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Los Angeles Clippers center Mo Bamba made a joke at the expense of Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid when discussing his availability on both ends of back-to-backs.
“I am not Joe [Joel Embiid],” Bamba told reporters. “Nah, I’ll die on my shield if I have to, but there’s definitely a plan in place. I think there was a little bit of a minute restriction here, but I didn’t reach those minutes, so I think going into tomorrow, I feel pretty comfortable, feel pretty good and springy, so we’ll see tomorrow.”
Embiid previously revealed that he’ll “probably never play back-to-backs” throughout the rest of his career before the start of the regular season, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.
Bamba and the star center were teammates on the 76ers during the 2023-24 season.
After signing a one-year contract with the Clippers as a free agent in July, the 26-year-old missed the team’s first 13 games of the season because of left knee soreness.
Bamba eventually made his regular-season debut on Sunday, scoring nine points and pulling down eight rebounds in 15 minutes during a 116-105 win over the Utah Jazz. He shot 4-8 from the field, missing both of his attempts from behind the arc.
While he poked fun at his former teammate, there doesn’t appear to be any bad blood between the two centers. In fact, Bamba praised Embiid following Philadelphia’s 2023-24 campaign.
“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 said, per USA Today’s Ky Carlin. “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.”
Bamba was selected by the Orlando Magic with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft. He hasn’t been able to live up to his status as a former lottery pick, as the Clippers are the fourth team that he’s suited up for since the start of the 2022-23 season.
As for Embiid, he’s appeared in just two games to open the regular season because of knee injury management as well as a three-game suspension for making physical contact with a reporter in the locker room.
The seven-time All-Star is still attempting to look like his former self, averaging just 16.5 points while shooting 7-26 from the field in two appearances.
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