ORLANDO – Isolated and far away from his Orlando Magic teammates in his downtown apartment, Bismack Biyombo screamed at the television set, repeatedly considered throwing something at the screen and never felt more helpless in his basketball life.
Biyombo was signed to a massive free-agent deal in July to be a rim protector and a defensive enforcer for the Magic, but he was not allowed to be at the Amway Center during Wednesday night’s regular season-opener because of a NBA-mandated suspension carried over from last spring.
That one-game suspension reduced the 6-foot-9, 255-pound Biyombo into a fan and forced him to sit back watch the Miami Heat parade to the rim time and again in a frustrating 108-96 season-opening loss.