Sixers: Mo Bamba, a signing with Joel Embiid's fingerprints all over it

This summer, Mo Bamba has changed scenery. The Ivorian has left Los Angeles for Philadelphia. Under the basket for the Sixers, he will be reunited with a certain Joel Embiid. The latter, incidentally, played a crucial role in the arrival of the former Orlando man. Bamba himself has spoken about the move.

“He was probably the most active in recruiting me,” Mo Bamba told Sixers Wire. “Everybody was telling me it would be good for me to come, but Jo was the most insistent. He was the first to switch the light on for me during this free agency. I was looking at other teams, but he talked to me and said: ‘Listen, I'm not telling you where to go, you're in charge of your career, but it would be good to have you with us.’”

A team he already knows

In Pennsylvania, Mo Bamba will not feel out of place, far from it. Besides Joel Embiid, the centre knows other players on the roster too, which should make his adjustment even easier. “I have a few connections with guys here. Joel, obviously. Danny Green comes from New York like me. I also know Tobias Harris, who was in Orlando with me. I did almost my whole pre-Draft process with De’Anthony Melton, and I have the same strength coach as Tyrese Maxey. I spend my summers with Jaden Springer and Paul Reed. I have Texan ties with PJ Tucker. So I'm on familiar ground with these players,” said Mo Bamba.

Besides, the 25-year-old is joining a team that is clearly in the title hunt. Even so, that doesn't scare Mo Bamba. “I had a little taste of playoff success with the Lakers. But we hadn't done training camp together and we talked about that often. So now, doing training camp with a good team is exciting and enjoyable.”

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