Obviously done with dunking on regular joes in parks and on Deandre Ayton on Twitter, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid took on another rookie, and as usual, emerged out of the challenge with his crown still on his head.
In a recent pickup game in Los Angeles, Embiid took Orlando Magic rookie Mo Bamba to school, by demolishing the former Texas Longhorns center at the post before throwing it down against the hapless Bamba, whose reported 7-foot-10 wingspan looked futile in the face of the Sixers’ unicorn. If that was not enough to demoralize Bamba, Embiid made sure of it by saying “Welcome to the f**kin league” to the up-and-comer.
To his credit, Bamba kept his cool, knowing that acting like a sore loser would only make him look like an even bigger one. He even jokingly expressed his gratitude for Embiid for letting him get a taste of what life in the NBA is.
Thank you @JoelEmbiid for such a warm welcome to the NBA 😂.. Will see y’all Oct 1 @OrlandoMagic https://t.co/wFpmTCIkCv
— Mo Bamba (@TheRealMoBamba) June 29, 2018
Mo Bamba, who was selected sixth overall by Orlando in last week’s NBA Draft, is going to learn a lot in his first year in the pros. What Embiid did to him in that pickup game was only a glimpse of what the rest of the NBA’s big men have in store for him down low. Draymond Green is probably licking his chops right now at the prospect of facing the Magic’s new guy and Bamba’s rookie batchmates.
Bamba stands 7-foot-1 and is projected to be a star one day. Before that day comes, though, he’ll have to go through the run gauntlet of NBA big men.
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