Raptors star Pascal Siakam’s real superpower is his elite conditioning
Pascal Siakam’s amazing work this season for the Toronto Raptors has been unimaginable.
The 28-year-old forward has been averaging 26.5 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. He is the primary reason the Raptors aren’t at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings and still have an opportunity to dig themselves out of this hole.
Siakam is a superhero. But his superpowers is unmatched. In a league that emphasizes pull-up shooting, dribble-combinations, and eye-popping athleticism, Siakam’s superpower is more subtle and drawn-out — it’s his elite conditioning. He never seems tired.
Siakam is second in league minutes per games this season, with 37. He has also ranked in top-11 in minutes played for each of the last four seasons, playing an average 36.4 minutes per match over that stretch. This ranks only behind Fred VanVleet and James Harden. Siakam has been ranked among the top-10 in mileage traveled over the past four seasons. He averaged 2.66 miles per match, which is second to VanVleet’s (2.74).
Combine the minutes played and miles traveled with a usage rate of 28.7 percent over the past four years and an average of 18.2 field goal attempts per game, and it’s hard to imagine a more taxing workload in the league — not to mention the fact that Siakam is doing it on a 6-foot-9, 240-pound frame.
“He can run all day. He’s one of the top guys in the league running and playing,” teammate Fred VanVleet told Yahoo Sports Canada about Siakam. “I think he’s just gifted. He is just gifted, but he puts his body through the ringer every day to sustain it, not just through a game, but throughout a season and still be strong at year’s end. So he’s been great with that his whole career.”
“I think it’s fair,” Siakam said about VanVleet’s assessment of him being naturally well-conditioned. “I’ve felt like I’ve always had that, and I just want to continue to. In this regard, I feel very special. I’m able to do a lot on the floor and that is due to being in good physical condition. And it’s something that I try to work on.”
Siakam’s heavy workload does not come in vain. The Raptors are in a difficult season overall, but Siakam’s heavy workload has not been wasted. They have been great on Siakam’s court, but horrible when he sits. Siakam’s presence is crucial to the Raptors’ success. Siakam sits on the bench every game for approximately 11 minutes, and the Raptors are completely destroyed.
Siakam is out of the game for 767 minutes, and the Raptors have a rate of -5.3 points per 100 possessions. Their defence and offence would be the worst in the league without Siakam. The Raptors have averaged +3.7 points per 100 possessions in the 961 minutes Siakam played this season, which is the highest mark on the team. Their offense would rank second behind the Boston Celtics and their defense would be 20th.
Also, the Raptors can go as far Siakam will take them. It makes perfect sense, judging by his two-way play. Siakam is a point forward who orchestrates the offense and is relentless in his approach. He rarely settles for poor shots. Siakam, on the other hand, hunts for mismatches every possession by taking slower bigs off the ball and pushing small guards beneath the basket until a second team arrives. Siakam fills in for the Raptors’ chaotic defense scheme by being defensively strong. Siakam often switches from being a rim-protector into a perimeter stopper within the same possession.
It takes energy and effort to do all of this. And Siakam’s teammates have taken notice of the one-of-a-kind conditioning he demonstrates in order to do all that on both sides of the ball.
“I don’t know how he does that s***, to be honest,” former Raptors teammate Justin Champagnie said about Siakam. “For someone to do that 40-plus minutes almost damn near every game, it’s tough, you know what I mean?”
“I can’t imagine doing that,” Khem Birch says. “Like Pascal has to guard sometimes the best player on the [opposing] He must go out and drop 20. It’s hard to do that every night, even if you only play 40 minutes. It’s not uncommon to see superstars playing for 30 minutes or 35 minutes. He’s out there sometimes playing like 40, 45… it’s just very tough to do stuff like that… mentally and physically.”
Siakam says that the hard work starts in summer. Siakam is at the gym by 8 am every weekday, doing a vigorous workout before he begins weight training, stretching, and finally, scrimmaging. Siakam began to regiment his summers more strictly beginning in the 2020 offseason following the NBA bubble, when Siakam hired a “pit crew, which are the best of the best at every level of sports science,” according to his agent Todd Ramasar is a strength and conditioning coach as well as a exercise immunologist and a doctor in physical therapy.
“I’m guessing he’s in amazing shape. He certainly looks like he’s in amazing shape,” coach David Thorpe, who has been a skills trainer of NBA players since 2003, said about Siakam after spending time with him this past offseason in Orlando, Florida. “Siakam is very much in that subcategory of the most dedicated athletes” when it comes to his training regiment and working on his body, Thorpe said, noting that Siakam would never miss a morning workout even if it meant scheduling his other responsibilities like endorsement meetings and flights around his basketball routine.
“You’ve heard LeBron James talk about how he spends a million dollars a year on his body. Well, I have no idea what Pascal spends on his body, but it wasn’t zero,” Thorpe said. “It was very important to him… he moves so fluidly and relentlessly. And he would not dare to do that If he didn’t spend the amount of time he did focusing on his body.”
“I try to continue to work on my body every single day and make sure I do the right things,” Siakam said. “And again, I know that as the season picks up, I’m only going to continue to get better. This is my focus. I want to be able turn it up. I don’t want to peak [now] or anything.”
Siakam’s training doesn’t involve running marathons or doing hill-sprints during the summer to improve his conditioning. He puts 100 percent effort into every workout, building his stamina and strength by practicing morning workouts and practices just as hard as he does in games.
“I’ve never seen Pascal do a conditioning drill. I just see him go freaking 100 and 20 percent in his workouts,” Champagnie said. “So he works out like he plays in the game and it kinda just correlates and it goes. It’s like if you do it in the summer, your stamina will increase. He does it 110 percent of the time, and he does this every time he steps on the court. I feel like that’s what enables him to play all those minutes and do all he does.”
“Again, he works. He works,” VanVleet said about what he has seen Siakam do to improve his conditioning since entering the league together. “And I think putting your body through that test and that stress throughout the summer and throughout the season, staying in tip-top shape, taking care of your body, getting the right treatment, eating the right food — I think all of those things help.”
Siakam isn’t a typical superstar in that he came into the league with almost no recognition. He was labeled an “energy big” with a relentless “motor,” but not the type of prospect projected to become one of the best mid-range shooters and playmakers in the league at his position. But what makes Siakam so unique as a superstar is that he never left the “motor” stuff behind in his ascent to stardom, continuing to make the hustle plays and do the little things with regularity.
Siakam has donned his cape for Raptors in December and displayed his superpower at crucial moments. Whether it’s running through a Joel Embiid screen to cause an offensive foul on Embiid late in a game against the Sixers, running back in transition defence after a teammate threw a turnover against the Clippers, crashing the offensive boards for second-chance opportunities against the Cavaliers, or dropping a career-high 52 points in a win over the Knicks, Siakam is doing both the superstar things The role player does his best to support his team.
“I love the way he’s defending and rebounding on top of everything else,” head coach Nick Nurse said about Siakam. “He’s really using all his talents to impact the game all over. He’s in, he’s out, he’s challenging shots hard, chasing down long rebounds. I think that’s probably why he’s covering a lot of miles because he is quite active out there in a number of areas.”
“I mean, just watch the Raptors play: their style of play requires Pascal to race all over the place with his teammates, and yet he still can do what he’s doing offensively,” Thorpe says about Siakam’s workload. “That’s what makes him a superstar, is you would think a role player would play with that kind of effort — and they do, but they can’t score the way these guys can score and pass and rebound.
“Siakam is an All-NBA level player without question… because that’s what makes them superstars when you can carry your team and without them, obviously, it’d be much much worse. He is a competitor’s guy. According to what I’ve seen, he’s very competitive. Very competitive guy.”
Siakam is a true superstar because he doesn’t take games off. In the modern NBA, where “load management” is as common as the flu, almost every superstar from Steph Curry to Giannis Antetokounmpo takes a game off for scheduled rest every once in a while. Siakam, who plays heavy minutes for the Raptors so long as he’s healthy, says the Raptors have never spoken to him about managing the time he spends on the court.
“I like hooping,” Siakam said. “I like playing basketball. I love to play basketball. This is my safe place and I want to be out there every single night.”
All of these reasons are why Siakam’s young team adores him. They have taken notice not just of Siakam playing heavy minutes on both sides of the court every game, but also of Siakam’s routine, including the habits and procedures he has developed over the years to turn into a consummate professional and one of the best and most well-conditioned players in the NBA.
“He’s actually somebody I look up to,” Champagnie said. “To kinda just see how he carries himself as a pro and kinda just pick off parts of his workout routine or his gameplan or all the stuff he puts in to get ready. It’s actually pretty amazing watching him do that stuff and go out there and give guys a matchup nightmare out there.”
“I’ve always said that since I came here: Just seeing Pascal, his work ethic, him being the star of the team. He is always leading by example,” Christian Koloko adds.
Every superstar is different. Every superstar is unique. Each has their own superpower. Siakam’s is his fitness. Siakam, one of the best-conditioned players in the league, never feels tired no matter how hard his work load. And it’s never been more taxing than it is right now for the struggling Raptors.
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