Here’s Indiana Pacers star Pascal Siakam responding to a question about how being the No. 1 option during 2025-26 will help him when Tyrese Haliburton returns next season (averaged 24.0 PPG/6.6 RPG/3.8 APG/2.2 TOV/1.1 SPG/0.4 BPG/2.4 PF/48.4% FG/52.7% 2-PT/35.8% 3-PT/69.3% FT/52.9% eFG/33.2 MPG in 62 starts).
(via Indiana Pacers):
“I hate that question. I hate the No. 1 question. Every time I hear that, I just don’t like it. That’s not basketball. Basketball’s a team sport. You gotta have people that work together well to be able to win — I’ve learned that. No matter who is what, for the team to win, you need cohesion. You need people that are together, play together. Obviously, you’re gonna have people that average more or somebody that does more, but it’s all about a team. I don’t really look at basketball that way. I don’t think to be able to win at the highest level, it’s really focused on like, ‘Oh, who’s No. 1? Who’s No. 2? Who’s No. 3? Who’s No. 4?’ Like, ‘Who cares?’ I’ve been in series’ where the person that was considered No. 7 helped us win games. It doesn’t matter. At the highest level of games, people from the 1st man to the 14th, whatever, can help you win a game — and I think that’s the way we’ve got to look at it.
“To kind of answer your question, I have learned a lot. I’ve been in situations in these games where I had the ball at the end of the game, trying to win the game. I made some tough shots, which I feel like I’ve learned from. And I’m definitely gonna take this experience to hopefully bring into next year and we’re gonna have multiple people we can go to. I think that’s what the good teams usually do. It’s not always just one person doing everything. It’s the whole team doing it together. There’s gonna be moments where somebody’s gonna do it that wasn’t expected to do it, and I think all the special teams have that.”
