Somewhere between the original pandemic shutdown and the merciful end of the season from hell, Raptors fans — and the basketball watching public at large — forgot how to appreciate Pascal Siakam for what he is, opting instead to linger on what he’s not. Frankly, it sucks.
Name search Siakam online after any game, and you’ll see it. Hate speech, unhinged overreactions, thoughts and takes not at all rooted in reality — it’s all there, and it’s all varying degrees of wrong and/or disgusting. Of course, you could cherry-pick nasty stuff about any player from the most ooze-filled corners of the internet, but that’s not the only place Siakam gets a wildly unfair shake.