Tag: Mo Bamba

Big man Mo Bamba leaves Sixers to join Clippers in free agency

Mo Bamba will leave the Philadelphia 76ers to join the Los Angeles Clippers in free agency.

The Philadelphia 76ers signed big man Mo Bamba in free agency in 2023 looking to add more depth behind Joel Embiid. The Sixers had Paul Reed as the main backup to the big fella, but it never hurts to have more depth.

In one season with the Sixers, Bamba averaged 4.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks. He started 17 of the 57 games he played due to the injury Embiid suffered. He wasn’t at his best throughout the season as he was dealing with a nagging knee injury, but he did fight through to be available for the Sixers.

After one season in Philadelphia, Bamba will join the Los Angeles Clippers on a deal. He will join Nic Batum who also joined the Clippers in free agency on Monday.

With Reed still under contract at the moment–his deal is non-guaranteed for the 2024-25 season–and the additions of Andre Drummond and Adem Bona, there isn’t a place for Bamba at the moment. He will have an opportunity to play with the Clippers.

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Mo Bamba opens up on challenging Sixers season, Joel Embiid, free agency values

Mo Bamba opens up on his challenging season for the Philadelphia 76ers, Joel Embiid, and his free agency values.

CAMDEN, N.J. — It was a challenging 2023-24 season for Philadelphia 76ers big man Mo Bamba. Signed to a one-year deal in the 2023 offseason, Bamba played 57 games, with 17 starts, and averaged 4.4 points and 4.2 rebounds along with 1.1 blocks per game.

Initially he was the third-string center behind Joel Embiid and Paul Reed, but the Sixers turned to Bamba to start in the majority of the games Embiid missed due to his meniscus injury. As a starter, Bamba averaged 6.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 19.3 minutes per game.

When asked to describe his season, Bamba used the term roller coaster.

“Not necessarily the minutes,” Bamba explained of his roller coaster claim. “It was just a wave of differing emotions in different parts of the season. For a lot of the season early on, it was just a matter of, like, just waiting for an opportunity, and when the opportunity comes, I was like ‘Alright.’ Just had to change the mindset of just, like, you go from wanting something to happen to ‘Alright, now that it’s happened, how do I capitalize on the opportunity? And win this specific basketball game.’”

Bamba had to battle through not playing as much as he would have liked as well as a right knee injury that hampered him a bit throughout the season.

A big reason Bamba joined the Sixers was due to his relationship with Embiid. The two are close friends and after the first-round elimination, the two had a phone call. Bamba expressed how proud he was of him.

“He called me,” Bamba recalled. “It was late because the game was over at 12, but he called me last night, and we just talked about things and how things went, but I told him ‘I’m real life proud of you, dog’. He’s been through a lot this year and he fought through a lot this year. The guy was out there on a leg and half. His face—he couldn’t blink, you know? But I told him I was proud of him. I told him that he has to do some certain things and I’m looking forward to the future.”

Embiid played through a great deal of adversity in the 2023-24 season, including the playoffs. Bamba, who has known Embiid for a long time, wanted to let him know how much he appreciated him.

“I’ve known Jo before I even came into the league and there’s been a bunch of stuff kinda surrounding Jo and things that he’s gotten over and things that he’s gotten better at and, like, not being on the team, it’s easy to kinda hear those types of things and be like ‘Alright, this must be true’ or whatever,” Bamba added. “Being here and seeing how he works and seeing how he attacked every day even though he was nowhere near 100%, that’s what made most proud of him.”

As Bamba prepares for free agency, the veteran out of Texas laid out some important values for himself and what he’s looking for.

“Just fit,” he explained. “Making sure I’m going somewhere anywhere — or even if it’s here — that it just makes sense. Obviously, it’s the NBA. There’s not a lot of — it’s not gonna be a perfect fit everywhere you go. That’s for any player, but just getting on page with the coaching staff, getting on page with the training staff and everything.”

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Sixers understand importance of matchup with Heat in the standings

The Philadelphia 76ers understand the importance of Monday’s matchup with the Miami Heat for the playoff standings.

PHILADELPHIA — At this point in the season, with 15 games left for the Philadelphia 76ers, every game matters.

It has been a season filled with adversity when considering all the injuries to Joel Embiid, De’Anthony Melton, and others as well as guys being in and out of the lineup. Due to the challenges they have dealt with, the Sixers have dropped to the No. 8 seed in the East.

When Philadelphia plays host to the Miami Heat on Monday, it will be the third of four matchups between the two teams with the Heat taking the first two of the season series. It’s why Miami is currently the No. 7 seed as it holds the tiebreaker over the Sixers.

It makes the matchup on Monday that much more important in terms of the standings.

“Absolutely,” said Mo Bamba. “I think from that eight to four spot, there’s been a lot of movement in the last like week or so, and it’s something that we don’t necessarily monitor it, but we definitely look at it and just kind of see where we stand against other teams, because at the end of the day, it’s pretty important who you play first in the postseason.”

If the Sixers can get a win on Monday and then get one in Miami on April 4, the season series would be tied at 2-2. The next tiebreaker determination would be the better conference record and the Sixers would have a better chance at moving up in the standings and finishing ahead of the Heat.

“Absolutely,” Bamba added. “I’m sure it works where it’s tied like a series of 2-2, it comes down to like, record or it comes down to the points or however it goes, but as long as you kind of do what you got to do to win, it kind of takes care of itself.”

With that being said, coach Nick Nurse doesn’t want the Sixers to put more of an emphasis on this matchup than they would on any other game. Philadelphia wants to win all the time.

“We put all the emphasis we can on every game — seriously,” said Nurse. “We’re just trying to battle them. We’ve had two really competitive games with them. We haven’t ever really gotten to play them with our true lineup, but that’s OK — we’ve got to do it. Listen, they’re going to run fast, cut fast, move fast on offense. They play half-court offense at a really good pace. We’re going to have to be ready to run with them and fight through a lot of that stuff.”

The Sixers and the Heat will tip off at 7:30 p.m. EDT on Monday.

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Sixers’ Nick Nurse sees improving Mo Bamba, wants more 3-pointers

Philadelphia 76ers coach Nick Nurse sees an improving Mo Bamba and is pushing him to shoot more 3-pointers.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers have relied on Mo Bamba a great deal as a starter as Joel Embiid continues to recover from a meniscus injury that required surgery.

Bamba hasn’t been Embiid. Then again, who is? But what Bamba has done is provide size and rim protection on defense, and he has begun to show off more of a 3-point shot on the offensive end.

Over his previous five games, Bamba is a combined 3-for-5 from deep. He has shown something on offense as a pick-and-pop option in the halfcourt offense and he has been an option as a trailer on the fast break for a 3-point opportunity.

“Mo, I think, is getting better,” said coach Nick Nurse. “He’s getting better. I think that he’s getting a little bit more in shape. He’s been able to go a lot longer stints than I think he was even a month ago, and I think he’s actually getting close to being a little bit more of a pick-and-pop threat than he’s been in his career. Instead of one a week, I think he can start hunting down like two a game — two or four 3s a game and be comfortable on it.”

The more Bamba continues to hunt those 3-pointers, the more it makes opposing defenses have to pay attention to him and it spaces the floor even more for Tyrese Maxey and the others on the offensive end. That’s why Nurse wants him to take those shots.

“He mentioned in Milwaukee a few times, if you’re gonna make some, keep taking them, and I think it takes our team to a different level when I’m stretching the floor and having their big step out of the paint to do something that they don’t normally do,” Bamba added. “Especially when you’re playing against the (Rudy) Gobert’s and the (Brook) Lopez’s and Bam (Adebayo) who is also a good rim protector out there, but I think it takes our team to another level and step up.”

The Sixers will continue to hunt for great shots, but they will want to get Bamba involved offensively with those types of looks.

“I feel good about him now on the pick-and-pop,” Nurse finished. “He’s starting to look like — if he doesn’t make it, it’s going to go in and out or something like that. So he is improving at both ends.”

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Mo Bamba feeling comfortable starting for Sixers with Joel Embiid out

Mo Bamba is feeling comfortable as a starter for the Philadelphia 76ers with Joel Embiid still out.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers are working through this period without Joel Embiid, but they have gotten solid play out of Mo Bamba.

With Embiid out, the Sixers have turned to Bamba and Paul Reed to fill minutes at center. Results have been mixed.

Bamba has produced some solid production during his time as a starter. His numbers aren’t eye-popping. He’s averaging 4.1 points and 4.8 rebounds in his game as starter, but his size and shot-blocking ability make a difference. He had eight rebounds and a block in Saturday’s win over the Charlotte Hornets.

“Pretty comfortable because you can set the tone early,” Bamba said of starting for the Sixers. “I know when we played them last time I was able to set the tone early with two plays at the rim. I let my energy die down a little bit after my second or third stint, but today (Saturday) it was just a matter of just doing things the right way compared to last game.”

There have been times Bamba’s energy level drops throughout a game. He knows that. Being the professional he is, it’s about correcting the mistakes and continuing to prepare for the next opportunity. He was essential in the win over the Hornets.

“Not over helping, not stepping up and letting them get rolls behind, but also being there for (Brandon) Miller who likes to come off to his left for jump shots and stuff, but just been feels good to get out there and set the tone defensively and let our second unit kind of build,” Bamba added. “I mean, this is the second game straight they were huge for us all off the bench and you got to kind of tip your hat, too.”

On offense, Bamba has attempted at least one 3-pointer in his last five games, taking at least two in three of those games. It appears as though that shot is becoming a bit of an emphasis for him as he moves forward.

“Yes and no,” he said of the 3s he’s attempting. “I know that on this team compared to the teams that I’ve been on before, like, offense isn’t something that I think about too much because we got Reese (Tyrese Maxey) who can throw them in a bunch. You got Buddy (Hield) who can shoot the lights out. You got KO (Kelly Oubre Jr.) who can put up numbers. Tobias (Harris) when he gets back is able to put up numbers.”

Bamba’s role with the Sixers is to block shots and make an impact defensively. Whatever offense he provides is a plus.

“So as far as just what shots I get and how many shots I get, and what kind of shots I get, I’m not too overly concerned with it,” he finished. “It’s just being that backline help on defense and backline voice and just making sure to get our guys in order.”

The Sixers will host the Miami Heat on Monday.

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Sixers discuss what Kyle Lowry, Mo Bamba bring in new starting lineup

The Philadelphia 76ers discuss the success of the lineup with Kyle Lowry and Mo Bamba starting games.

The Philadelphia 76ers are experimenting at the moment as coach Nick Nurse looks to push the right buttons to ensure his team’s success without Joel Embiid.

Philadelphia has won two in a row with Nurse turning to a different starting lineup. He has inserted Kyle Lowry into the starting unit alongside Tyrese Maxey in the backcourt and Mo Bamba has moved into the starting center spot.

After the Sixers picked up an impressive 120-116 road win over the Dallas Mavericks, the lineup with Lowry and Bamba was the subject of conversation.

“Everybody’s kind of figuring out just our chemistry overall,” Tobias Harris told reporters after the win. “We knew it was gonna take some time having new guys and figuring out ways to be successful out there, but Kyle does a great job of getting us organized out there and putting us in great positions. He’s such a threat as well to shoot that 3-ball and getting in the middle of the lane and kicking it out, and Mo Bamba’s doing a great job of protecting the rim and being a force in the paint so we just have to stay at it.”

Lowry shot 1-for-9 on Sunday, but he had seven assists to lead the team in that category and he was 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. The Sixers are able to get into a rhythm on the offensive end with him running the point guard spot.

Then there’s Bamba, who had eight points and five rebounds starting while Paul Reed returned to his bench role and poured in 13 points and seven rebounds. Bamba is able to use his size at the rim while Reed can hop off the bench and give Philadelphia a boost with his energy and activity level.

“I think he’s comfortable in that role,” Tyrese Maxey told reporters of Reed. “Yeah, I mean, that’s the role he plays when big fella’s (Joel Embiid) here. So I think it just got him going, man. He’s out there playing with a lot more energy. I think he likes it. Mo Bamba, it’s good for him to start. He likes it. He said he doesn’t get cold. He’s always warm out there right after warm-ups. And he’s been playing good.”

The Sixers were able to get Kelly Oubre Jr. going a bit. He scored 21 points off the bench with 19 coming after halftime. Philadelphia has been looking to find a way to get him moving in the right direction again and Sunday may have been it for him.

Overall, Lowry and Bamba moving into the starting lineup unlocks a lot of new possibilities for Philadelphia moving forward. They just need to keep moving in the right direction.

“It’s funny because we’ve been headed in the right direction I think as soon as after the trade deadline,” Maxey finished. “We lost some of those games, but we’re playing the right way. Guys are contributing. Guys are going out there and doing what their job is and competing extremely hard. So that’s what we have to do.”

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Mo Bamba opens up on the challenges of staying ready to help Sixers

Mo Bamba opens up on the challenges of staying ready to help the Philadelphia 76ers succeed.

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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Nick Nurse explains how Sixers will handle backup center going forward

Coach Nick Nurse explains how the Philadelphia 76ers will handle the backup center minutes going forward.

BOSTON — The Philadelphia 76ers are missing a certain superstar big man. Joel Embiid remains sidelined while recovering from a meniscus procedure on his left knee on Feb. 6. That has left the Sixers to piece together lineups and wins without him.

Paul Reed has started in place of Embiid, but coach Nick Nurse has used different options as the backup center.

Mo Bamba has received opportunities to back up Reed, but in Tuesday’s loss to the Boston Celtics, the Sixers went small. Nic Batum received the backup center minutes before Nurse turned to Bamba in the second quarter and the big man finished with 10 points, six rebounds and a block.

“We didn’t start Batum because we were going to use him kind of as the backup 5,” Nurse explained. “That was a good spark by those guys, obviously. We thought we had a matchup with (Luke) Kornet in there to bring Mo in and just take a look at that lineup. He did some decent things. He certainly made a couple shots and was protecting the rim pretty good while he was in there, too. So it was a good stretch for him.”

One has to assume Nurse will switch between Batum and Bamba for the backup 5 minutes until Embiid returns.

“I think we need to continue to navigate it,” Nurse added. “I think there’s guys that can certainly give us a bit more at the 4-5 (positions). It isn’t about offense, really. It’s about screening, rebounding, rim protection, and defense — some of those things. We’ve got to make sure we’re playing a little bit more complete game.”

The margin for error for Philadelphia at the moment is slim to none. It cannot afford lapses like those in Tuesday’s loss. That is why Nurse has to figure out how to best get a complete 48 minutes out of his group.

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Mo Bamba pushing through pain to try and help Sixers without Joel Embiid

Mo Bamba is fighting through pain to try and help the Philadelphia 76ers who are without Joel Embiid.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers are missing a certain big man who is also the reigning league MVP. Joel Embiid is out until at least March as the Sixers continue to wait and see when the big fella can return.

In the meantime, the Sixers have had to turn to Paul Reed and Mo Bamba to fill in for Embiid. Reed has gotten the starting role while Bamba has stepped into the backup role.

Dealing with a right knee injury of his own, Bamba has been trying to push through pain to help the Sixers without Embiid. He had four blocks off the bench in Friday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks, but had a large ice pack on his right knee in the locker room afterward.

“It’s tough,” Bamba told Sixers Wire of his knee injury. “It’s just adversity. Something I have to get through. I’d be lying if I said it isn’t bothering me, but looking around the locker room, we have guys who are out, and I just try to do my part just by being available and just sacrifice my body for the team.”

With the Sixers on the second night of a back-to-back on Saturday against the Washington Wizards, Bamba has been ruled out due to right knee soreness, but the fact he is still fighting through pain to try to help the Sixers is a big help.

Without Embiid, his mindset is to just do the little things to do his best to help the team.

“Gotta step up,” he added. “It’s part of the reason why I wanted to come here is because I knew Jo — especially, with his history and his injuries — I knew that he wasn’t gonna play all 82 games and that it was gonna take all of us. It’s gonna be by committee, but my mindset is just to go out there and just dominate the simple. Don’t go out there and make any home run plays. Just hit singles. We got guys who can go put up numbers as far as scoring and just make their job easier.”

The Sixers will certainly miss Bamba’s ability to swat shots against the Wizards, but he will likely return on Monday when the Sixers take on the Cleveland Cavaliers. Philadelphia will need his size against Cleveland’s big men.

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Sixers’ Nick Nurse reveals message he shared to Paul Reed, Mo Bamba

Philadelphia 76ers coach Nick Nurse reveals the message he shared with Paul Reed and Mo Bamba.

PHILADELPHIA — As the Philadelphia 76ers must figure out how they are going to replace what Joel Embiid brings to the table. The big fella will be out at least four weeks due to a left knee meniscus injury that required surgery.

The Sixers must replace averages of 35.3 points, 11.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game from the center spot. Philadelphia will turn to big men Paul Reed and Mo Bamba.

Neither Reed nor Bamba are the scorers Embiid is, but coach Nick Nurse has presented an opportunity to those guys and is looking to help them produce without the reigning league MVP. He stated he had a conversation with both of them to prepare them.

“I always say the same thing, too. They certainly show flashes of being able to fill in that spot,” Nurse explained. “Other things get redistributed, but they can hold their own. It’s just that we need consistent night-to-night. Not an incredible game one night and nothing the next. We just need to know you’re gonna rebound and defend your position, right? Any scoring you give us is great. If we need some, help us there.”

On the season, Reed is averaging 6 points and 5 rebounds while Bamba is averaging 4.3 points and 3.7 rebounds. With Embiid out, the Sixers will turn to Reed as the starter and Bamba as the main backup.

Reed has shown an ability to produce when the time calls for it. Now, he has to do it an extended stretch. As for Bamba, he has the size the Sixers need in certain matchups. They both need consistency.

“We need those two guys,” Nurse added. “Those are the two 5’s we got, so we gotta get some production out of them.”

The Sixers will play host to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.

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