Toronto Raptors star Pascal Siakam is a very positive person. As he stated multiple times in various interviews, he is always cheerful and ready to have a great time. However, during an interview with the New York Times, he opened up about more negative things.

He concentrated on two things – the racism he faces as a person of color and the hurtful comments he received about his father that passed away in 2014. Talking about the business side of the NBA, Pascal Siakam stated:

I’m a really prideful person and I always want to be the best player that I can be, and the bubble wasn’t that. So I get it, I understand it, but also for me what really hurt me is one of those things about my dad or like, “Oh, your dad wouldn’t have been proud of this.”

In terms of the racism on social media directed at him, the Raptors star stated:

People, they told me about it because I was really off social media. I didn’t want to know about it, but I heard it was like, racist comments and things like that. For me, those were just the things that were sad about the whole thing.

Siakam and his Raptors had a disappointing season, but that is no excuse for any abuse the players receive. It is really appalling to see what kind of things are said about the players on social media specifically. It is especially players like Pascal Siakam, who always give their all on the court, that do not deserve any sort of abuse.