Quebecois Bennedict Mathurin, who was traveling through Toronto to face the Raptors, took the opportunity on Wednesday to meet young people from the area.
In a video posted to the Indiana Pacers’ Twitter account, the 20-year-old athlete can be seen answering questions from around 40 children and teenagers at an Adidas store in the Queen City area. Mathurin also gave autographs and presented gifts to the young people. Accompanied by his sister, he took the opportunity to tease her.
“My sister was in basketball for a big part of my early days,” he replied when asked who inspired him to get into the sport.
“By the time I was about 12, I knew I was already better than them,” Mathurin added with a smile.
The one who grew up in the Montreal North neighborhood is playing his first career campaign in the NBA. The Pacers drafted him with a sixth overall win of the 2022 auction. He has been one of the club’s starters ever since and his name is regularly associated with Silver Tour Rookie of the Year honors.
Before his first career game at Scotiabank Arena, Mathurin averaged 16.7 points, four rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.
Another win
In Toronto, too, Mathurin is busy making life difficult for the Raptors, putting in a good performance in his Pacers’ 118-114 win.
Indiana have won their three duels against Toronto this season, the Quebecer still collects 15 points. The 20-year-old scored exactly that number, making all three shots from the line three and six of his free throws.
Five other Pacers players have scored at least 10 points, including Andrew Nembhard’s 25. The Raptors were primarily led by three men; Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet and Jakob Pöltl, authors of 31, 28 and 23 points respectively.
Montreal’s Chris Boucher also made an impact with 11 points and six rebounds.
The Pacers (33-40) are just one win away from the Chicago Bulls (34-38) and a playoff spot.
Bennedict Mathurin visited an Adidas store in Toronto to surprise 40 children from local youth organizations for a Q&A, sign autographs and surprise them with new shoes and swag. pic.twitter.com/n3pZ6anFKz
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) March 22, 2023