When the Pacers traded for Siakam two Januarys ago and later re-signed him, he was seen as the type of star for whom the Pacers had to settle. Indianapolis, being a non-glamour market, would never get a superstar to pair with Haliburton, so they had to search elsewhere. Siakam would have to be good enough. Across the board, he has been.

So, when it came time to announce East Finals MVP, Haliburton understandably thought he was about to take home some individual hardware. The awkward twist for Haliburton was that

Pascal Siakam picked up the Larry Bird Trophy as the Eastern Conference Finals Most Valuable Player after the Pacers eliminated the Knicks in Game 6.