The Indiana Pacers are currently gearing up for their NBA Finals series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, with the winner taking their first championship in franchise history. The Pacers got to this point by dispatching the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals thanks to an epic series from Pascal Siakam, who won the series MVP award.

It's been a long journey to NBA stardom for Siakam, who earlier in his career spent time in the G-League before carving out a role with the Toronto Raptors and now the Pacers.

Pacers center Myles Turner recently spoke on the admiration he has for Siakam and the way he has built his career from the ground up.

“The G-League is a grind. People don't have enough appreciation… It's a developmental league… He was able to develop into an MVP on a championship team,” said Turner.

Siakam has been a stabilizing presence for an otherwise young Pacers squad, relying on his championship experience from the 2019 Raptors to help guide Indiana to their first NBA Finals appearance in a quarter century.

A huge piece for the Pacers

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While Tyrese Haliburton is the unquestioned engine behind the Pacers' elite offensive attack, Siakam's unique skillset has made a highly valuable contributor to what they've been able to accomplish.

Siakam profiles as a Swiss Army Knife on both sides of the ball, able to guard several positions on defense while providing an immensely versatile skillset on offense.

Every bit of that skillset was on full display in the series against the Knicks, as Siakam proved time and time again to be a matchup nightmare for New York.

Siakam will need to have another big series in the NBA Finals if the Pacers want to get through an Oklahoma City Thunder squad that has put together one of the most dominant seasons in NBA history up to this point.

The NBA Finals are slated to get underway with Game 1 on Thursday evening at 8:30 PM ET from Oklahoma City. All of the games will be carried nationally by ABC.