213hoops.com
2025 Clippers Exit Interviews: Mo Bamba
Our exit interview series continues with another former Clippers player, backup center Mo Bamba.
Basic Information
Height: 7’0
Weight: 231 pounds
Position: Center
Age: 27
Years in NBA: 7
Key Regular Season Stats (for Clippers): 4.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 0.3 steals, and 1.0 blocks in 12.6 minutes per game across 28 games played (2 starts) on 46.6/30.0/68.0 (1.8 3PA and 0.9 FTA) shooting splits (56.1 True Shooting)
Expectations
Mo Bamba was signed to the Clippers on a veteran minimum to be their backup center. In many ways, it was one of the most straightforward projected roles on the team, with only minimal competition (two-way Kai Jones) and a clear path to regular minutes.
On the court, Mo was expected to provide at least some spacing with his three-point shoot, rim protection on defense, and enough basic competence elsewhere to stick on the court. After years of backup center play that ranged from “awful” (Moses Brown) to “ok but underwhelming” (Mason Plumlee), the hope for Bamba was that he would be a stable if uninspiring presence in the Clippers’ second unit. I was skeptical about this, having followed fans of teams that Bamba had played for and seeing their constant discussions of his inadequacies, but thought he would probably be ok.
Reality
Bamba was not “awful”, per se, but also was not good. He met the exact bare minimum of expectations, which is that he made three-pointers and blocked shots at decent rates, but really provided nothing else. He was not an effective rebounder, he couldn’t finish at the rim, and really was unable to do much on either end of the court that did not involve blocking shots or taking threes.
Mo missed the first 13 games of the season due to injury, during which Clippers’ fans were subjected to the Kai Jones experience. Therefore, his return was much ballyhooed, with fans positively foaming at the mouth for Mo to make his Clippers’ debut. Funnily enough, his first game with the Clippers also may have been his best, as he scored 9 points and collected 8 rebounds in just over 15 minutes in a win over the Jazz. Even though he missed his threes, the difference in basketball awareness and know-how between Mo Kai seemed obvious.
After that though, things went downhill. While rarely ever a true negative in the terms of making boneheaded plays, ala Kai, there were just way too many games when it was not noticeable that Mo was out there outside of his taking the odd three-pointer. After a few weeks, Mo already started to get phased out in favor of small-ball, and was basically out of the rotation by late January. It was expected that the Clippers would try to make a deal to upgrade on Mo for the backup center spot at the deadline, especially with the team playing above expectations and gearing up for a playoff run.
Then, on February 1, Mo was traded to the Utah Jazz (along with problem child PJ Tucker) for Drew Eubanks, Patty Mills, and a second round pick swap in 2030. The Jazz promptly waived Mo, and his time with the Clippers came to an end.
Future with Clippers
Mo signed a 10-day contract with the Pelicans after the Jazz
waived him, but didn’t play much and is not currently signed to an NBA
contract. It’s possible he sticks around the league on vet minimums and 10-day
signings, but his days as an NBA rotation player seem over. Thus, it’s rather
unlikely that he returns to the Clippers, even if he is a good theoretical
vibes guy for the end of the bench. I wish Mo well, but the most likely career
path for him is probably overseas, not in the NBA.