BOSTON–When the Philadelphia 76ers signed Mo Bamba to a 1-year deal in the offseason, most believed that he would be the backup center to Joel Embiid.
Standing at 7 feet tall, Bamba offers a lot of size and he’s somebody who can block shots at an elite level. He’s also able to shoot the 3-ball a bit and be able to change games at times. However, he hasn’t gotten much opportunity thanks to the strong play of Paul Reed as the main backup to the big fella and it’s tough to find a rhythm and a comfort level there for Bamba.
“It doesn’t matter what my comfort level is,” Bamba said after the loss. “I kinda got a raw deal here, but that’s the tough part about the NBA. Just gotta be ready for when the opportunity comes.”
He got his opportunity in Friday’s 125-119 loss to the Boston Celtics. With Philadelphia missing Embiid, coach Nick Nurse gave Bamba some extended run. The big man was big in the second half as he scored 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting with three rebounds and he knocked down two triples.
“Just tried to be a little aggressive,” he said of his game. “That shooting is a big proponent of my game, but I try not to get trigger-happy. I try to work around the rim at first and work my out, but once I saw one go in, that’s all I really needed to see.”
On the season, Bamba is averaging 3.9 points and 2.3 rebounds in 6.3 minutes per game. He is still remaining a professional through all of this and preparing for any opportunity thrown his way.
“Absolutely,” he continued. “That’s the secret about the NBA. It’s not easy to do. People think you’re not playing, you should be able to come in if you’re healthy and be ready to go, but a lot of basketball is having rhythm. Having that continuity with the guys you’re out there with and I think being out there’s a big part of it.”
With that being said, the Sixers have made it easier for him to come in and work hard despite the lack of playing time.
“These guys make it all easy for me to come in,” he finished. “They’re a veteran team. It’ll be easy for me to just get in there and just kinda plug in and do what I do.”
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