The Indiana Pacers are right in the middle of a tough first-round series against the Knicks. They were able to tie the series up at two apiece after blowing New York out in Game 4. Their focus is solely on the Knicks and not on any outside noise from players who aren't even in the playoffs.
One player who didn't even come close to making the playoffs decided to take a shot at a Pacers start player. Bilal Coulibaly, who is a rookie that was actually selected by Indiana before being traded to the Wizards on draft night, took a shot at Pascal Siakam.
According to Coulibaly, Siakam is "overrated". He claims he was the easiest superstar to guard this season as a rookie. Siakam averaged 22 points on 52% shooting this year in the regular season and just shot 7-9 and scored 14 points in just over 20 minutes in the blowout against the Knicks.
Pascal Siakam and the Pacers have owned Coulibaly this season
I have no idea what Coulibaly is thinking with a comment like this. Siakam played against the Wizards twice this season because of the midseason trade to the Pacers. He absolutely cooked the Wizards in both of those games en route to wins while he was with Toronto.
Siakam had 39 points on 65% shooting in his first matchup with the Wizards. In the second matchup, he had 22 points on 60% shooting. Clearly, Coulibaly wasn't doing a very good job guarding him. I have no idea why the rookie would single out Siakam.
Perhaps Coulibaly is mad that the Pacers decided to trade him on draft night to draft Jarace Walker instead. Maybe he's mad the Wizards were the worst team in the league and still didn't get the number-one pick in the Draft. In either case, he was way off base with this take.
Siakam and the Pacers won't be bothered by something like this. They are more focused on trying to finish off the Knicks and make the Eastern Conference Finals.