ESPN.com · Jun 20, 2018
Bamba Mentality: Inside the mind of an aspiring NBA big man
MO BAMBA SITS on the sideline inside the gym at St. Bernard High School in Playa del Rey, California, and stares intently into his phone, which is on selfie mode. He cradles the device between his thighs, watching himself in his digital mirror, as he inserts into his right eye a contact lens. It looks like a tiny droplet on the tip of his enormous right index finger.
On Thursday, Bamba and a class of other top prospects will revel in the pageantry of the NBA draft in Brooklyn, but this Friday of Memorial Day weekend, he's a 20-year-old inside a nondescript school gymnasium with an old-school scoreboard and basic amenities, using an iPhone so he can see clearly.