'What’s the point of us coming here talking every f***ing deadline?': Pascal Siakam on deadline

Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam discusses the road trip, upcoming deadline, LeBron James breaking the scoring record and more.

Video Transcript

- Pascal, what part of the game think you guys were better at now than you were, say, two weeks ago?

PASCAL SIAKAM: I think that, again, we're just more together a little bit. It feels like it out there, talking a little bit more, helping each other on defense a little bit more. And yeah, I'll say that.

- You guys have played defense as a group. You've been around this team when they played defense quite a bit better than the planet right now. Why do you think this group in particular can't get back to what that was?

PASCAL SIAKAM: I don't know. Why do you guys ask me these questions? I don't know. I don't know what to tell you.

- But do you think, is it more about you guys? Or is it more about what the opposition is doing to you?

PASCAL SIAKAM: I don't know. I think we have good games. And we have good stretches. And then we have some not that good stretches. And it's hard to win in the league. You have to put these games together. And it can't be like a one half or like one quarter. It has to be like a whole game.

- Is it difficult to tune out some of the noise at this time of year?

PASCAL SIAKAM: What noise?

- Trade deadlines.

PASCAL SIAKAM: Oh, yeah, I don't know anything about it. I literally don't. You're telling me about it now. I don't know. What's happening?

- There's noise. There's noise.

PASCAL SIAKAM: What's happening? I don't know. I have no idea.

- Dewayne Dedmon just got traded.

PASCAL SIAKAM: Oh, for real? Oh, wow. Yeah, yeah. No, I literally don't know. So you guys would be telling me if there's something.

- Is that just a matter of like staying off of social media or focusing on the day.

PASCAL SIAKAM: I never know. I never know what's happening. Even when you ask me all these questions, I don't know what's going on. I'm focused on playing the game. And that's pretty much. At the end of the day, we know what it is. What's the point of us coming here, talking every fucking-- sorry-- every deadline, like, oh, what's it-- like, we know that's going to happen. It is what it is like, and whatever happens happens. I think I'm at a point in my career, where it really don't matter.

Unless like I feel like there's some things going on, or now that we're in the league, where if I'm unhappy, there's things that can happen. But other than that, man, I'm doing my job every single day. I'm blessed to be able to live my dream and play the game that I love and getting compensated for it. Yeah, at the end of the day, I understand being here. It's year seven for me. It's a business. And I get it. I've seen people go. I've seen people get here. So nothing surprises me. And so I don't look for anything until, you know, my phone actually rings.

- Hey Pascal, would you go to All-Star as a replacement?

PASCAL SIAKAM: I don't know. I'm really not thinking about that. Yeah, that's definitely not something that I'm thinking about. I think All-Star is kind of going to my head now.

- How valuable would [INAUDIBLE] be right now?

PASCAL SIAKAM: That would be great. It would awesome to be somewhere nice and warm. I'm sure I would enjoy it. So yeah.

- Pascal, you mentioned that you're not really bothered by the trade deadline, that you're just focused on the task at hand, playing basketball. As one of the veterans in this locker room, have you given some advice to some of the guys who this might be the first trade deadline, and you're like, you know--

PASCAL SIAKAM: No, I haven't talked to anybody. Nobody really seemed to me like there was-- if somebody come to me, I talk to them. But other than that, I'm sure they've seen it a little bit too. Obviously, I've had some experiences, I mean, not myself, but seeing people that I was with. So yeah, I don't know. I haven't really talked to anybody, or at least anybody didn't seek any advice or anything for me.

- Has that always been your approach? Or has it just been numbed by years of going through this?

PASCAL SIAKAM: I think, again, you could experience, you understand it. And once-- a long time ago. I've just learned to not worry about things that I can't control. That was-- it made my life a lot better when I just don't-- I don't-- if I can't do anything about it, what's the point of me going crazy about it? So yeah, that's kind of like something that I've built over the years.

- Do you have any thoughts on what the team can use?

PASCAL SIAKAM: Not my job, brother, not my job.

- Do you have anything that's within your control that you're working on?

PASCAL SIAKAM: I'm just continuing to work on the game, finding ways to continue to be effective, work through things, and just understanding also my spots, what I can do better, and how I can impact the game in different ways. And I'm just watching film and trying to see how I can continue to get better as a player.

- Pascal, you've been a high impact player now for years. Do you look at what LeBron is about to do [INAUDIBLE]

PASCAL SIAKAM: Yeah, I mean, I think me, sometimes, I don't really understand the magnitude of it sometimes. But then when you like sit a little bit, it's like, man, that's crazy. I don't think-- I mean, I don't want to say it's never going to be broken again. But man, that's crazy to be able to do that. It just shows like the dedication to the game every single day.

And we are-- like, everyone knows about what he does to like be this good. I mean, obviously, he's gifted beyond measure, not like a lot of people out there, but also he does the little things, and it's great that somebody like that can just continue to get better and play for that long and be able to achieve something like that. So yeah, I'm sure I'll see it when it happens. But yeah, it's something great, for sure.

- Can you fathom another 13 years?

PASCAL SIAKAM: Oh, man, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. But that's something special right there. Those are the special ones. And you pray, you pray that you get even close like anywhere near that. Obviously, my path has been a lot different than his. But yeah, he's just-- that's crazy.

- I just wanted to follow up on yesterday, where we spoke to you before the actual record was broken. What was it like [INAUDIBLE]

PASCAL SIAKAM: Yeah, no, I feel like LeBron a little bit, breaking records. At least, I already broke my record, the World Guinness record. But it was great, man. The atmosphere was cool, man, just seeing those kids how excited they were, doing something just not for me, something that's going to make other people happy. And being a part of that was great. And I'm just I'm just happy that I'm in position, like I said, to be able to help.

And yeah, those are like really feel good moments. Sometimes it's better than the basketball, just being out there making people that don't have and people that go through a lot more things than missing shots. And you go out there, and make their day, and they're still able to smile every single day. It's inspiring.

- [SPEAKING FRENCH]