Raptors newcomer Koloko took similar path to NBA as new teammate Siakam

It's fitting that one of the first people to reach out to Christian Koloko after he was drafted by Toronto on Thursday was new Raptors teammate Pascal Siakam.

The two come from the same town of Douala in Cameroon. They both played soccer, their country's more popular game, growing up. Koloko played striker or a goalie. His favourite team is FC Barcelona, and favourite player Lionel Messi. Neither Cameroonians played basketball seriously until late in their teens.

"[Siakam] means everything," Koloko said on a virtual availability from Los Angeles, where he'd celebrated with his family on Thursday night. "He's the first person from Douala to go to the NBA, to get to that level. He's an NBA champ. He's an NBA all-star. This year he was in one of the All-NBA teams. He just means a lot, showing people like me that anything is possible.

The Raptors selected Koloko, a seven-foot-one centre from the University of Arizona, with the No. 33 pick. Six years ago, Toronto took Siakam at the 27th spot in 2016.

The 22-year-old would love to experience the same ascension to all-star and NBA champ in his career.

"My goal is to be a long time NBA player, to be a really good player in the NBA," he said. "Being mentioned for multiple time all-star and just having the best career possible, because you know I kind of started playing basketball kind of late so I think the sky is the limit for me and I will continue to get better."

Just a couple of hometown heroes