Toronto Raptors: The Pascal Siakam Slander Needs to Stop

Despite failing to close out games at the buzzer, Pascal Siakam is the last person to blame for the Toronto Raptors’ recent losses.

It’s been one heartbreaking loss after another for the Toronto Raptors.

For the second night in a row, the team lost by one point after failing to close it out in the fourth quarter. Surprising? Not really. It’s just one of the many things that the team has been struggling with this season.

Their latest two games have been the most painful losses so far. Fans witnessed Pascal Siakam miss two game-winners in the final seconds of back-to-back games against the Golden State Warriors on Jan. 10 and the Portland Trail Blazers on Jan. 11.

Cue the Siakam slander.

At this point, it isn’t anything new. Whatever haters have to say about Pascal Siakam and the Toronto Raptors, their fans have already heard it. There are only so many spin move jokes that NBA Twitter can make.

The disrespect is getting out of hand and frankly, it’s exhausting. You begin to question whether those slandering Siakam actually watched the game, or if they’re just downplaying his performance for retweets and likes. (Hint: It’s the latter.)

Social media loves to poke fun at Siakam after his underwhelming bubble performance. Give it up already. There’s a difference between constructive criticism and bullying. Raptors fans will be the first to admit that Siakam’s season started poorly. However, those blaming him for the team’s most recent losses probably haven’t been watching.

Could this be the start of Pascal Siakam’s resurgence?

After missing the game-winner against the Warriors and receiving tons of hate online, Siakam responded by recording the first triple-double of his career against the Trail Blazers the very next day. With 22 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists, Siakam became the first Raptors player other than Kyle Lowry to put up a triple-double since Jose Calderon in 2012. Unfortunately, his triple-double was overshadowed by the missed game-winner.

Even though the game may not have ended the way that the team and fans had hoped, Siakam’s confidence is returning and fans can see it by the way that he’s been playing.

Fans who have been watching him know that he should be the last person to blame for the Toronto Raptors’ recent struggles; he’s been excellent lately. He may have missed the two game-winners, but he’s one of the few reasons why the team even had a chance at winning those games.

He’s inarguably been one of the team’s best players lately. In the last five games, he’s averaged 23.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 6 assists per game, shooting 52.6% from the field.

Not bad for a player who only knows how to spin.

Trolls will nitpick every little thing that Siakam does wrong, and rarely give him credit for anything he does right. They’ll focus on one small play instead of his performance as a whole. They’ll keep tearing him down just to tear him down. Let’s hope that he continues to stay off social media. Until then, Raptors Twitter has his back.

The Pascal Siakam that we all know and love might finally be back. When the team lost a close game to the Warriors, Siakam followed it up with a triple-double against the Blazers the very next day. Hopefully, these recent games motive him to keep playing hard. May the recent losses add fuel to the fire so that his revenge season is spicier than ever.