Mo Bamba has made some big strides already in his short NBA career. The Magic big man has looked phenomenal in stretches and is already forcing opposing lineups to adjust to him and the Magic’s giant frontcourt.
Of course, while Bamba was drafted to the Magic, there were other teams interested in him as a prospect. One of those teams was the Los Angeles Clippers. In a pre-game scrum in Orlando, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers was asked what he thought of Bamba as a rookie. He said he’s been impressed with him ever since they drafted him. Not only for his skill set but because of how he showed up to the interview.
“I love our interview in the summer with him. My initial impressions of Bamba (was) he was the only guy who came into the interview session with a briefcase and a CD which I didn’t even know existed anymore, of himself. Which I thought was impressive most of all was the moves and things he could do. He wanted us to see that… .I thought it was the most impressive interview we’ve ever had.”
Yes, that’s right. Bamba brought a CD and a briefcase to his predraft interview like a day trader trying to get a job on Wall Street in 1992. Unfortunately, Rivers did not get into specifics about what was on the CD or in the briefcase, but we can all probably guess a little. The likely answer is the briefcase contained any important paperwork Bamba needed and Rivers implied the CD had tape of everything Bamba could do as a player.
He wanted to show what he was capable of, which is what any job applicant should do in his situation. What’s more exciting, though, is to think of what could have been in the briefcase and on the CD instead of the dull boring stuff that reality contains. Let’s do a brief thought experiment here.
Potential briefcase items:
— A suit
— A premade Clippers jersey
— A 20 page paper on why the Clippers need to draft Mo Bamba
— The lyrics to “Mo Bamba” but in reality it’s just the words “Mo Bamba” over and over again for 100 pages.
Potential CD items:
— A mixtape he made in college
— A list of his favorite things in the world including the Clippers at No. 1
— A copy of his favorite PC game that he has to have on him at all times
— The new Drake album
— An entire CD full of Mo Bamba by Sheck Wes. It just plays on repeat non-stop.
Whatever was in there, it wasn’t enough to convince the Clippers that they had to have them. But he seems to be doing pretty well in Orlando anyway. Their loss.
