TORONTO – Mo Bamba knows he fits in well in the Toronto Raptors locker room. Now he just has to find his place on the court with them.
The 7-foot center signed with Toronto on Sunday and made his Raptors debut the following night, playing four minutes in a 107-106 win over the Orlando Magic.
Bamba was still finding his footing less than 24 hours after joining his sixth NBA team – his luggage was lost on the way to Toronto – but said acclimatization was more about learning Raptors lingo than learning his teammates' names.
“Even though a lot of teams do the same thing, every team has its own terminology,” Bamba said, sitting in front of his new locker at Scotiabank Arena. “So there could be ice down here somewhere else, or, you know, there's a lefty call going on here on the pick-and-roll, and there could be a weak call somewhere else.
“Usually everyone plays the same games, but it's different words. But when you're lucky enough to be in the league as long as I have, you pick up on those things.”
Bamba was Orlando's sixth overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft but failed to catch on with the Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Clippers and New Orleans Pelicans in seven seasons. He averaged 6.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 16.8 minutes in 364 NBA games (101 starts).
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This season, he played 14 games for the Salt Lake City Stars, the Utah Jazz's G League affiliate, and performed well, averaging 16.5 points, 12.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 2.9 blocks and 28.7 minutes.
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“It always shows how difficult it is to make it in this sport,” Bamba said of his time in the G League. “How focused you have to be and how talented those 450 guys (in the NBA) are.
“But it’s also a feeling of being watched and knowing that I belong.”
But Bamba had no doubt he belonged in a Raptors locker room filled with familiar faces.
“I know everyone on the team,” Bamba said, gesturing around the room. “RJ (Barrett) reminded me that he stayed at my house when he was in college in Orlando. Scotty (Barnes), I've known for a while. I know all these guys.
“I played against (Immanuel Quickley) when we were in seventh grade. It's crazy.”
Those teammates that Bamba didn't know before he was discovered this year.
“I think we just need to help Mo a little bit with the finer points of defense and offense,” backup guard Jamal Sheed said. “His skill set and what he brings, I think he can really help us once his engine gets going.
“I've seen it with my own eyes. He went to (the University of Texas) and I'm a kid in Austin, so I've seen with my own eyes Mo and what he can do and what he's capable of. I'm excited to play with him.”
The Raptors desperately need Bamba's size and skill with starting center Jakob Poeltl sidelined for at least a week with lower back soreness. Bamba will split time in fifth with Sandro Mamukelashvili, rookie Collin Murray-Boyles and Scotty Barnes playing his ideal swingman role.
Murray-Boyles said Bamba's shot-blocking ability would be a “huge” advantage. For his career, Bamba averages 1.3 blocked shots per game.
“Everyone knows we needed this,” Murray-Boyles said. “We played a lot of small fives, especially since Jack wasn’t there, it was just me, Sandro and Scott.
“So we definitely need someone else to protect the paint and get more rebounds, which is something we really need.”
It looked like the Raptors' patchwork core of centers would be put to the test Wednesday night when the Denver Nuggets came to Toronto. But Nuggets star center Nikola Jokic strained his left knee Monday in a 147-123 loss to the Miami Heat. The three-time MVP will be re-evaluated in four weeks, the team said Tuesday.
It's an obvious blow to an already short-handed Nuggets team, but it's not a season-ending injury or surgery. If Jokic misses a month, that means he will miss about 16 games, but could play again before February's NBA All-Star Game.
— With files from The Associated Press.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 30, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
