Toronto Raptors star Pascal Siakam lost 15 pounds last month after a lengthy spell on the sidelines due to the league's COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Recently, the one-time All-Star opened up about his alarming weight loss and what type of impact it has had on his level of play.

Siakam admitted that he lost a lot of his strength during his time on the sidelines (h/t Josh Lwenberg of TSN Sports):

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To be clear, it has not been confirmed if Siakam actually tested positive for COVID-19. He was out of action for an extended period for the Raptors under the league's health and safety protocols, which means that it is also possible that it was merely a contact tracing issue. Then again, for him to lose 15 pounds over the span of a few weeks does point to the fact that the Raptors forward battled some sort of sickness.

Siakam has looked good for Toronto of late, though. On Tuesday, he logged a game-high 30 points on 13-of-19 shooting to go along with six rebounds, seven assists, and two blocks. It was all for nothing, however, as the Raptors fell to a Trae Young-less Atlanta Hawks side, 108-103.

That's now back-to-back losses for Toronto, who also suffered a 102-96 loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday. The Raptors' hopes for a playoff berth this season are disappearing fast and they will need Siakam to be at his very best right now if they want to keep their postseason hopes alive.