What we learned from Pascal Siakam and DeMar DeRozan on IG Live

Pascal Siakam had the most fun playing with the “Bench Mob”

It might come as a shock to learn that the most fun Pascal Siakam has ever had playing professional basketball wasn’t last year – the year where the Toronto Raptors won their first-ever NBA title with Siakam playing a pivotal role. It wasn’t even the same season, playing alongside a game-changing superstar like Kawhi Leonard.

Surely, that would mean that it had to be this season, with Siakam taking on the mantle of the Raptors franchise man. In his maiden season as the leading scorer, the Raptors have won 48 games and already secured a place in the playoffs while the first-time All-Star has averaged 23.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game, shooting 46-percent from the field and 36-percent.

Again, that’s not the case.

In fact, the most fun he’s ever had playing basketball, according to the man himself, is with the Raptors in the 2017-18 NBA season. Back then, Siakam was in just his second season with the Raptors but playing with the fabled “Bench Mob”.

“That was the most fun I had playing basketball,” Siakam told DeRozan. “It was so fun and the whole team was together and obviously you guys, like Kyle, like the older guys were hanging out more, but then it was always like love with the younger guys. The younger guys were always staying together too … and we played great. Literally, it was amazing.”

The quintet of Siakam, Fred VanVleet, Delon Wright, C.J. Miles, and Jakob Poeltl dismantled bench units around the league while playing some exhilarating basketball in the process.