Sixers’ Mo Bamba excited about Orlando return to face former Magic teammates: ‘That’s family’

ORLANDO, Fla. — Mo Bamba sure knows how to extract adverse emotions from people within seconds.

Forty or so minutes after the 76ers’ 119-113 Christmas Day road loss to the Miami Heat, Bamba was asked about returning to O-Town, where the Sixers are slated to play the Orlando Magic on Wednesday. The matchup will be Bamba’s first trip to the Kia Center since being traded by the team that drafted him and landing with the Los Angeles Lakers.

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“I don’t care about these people,” Bamba said in response to being asked his feelings about facing the Magic.

There was silence for a couple of seconds until he uttered, “... Nah, I’m joking,” leading the assembled media to erupt into laughter.

“Yeah, that’s family over there, you know, all those guys,” Bamba continued. “I’m probably going to stop by Jalen Suggs’ mom’s house tomorrow just to kick it. But that’s family, Cole [Anthony], Wendell [Carter Jr.], Kelle [Markelle Fultz]. Those are guys that I can say I grew up with in the league.”

Obviously, Bamba still keeps in contact with his former teammates.

“Absolutely,” he said, “Still in the group chat. Still shooting it. Still making jokes. But it’s kind of like a bond I think we’ll have for life.”

This matchup will also be his first chance to actually play against the Magic (18-11). He was injured when the Lakers hosted Orlando last season on March 19.

“It’s going to be fun,” he said.

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Bamba is expected to play for the Sixers (20-9) with Joel Embiid sidelined with a right ankle sprain. The team hopes he can duplicate Monday night’s production.

The 7-foot, 231-pounder finished with a season-best 18 points on 7-for-8 shooting — including 3-of-3 on three-pointers — in a season-high 25 minutes, 31 seconds off the bench. Bamba also had six rebounds and two steals.

However, it took him a while to get going. He looked disinterested at first. The reserve was a step slow and got outmuscled down low. He was minus-12 during a 5-minute, 39-second stretch in the first quarter. He was taken out of the game as a result as head coach Nick Nurse switched to a small lineup.

But Bamba stepped up his play during his second stint. Given the start at center with Paul Reed (four fouls) in foul trouble, Bamba scored 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting in the second quarter.

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“It’s just a matter of getting out there and trying not to be the game, throwing out the game,” Bamba said. “You don’t get enough minutes to be out there throwing away minutes, feeling out the game.

“But I got an opportunity to feel them out [during the first stretch], came back, made some changes and tried to be a little more aggressive. That was that.”

He’s averaging 4.4 points and 7.3 minutes in 16 games while shooting a career-best 61.5% on three-point attempts.