On the heels of the most chaotic season of his basketball career, Philadelphia 76ers center Mo Bamba is among the players pre-listed by the Ivorian men's national basketball team to participate in the 2023 FIBA World Cup when it tips-off on Aug. 25.
Bamba, now 25-years-old, was the sixth overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.
This is “the first time since his choice to defend the colors of his country” that the 7-footer has landed on the pre-list for the Elephants (created by second-year Côte d'Ivoire head coach Dejan Prokic), per the Ivorian Basketball Federation's official Instagram page. The Elephants are coming off of a second-place finish in the 2023 FIBA AfroCan after going 5-1, losing to Morocco in a 78-76 nail-biter as big man Mike Fofana left with All-Star honors.
Côte d’Ivoire will be making its fifth FIBA World Cup appearance and their first back-to-back appearance since 1986.
Their last World Cup appearance (2019) was a forgettable one, as the Elephants finished in 29th place with an 0-5 record. However, the Ivorian men's national team finished 10th place in the FIBA AfroCan that same year with an 0-3 record. Their jump from 10th-place to 2nd-place in that tournament over the past four years provides just enough belief that they can have a much more impressive showing this time around.
So too does the arrival of Bamba, who has averaged 9.0 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks over the past two seasons while shooting 38.3 percent from 3-point range. One of the few players that's as adept at protecting the rim as he is knocking down threes, he will do plenty to make up for the absence of Fofana, a legitimate 3-point threat himself as he made 34.9 percent of his long-range attempts during the 2023 FIBA AfroCan tournament.
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