally style um and and everything that we uh look for in a player and I remember specifically in the first two weeks telling everybody I thought this player was going to be a really good player for us but he is an incredible talent and I didn’t know how good he was and how good he is and so that culminates in today uh We’ve signed Pascal to a four-year max deal um we had a pretty quick negotiation we knew this was you know a top priority and something that we wanted to get done and um couldn’t ask for a better person he is a great player he’s a better person and as we build out this team to try to be become the best we possibly can uh we we a couple years ago said we wanted High talented players who came in here and put the team first and had the highest of character and I think the last two years have been incredible in my 33 years as a player and a little bit as a coach and now in executive last year was my most fun that I’ve ever had with a team unbelievable guys on the court and off the court and uh he really exemplifies about what we want to do going forward and this is a great opportunity for for pascow to grow because when you come into uh a trade you know everybody says you you just step on the court it it’s it’s easy it’s not as easy as you guys think you know you move your family there’s a lot of things that that go in part of that but he really was totally unself unselfish and immersed himself into the team and it was as seamless as I’ve ever seen and that’s really a testament to his character and with him we were able to get to the Eastern Conference Finals and I’ll never forget you know walking into Milwaukee that first and second game and how dominant he was he he set the tone for the playoffs and um allowed us to get to the Eastern Conference Finals so uh huge congrats um I can’t think of a bigger signing that this organization’s everever had um looking forward to the next four years um I’m going to end by saying one more thing and that is I think there’s a lot more growth in pascow and one of the things that we feel great about is we were just talking about it as he was signing his contract that he really has a love for the game and that love really trickles out to the rest of our guys guys and this summer he’s going to kind of take some of it of our young guys under his wing and now he’s one of the vets and he’s got to get those guys learning and and and having you know Championship H habits so super excited uh the last thing I will say is this sorry I’m going a little longer than I expected it’s okay man go ahead these are fun um this doesn’t happen without Mr Simon as well I think this is a real commitment and a couple years ago we said no more of this don’t like missing the Playoffs let’s get aggressive and let’s make some Financial commitments and become the best we possibly can and I I really believe that now we’re on the the path to be a great team and going from good to Great will be tough but I know we can do it but it wouldn’t happen without Mr Simon saying let’s go do it so big kudos to him Coach did you want to say yeah this is a a historic day this is easily the biggest free agent signing in the history of this franchise and so um there’s a lot to celebrate hats off to Kevin and his group and Mr Simon as Kevin mentioned um you know we went down to Orlando in uh mid June and sat with Todd and Jafar and uh Kevin and I and Chad and uh Lloyd went down and we we sat with uh Pascal for probably three hours at a dinner and just um got to know him even better so you get a guy in January and you go through a bunch of games and and intense playoffs and you think you kind of are there with who he is uh we learned a lot more about him at this dinner and one of the things that was most exciting to me was how much he is is enthusiastic and excited about um taking on one of the major leadership roles on this team and he did that during the playoffs um organically his his voice became you know uh louder and louder and more present and he was a big reason that we had the success that we did so um he’s a very very special person U he’s a very very unique player um and uh I just want to say personally congratulations to you this is nor State he’s never had a press conference for him for him and so this is the first ever press conference and um what a what a glorious day it is so congratulations and I’ll turn it over to uh Pascal seak um thank you thanks coach appreciate it but yeah this my it’s my first time first rodeo in terms of you know science Sig in a new contract having a press conference um yeah so I’m super excited obviously I was surprised to see everyone here um and and I can see some face some familiar faces from you know when I first you know got traded and and we had that um you know I went upstairs and met met you guys and um yeah just to you know see you guys back here again I mean yeah makes me happy so just wanted to say that real quick um and yeah thanks KP um you know I want to thank the Raptors the the the Pacers organization um just for trusting me you know like I think it’s it’s so it’s so hard you you you know like for me I I spent my whole life in one team and and and and like my whole career and and you know in my head I always thought like man like I I don’t know how I’m going to be able to change cuz I’m such a like a homey person like I’m I’m used to like just being at the house be doing the same things you know my my agents you know they know me like I do the same thing every single day um and the the idea of change was like really daunting and like and like scary for me um and I think from the you know the first time I you know I landed in Indiana um you know you guys just made that like transition so smooth and um I’m really appreciative of like everybody the whole organization like just the love and the appreciation like from everyone you know I’m telling I’m talking about everyone you know it’s everyone um and and like that that made things just so easy and simple for me like as soon as I came in and and and um it just made me so much excited about what we can do as a team um and and and I just I just loved everything about it and and for me like just being here now again like um my dad’s birthday was yesterday um well like the the the you know I think it’s it’s always a special moment like that day for me just thinking about him and um and I think for me to be able to sign this contract having this new opportunity he his dream was always man I’m going to have one and my son play in the NBA you know like I don’t think he ever dreamed that you know want like I was going to be able to do this you know like being able to sign another contract um and and be able to bless not only me but my family so um I want to thank you guys for that um it means a lot to me um and I’m just super excited about you know the future of the team um and I think coming in early on you know it was it was it was tough and and trying to figure everything out but just meeting all the guys you know Tai um and and and everyone I mean the whole I can I can name the whole team just how they embrace me um as a player and and and just like coach mentioned like just being able to listen to my voice I think like it’s something as a player for me that I’ve I’ve never really had you know like just have that opportunity to have people really look at you for guidance and look at you for you know like leadership and and it was it was definitely refreshing to see that with with all the young guys and the talent that we have and and how excited they are and how excited they were about having me um and it just makes me working hard and doing the things I already know how to do um even even better and and I can just go out there and and fight and give everything that I have for the team so um yeah I’m I’m excited and and I just can’t wait for us you know just continue to get to work um I think we accomplished some great things um this season but you know I I I know that there’s more and and I’m here for that I’m here for more I want to push for for everything I want I want to win a championship again I want to um I want to continue to be a winning organization and and and again I think we have the group to do it and I’m excited to to work for it and and I’ve never been kind of scared to you know like take on a new challenge or things like that so I’m I’m excited about that opportunity and and I hope that you know we’re going to do great things together um so again thank you guys so much for coming out and you know I mean so many people here I’m honored I’m blessed um and and yeah let’s let’s get to work I’m excited all right we’ll uh open it up for questions we have microphones Pascal was there a specific moment you remember during last season or during free agency process that you said yes for sure I’m I’m staying um I think I mean I think it’s just going through the season and and everything um obviously like you come in with an open mind and and I think like like I said from the first day I got in like just how I was received you know like just um it just showed like commitment it it showed you know like that they really like the organization really cared about me um and and obviously as we would you know we continue to play and and you know obviously there was ups and downs but um just seeing how resilient the team was and and and you know like just even working with the coaching staff and everyone um looking at the fans like I mean like just the games was I mean I played here before you know but I think just being here being a part of it um the arena is like I mean it’s it’s incredible just just the energy the passion and I think also like a lot there’s a lot of fan base you know fan bases but like I think like here you can tell that you know they know about the game they understand the game and and you know like just just everything about it just just feel so right and I think it’s a combination of all that whereas like for me it just felt like man like I’m I’m excited about the future here and when I felt like that that excitement was you know the same thing on on on the organization part and you know it just it just felt like an easy decision continue on that note was was there ever a doubt in your mind after the season ended were you sure was it just a a a question of just getting to the day when you could sign the contract right yeah no I think I think from you know from when the season was over like we had I had I had my exit meeting you know like with everyone and um and you know just from those conversations you know like it just it just confirmed everything to me um and and and everything we talked about um the goals that I want to achieve as a player and and I want to achieve you know like um whatever team I’m on like they had those same goal so I think for me it was just like it was it was it was normal just like kind of like a waiting game you know what do you like you stack up now in the conference and in the league as a team well I I think there were teams that uh you know made made some movement and uh got better but um you know there comes a time where you try to balance you know bringing in new guys with the ability to have some continuity and I felt like you know we we we’ve changed this team over so much in two years that you know we need some continuity we need a camp with Pascal and Tai and miles and TJ and everybody even more to get used to each other and and get comfortable uh with our style because coach puts in a unique style and it’s a lot of fun to play um but I also look at it a little differently in that you know Ben mathine was injured during the playoffs and so we get to add him and and jarus has had an incredible off season we have high hopes for jarus to come in and so um there is some more organic growth left um but we’re all still a very young team and if everybody gets a little better um I think we stack up against anybody and you know we we we we lost to Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals but we had leads in three of the four games late in the in the fourth quarter so you know the the league gets better every year teams get better you’re either getting better or you’re getting worse and Kelly crossov is always saying that I think by retaining our top three agents um adding Ben and jarus and and and our youth uh getting better that uh we’ll be we’ll be right there we’re not scared of anybody Kevin I wanted to go back to something you said about Pascal you said that when you decided that you were going to go go big go go for a big player that he was always the only guy and you also said that you thought that he ended up being even better than you expected I guess tell me a little bit more about each those why was he the one guy that you said this has to be it and what did he show you that was even beyond what what did you like about him beforehand and what did he show you was beyond what you even thought well I think the biggest thing is you know we play fast and um you know coach always talks about you know when we’re adding players first of all are they good people can they see that there’s a bigger picture besides just themselves and I always felt like he played really unselfish um but he has some unique tools that I’ve never seen in this league you know when he rebounds and busts out he’s like a point guard and the way we play we play a flow and quick decisions and move the ball and I think there’s a stat last year that we had more passes last year and that’s something we’re very proud of and when he came in he fit into that he moved the ball could he score a lot more of course but maybe that’s not the best thing for the team at that time on any given night he can but um what I liked about it is his skill sets are really unique he’s like a a four that’s a point guard in in a way and that you can see that he’s grown into this player that’s a a great athlete that’s super fast but has added a lot of things to his game what tells you he works at it you tell that he’s getting better he’s going to have to become a better shooter um and I know he’s working on that um but his quick thinking his ability to Slither and get to the bucket on anybody but late in games uh between Tai and and miles and Pascal and and and and a couple of our other guys I trust that they’re going to make the right decision his decision making is is incredible and you know offensively I have no doubt that we’re going to be really good and our our challenges can we get better defensively and that really becomes everybody making a commitment on that side of the ball but for him it’s just I had never seen somebody be so relentless uh at at attacking the goal uh at creating shots for himself but also others and like if you looked at his decision making it’s like 99% of the time he makes the right decision and that’s really unique for a guy with his skill sets and you know quite frankly I think he’s Gable oneon-one um and um you know I I say this and and and I really mean it you always say like I I still think that there’s room to grow and even though he’s a what you would call a vet now I think there’s a ton of growth left in his game I don’t even think he’s come close and you know we have the coaching staff that’ll get that out of him Pascal right here in front on that note KP and you are both talking about growth and goals for you individually what is one area that you’re going to focus on this offseason that you think you can really exceed and grow in before next season um yeah I think um I think coming in obviously like I came from UM playing you know a certain style and and even on defense I think that’s you know like just something that’s totally different than what we I’m accustomed to like here um so I think like that’s one area where for me I feel like with training camp like just being able to be with the guys and um you know just continue to improve as a Defender um you know you I know I have the tools but just like kind of like putting the focus on it a little bit more and and we know that that’s an area that our team needs you know the most um and then and then obviously just like the style of play we play we play with and and you know playing fast which I feel like I already do but just increasing that and I think for me like as a player I always try to like improve and get better at everything that I do you know like I know that um there’s always area for growth and and for me as a player I just want to continue to um see how how high I can get like I don’t I’m never really um satis and um and and as a player I’ve always shown that I’m able to grow so that’s that’s always my focus every offseason um get a little bit better in every aspect of my game and um and yeah no and then just I think just the fact that I’ll be here with a team and we can have a training camp we can you know I’m going to learn even more and I’m going to get even even better one of the if I could say something one of the things that impressed me most about Pascal is that you he came from Toronto where they play um a much much different style of defense and so you know we committed this year uh fully committed to playing a style that’s a physical style that uh involves a high level of exertion um if you watched our team in the playoffs we picked up full court the entire game every game so that we could keep the the offensive Tempo and the tempo of the game the where where we wanted it and it’s a very hard adjustment going from how they played to how we play and just you know a lot of the a lot of the rules a lot of the things are different but he met us halfway it was it was not easy um it was a thing where we listened a lot to him he he was great about you know um listening to us um we got into the Milwaukee series and he was picking up full court guarding whoever he was guarding and and that was you know when when your guy who’s you know a 30y 30-year-old guy who’s won a championship before does that it sends a message to the entire rest of the team that this is what it’s about and so you know establishing his value to us I mean those are those are a couple of examples and reasons why you know he has a he has a level of of resourcefulness you know to to be a part of a winning um thing that is that is very special Pascal here up on the right over here do you um are your brothers or your mom are are they here and if not you didn’t mention being able to bless your family what do you have I’m sure you’ve done things but what do you have in mind what have you done do you mind sharing a little bit of that um I mean no for to answer your question not they’re not they’re not here um I mean I’m I’m I was just texting with everyone um just everyone sending the love and and everything and um my my mom you know like she’s she don’t even like traveling and we got to get her to you know do all that stuff but um but the support is there the love is there um and I think yeah to to I you know I’ve always been you know that person to take care of my people and um yeah like I mean I feel kind of weird kind of sharing what I do for my family which is normal um but but yeah I’m I’m sure they’re really happy they’ll tell you that uh Pascal you talked uh we talked a lot about throughout the year about this this team getting used to you you mentioned the value of having a camp I mean just how much do you think that helps just going forward just just going into a full season and not having to kind of adjust on the Fly how much do you think that will give you more opportunity for growth yeah no I think I think it’s it’s everything because um coming into the middle of the Season you know like there’s I mean I think I can imagine like when new players come on new teams like I mean it is hard like you have someone I mean even though you know we can look at my resume you know and and say you know all the things that I accomplished but you come into a new team you have you know personalities you have people and and it’s it’s hard to adapt and like coming to that and and everyone just like accepting you like you know that’s just Natural Instincts you know and I think that just with going through and getting to know each other um and and even like you know wanting to get out something out of the young guys I think it’s even better when you know they get to know me and they know who I am as a person and um you know we can we can Vibe and we can hang out I can I get to know like who they are who are the family is I think it’s like naturally you just become like closer and I think like with the group that we have like the closer we can um I think you know it’s going to help us you know kind of like reach our potential so I think having a training camp learning everything and and just being together um it’s going to it’s going to be a huge thing for us also obviously the theme here is you know welcome home I guess have you does this feel like home yet I mean obviously just because you had to get so thrown into it you probably barely experienced Indianapolis I mean has this has this come to the point that Indianapolis feels like home for you um yeah no I mean I’m excited you know to make it home um I’m here you know I’m here to stay um and and and just for me like I’m excited about you know like how excited the city is about the team and everything and and it’s it’s been great for me like I um I love everything about it the organization makes it easy for me um and and you know I’m excited to continue to learn about Indiana and um and and I’m sure that you know the more I’m here the the more you know I get I get to learn um so I think now that I’m here and I know that I’m here you know it’s probably like easier to to kind of like Get get embedded into the culture and um and I think one of the things that for me I want to be able to do um I have the ps43 foundation which is my Foundation that that that I started um something like is you know I want to Contin to build my my not only my dad’s Legacy but my family’s Legacy and um it’s something that I’m really passionate about and um I think that would be my way to getting to the the culture and and and getting into you know the community uh I’m excited about you know we already like we have a whole team already starting to think about you know and wish the Pacers was um you know really um helpful in in just like identifying like you know how we can help and um I just want to get into the community I think for me like that’s that’s my way of showing that I’m home and um and we have you know great things planned and and I can’t wait to executing them

Pascal Siakam speaks to the media and Pacers Sports & Entertainment staff after signing his long-term contract with the Indiana Pacers.