PHILADELPHIA — The 2023-24 season has not gone as planned for Philadelphia 76ers big man Mo Bamba.
After signing a one-year deal in the offseason, he’s averaging only 11 minutes per game, the fewest of his career, and has played in just 37 games. He was dealing with a knee injury for a bit and he has been the third-string center behind Joel Embiid and Paul Reed.
With Embiid out, Bamba has gotten a bigger role, but the knee injury has limited him. He’s averaging 3.9 points and 3.8 rebounds on the season, but he got the start in Friday’s 121-114 win over the Charlotte Hornets and came up with eight rebounds and two blocks.
“It felt good,” Bamba told Sixers Wire of the start. “It’s something I talked to the coaches about all year. It’s a matter of time and just staying ready for the opportunity.”
It can be very tough to stay ready for that opportunity when in Bamba’s situation. He even admitted in December that he believes he received a raw deal in terms of his playing time, but he has remained a true professional and has focused on helping the Sixers.
“You just lose yourself in the team,” he explained to Sixers Wire. “You lose yourself in trying to do everything you can to win whether it’s my impact on the bench talking to guys and trying to help guys out or if it’s on the floor just running out there and wreaking havoc.”
While Bamba made an impact as a starter on Friday, the Sixers received 11 points and eight rebounds from Reed off the bench. It was a big performance from Philadelphia’s center duo.
“He was great off the bench,” Bamba said of Reed. “He dominated the simple. He didn’t overthink too much on the offensive end. He kinda let the game come to him.”
Dominating the simple is something the Sixers have been looking to help Reed understand. The man they call “Bball Paul” did so in a big way on Friday and Bamba was proud of him as that is something he has stayed in his ear about.
“All the time,” Bamba finished. “It’s something that you’ve seen him progress at. When he’s getting offensive rebounds, there’s no — sometimes, the best play is to kick it out for a 3 instead of trying to finish through defenders, but he’s done a real good job of just doing the little things.”
Bamba and the Sixers will now look to move forward when they take on the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.
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