Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
Nick Nurse Likens Pascal Siakam's Work Ethic to Kawhi Leonard's
Kawhi Leonard wasn't much for the fanfare during his brief tenure with the Toronto Raptors.
He was workman-like, possibly robotic with his work ethic, as Raptors coach Nick Nurse recalled. There was a steadfastness in his determination to be great and a willingness to do the work.
"You guys know that I used to say this about Kawhi, like, he understands what a day looks like to be a great player," Nurse said.
Today, Pascal Siakam has that same understanding, Nurse said. It doesn't matter what happened the night before, the 28-year-old is back in the gym trying to get better day after day.
"He surprised me a lot this year of some of the nights he'd have a 43-minute night, 30 points, 10 rebounds, And I'd roll in here at 8:15 am and he'd be out here at eight o'clock in the morning and make me tired seeing him out there," Nurse said. "There's just nothing that kind of veers him off that, not even heavy played hard played game. He comes in and he's right back to work and he's in the weight room."
That relationship between Nurse and Siakam has been mended after whatever overblown issues there may have been last season. There's a level of mutual respect between the two, the head coach and the team's best player, that's crucial for Toronto's success.
"He and I would sit down a little more regularly and early on in the season and the messages were pretty similar," Nurse said. "They were get out and run, get out and push it, get out and get to the rim, get on the offensive glass, when you draw two get off it, shoot more threes and then play defense like you're capable, rebound like you're capable and play complete like you can."
It wasn't pretty early on in the season during Siakam's first few games back from offseason shoulder surgery, but once he found his groove, he took off. His offense was better than ever before, his playmaking reached a new level, and, most important to Nurse, his defense was where it needed to be.
"I know you guys saw it, that some of those games in the playoffs he was incredible at the defensive end, I mean incredible with some of the stuff he was doing," Nurse said.
Siakam may never reach the heights Leonard did just a few years ago. It would be an incredible leap from a player who is already on the edge of the league's top 15 or so players. But with the work he's putting in, there's no reason another full offseason of development can't have Siakam back next season with even more tools in his All-NBA toolkit.
Further Reading
Masai Ujiri gets emotional praising Pascal Siakam & Raptors forward explains what's next
Nick Nurse explains what he'd like to see from Malachi Flynn moving forward
Nick Nurse discusses Raptors' biggest needs heading into the offseason
