Player Bio

Mohamed Fakaba "Mo" Bamba is the son of Lancine Bamba and Aminata Johnson. He was born in 1998 in Harlem, New York. Both of his parents originally are from the Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire), but they did not meet until they each had moved separately to the United States. Bamba has one older sister and two older brothers. During the eighth and ninth grade, Bamba attended an all boys boarding school in Canaan, New Hampshire, called Cardigan Mountain School. He then moved on to Westtown School in West Chester, Pennsylvania. As a junior and senior at Westtown, Bamba led the basketball team to back-to-back Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association state championships. Bamba would go on to play in the 2017 McDonald's All-American Game. For college, Bamba attended Texas for one year. Bamba inspired the 2017 viral "Mo Bamba" song by his friend Sheck Wes. Fans can follow Bamba on both Twitter and Instagram (@TheRealMoBamba). Bamba needed just one season at Texas to catch the attention of NBA scouts. Through 30 games (29 starts), the 6-foot-11 center averaged a double-double with 12.9 points and 10.5 rebounds, the latter representing the top mark in the Big 12 conference. Bamba also averaged an impressive 3.7 rejections per contest, which led the conference and was the second-best mark in the nation. He and the Longhorns squeaked into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 10 seed, but they were eliminated by Nevada in the first round. When all was said and done, Bamba made the All-Big 12 Freshman Team and was voted Second Team All-Conference. He entered the 2018 NBA Draft after his freshman year and was chosen in the first round (sixth overall) by the Orlando Magic.