Today is Day 43 of the Omer. Hesed sheb’malchut. Kingship that leads to loving-kindness.

Tonight begins the seventh and final week of the Omer, the week of malchut, or kingship. This week we’ll be highlighting players with championship DNA, who have contributed to title-winning teams. On Day 43, hesed sheb’malchut, our final choice came down to two very different players with very similar last names, Pascal Siakam and Jack Sikma. 

Siakam was a key player on the defending NBA champion Toronto Raptors, averaging 19.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in the game. This year, Siakam, the 6’9” Siakam got even better and established himself as a cornerstone of the Raptors franchise. But despite a great start to his career, Siakam doesn’t yet measure up to Sikma.

At 6’11” the sweet shooting center from a small Dutch village in Illinois, was a stretch big ahead of his time. Able…