Announced! Farewell NBA! The highly talented center

He was officially announced as a signing on December 30 last year but was cut by January 6.

During his brief one-week stint, Bamba played two games for the Raptors, totaling about 6 minutes on the court without scoring, but managed 2 rebounds and 1 block.

This guy, born May 12, 1998, is a big center standing 2.13 meters tall with a 2.39-meter wingspan, and was the 6th pick in the 2018 first round; yet at just 27 years old, he has been tossed around and has completely fallen out of favor in the NBA.

After being waived by the Raptors, it’s uncertain when Bamba will be able to return to the world’s highest basketball stage again, or if his NBA career has come to a complete end.

Given Bamba’s historically elite physical gifts, even as a blue-collar player who mainly catches lobs, protects the rim, and grabs boards, he shouldn’t have faded from the NBA during his prime years — but the reality is he has been abandoned.

During the 24-25 season with the Clippers, Bamba took 103 shots in total, including 50 three-pointers with 15 made, shooting 30% from beyond the arc... His three-point attempts accounted for about 49% of all his shots.

Clearly a “Zhang Fei,” yet he prefers to act like a “Lin Daiyu.”

In modern basketball, centers shooting threes isn’t unusual, but being overly obsessed is problematic since a big man’s main job is to dominate the paint and guard the rim.

If one place doesn’t keep you, another will.

Outside the NBA, Bamba is highly sought after; last offseason, a certain CBA club even offered a pre-tax salary exceeding 3 million USD, but he was apparently indifferent at the time — though that may no longer be the case.

So far, over eight years in the NBA, Bamba has played for the Magic, Lakers, 76ers, Clippers, Pelicans, and Raptors, with an estimated total salary of about 39.35 million USD, which is not yet at the point where he’s uninterested in money.

His future plans remain unclear, but basically there are two paths: either keep chasing the NBA dream or choose to play overseas for financial gain.

What more can be said? Good luck. Maybe playing somewhere else will help him find his true self — a change of scenery can bring new life.