PORTLAND, Ore. — For a half-hour after the Lakers wrapped up their Monday morning shootaround, Mo Bamba kept at the grindstone. The 24-year-old slung 3-pointers from all over the arc, every few minutes looking over to the other end of the Moda Center court, where a shirtless LeBron James was working out himself.
On the first day on the job, Bamba didn’t want to get caught leaving the court before his 38-year-old teammate.
The mentality the 7-foot Bamba, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, is bringing to L.A. is to learn, to try to emulate and certainly try to help his new teammates – and there’s no one on the roster who he holds in more reverence than the guy who just became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
“That’s one of the best guys to ever lace ’em up,” he said. “I just want to be a sponge, and just soak up as much information and knowledge I can just gain from him.”
It’s unclear just how much the Lakers will need from Bamba, whom they traded for on Thursday to add size after dealing Thomas Bryant and Damian Jones away. Bamba himself called it “crazy” to be caught up in a whirlwind trade deadline, leaving Orlando, the only market he’s known for the past five years.
That’s not to say the New York native isn’t excited to make his Lakers debut on Wednesday, once a four-game suspension ends for his spat with Austin Rivers. He understands exactly what the Lakers will need from him when he’s on the court: rim protection, spacing on 3-pointers if possible, and youthful energy.
“He’s another young, very young, high-level player with a huge upside,” Coach Darvin Ham said. “Our coaches are excited to get to work with him and we’re excited to add him into the mix.”
The Lakers are under the gun to build continuity fast. While Bamba said it should be easy to get into a groove with James and Davis – whom he playfully called “Three 6 Mafia” in reference to their jersey numbers and the hip-hop group – he himself already has a ton of preexisting relationships on the roster. He knows Lonnie Walker IV, Jarred Vanderbilt, Troy Brown Jr. and Rui Hachimura from either AAU competitions, college games or both.
When he was a rookie, he played alongside D’Angelo Russell in the well-known “Black Ops” runs in New York overseen by trainer Chris Brickley. He was taken by Russell’s chemistry with then-teammate Jarrett Allen and peppered him with questions.
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“I was just asking him about screens and where he wants his screens, and do you necessarily have to hit every time or do you just tap and dive? Or do I want to spin out or do I want to do this or that?” Bamba said. “And he just had all of the answers and this was four years ago, five years ago. Just him having that mature NBA mind, it will take us a long way.”
JAMES SITS AGAIN, HOPES TO PLAY WEDNESDAY
At the end of his own long post-shootaround workout of off-the-dribble moves, sprinting from side to side and putting up shots from all over, James immediately dipped his feet into the ice tub while sitting courtside at Moda Center.
The Lakers haven’t disclosed much publicly about the nature of the left foot injury that caused James to miss his third straight game Monday night, but a person familiar with James’ condition acknowledged he’s still feeling pain during and after playing. While both Ham and General Manager Rob Pelinka characterized the medical imaging that came back as “clean,” the continued discomfort for their franchise player is a clear warning sign as the team tries to make the playoffs.
But if there’s a silver lining: Ham confirmed that in “all likelihood,” James should play Wednesday at home against New Orleans, one of the teams ahead of them in the standings.