Raptors news: Pascal Siakam hilariously turns Nick Nurse's comment about being smart against him

Pascal Siakam cannot help but poke fun at Raptors coach Nick Nurse when he was asked about his record with coach's challenges.

Nick Nurse is a great coach. Pascal Siakam and the rest of the Toronto Raptors can agree to that. However, the 2018-19 season's Most Improved Player cannot help but poke fun at his head coach when he was asked about his coach's challenges.

Chris O'Leary asked the forward about his head coach's terrible record when it comes to making challenges. He saw it as the perfect opportunity for him to make a playful jab to his head coach.

Siakam asked about Nurse being 0-fer on challenges. “I think he needs to be smarter” and starts laughing before he can finish. V well played.

— Chris O'Leary (@olearychris) November 7, 2019

For fans who feel out of the loop by the little inside joke Siakam made, it was a reference to the comments made by Nurse when he was asked about the forward's inability to keep himself out of foul trouble.

The head coach didn't bother mincing words, laying out what he thought of Siakam's propensity to foul without any filter.

Nick Nurse with some strong words on Pascal Siakam's early-season foul trouble: "He hasn't been very smart, if you want me to be honest with you. Most of those have been fouls and they're touch fouls… He needs to knock it off."

— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) November 5, 2019

The criticism was a fair choice. The 27 fouls he got in six games of playing put him 11th on the personal foul totals this season. Since he has to be careful to not make any excessive fouls, he cannot play the way he wants to on the floor. He could easily have greater averages than 26 PPG, 8.5 RPG, and 3.3 APG if he wasn't unnecessarily careless with his touches.

Siakam understands where his head coach is getting at, and he takes it upon himself to improve on his performance. There's no Kawhi Leonard who will save his hide this time around, so it's on him to lead the team on defense.

Meanwhile, Nurse is still trying to grasp when to make the proper challenge. He was the first coach in NBA history to use the challenge in a game. His challenge during the team's season opener against the New Orleans Pelicans didn't amount to anything, though.