Bamba over his fight vs. COVID
Orlando Magic center Mo Bamba was his usual upbeat and charismatic self on Wednesday at Amway Center.
That’s a good thing, considering his recent bout with COVID-19 forced him to leave the NBA bubble early.
Bamba was at Amway as part of the team’s announcement Wednesday it had partnered with the city of Orlando, Orange County and the Orange County Supervisor of Elections to make Amway Center an early-voting site.
Bamba played a big role in making that happen. He started pursuing the idea in June and was proud to see it come to fruition. Bamba calls voting the “most American thing you can do. ”
He said he’s not trying to persuade people to vote one way or another. It’s his hope that by touting the importance of voting that people will educate themselves more about candidates and issues. Bamba said his own experiences have helped him see the world with a broad perspective.
“Everywhere that I’ve been has become a small part of me,” he said. “I was able to be around different kinds of people every day who didn’t necessarily look like me or talk like me or anything, and just hearing their perspective on everything, it adds to you. It adds to who you are as a person, and you kind of want to assess how you feel about it and kind of puts you back.”
But it was also a day to talk about his recovery.
In the days after he left the NBA bubble, Bamba learned through a comprehensive post-coronavirus evaluation that he’s on the road to recovery and doctors don’t see any long-term effects from the virus.
The second-year center confirmed his clean bill of health on Wednesday and didn’t seem frustrated after having another season cut short by an injury, or in this case an illness.
Bamba said he’s been cleared to work out, which will include shooting and running among other activities. He’s just not sure how much contact work he’ll be able to get in with the NBA’s coronavirus protocols preventing players from any 5-on-5 play.
“It’s kind of tricky because we’re in the offseason, so I’m not sure what 5-on-5 is going to look like,” Bamba said. “I’m really eager to hear back from the team what their vision for me is in the near future. We don’t even know when the season is going to start.
“I’ll be ready.”
Bamba thought the same thing when he arrived at the restart with an additional 20 pounds on his 7-foot frame.
He said he felt good physically and couldn’t understand why his body wasn’t responding to the conditioning work. He said the athlete in him wanted to keep pushing through the adversity but eventually his physical struggles reached the point where Bamba realized something bigger was at play.
Eventually, the Magic’s human performance staff decided it was best for Bamba to leave the bubble for a comprehensive postcoronavirus evaluation.
Bamba, who had tested positive for COVID-19 on June 11, appeared in the second half in each of the team’s first two seeding games but did not play again and left before the team’s finale against the Pelicans.
Bamba nodded in agreement when asked if having the comprehensive test helped lift a weight off his shoulders.
“Absolutely. Getting all those tests done was probably the most important thing that I’ve done all year, besides vote,” he said with a laugh. “It was really important. It’s a matter of just making sure that I’m taking care of my body and making sure I’m ruling out anything that could be harmful.”
The prognosis also does not include any long-term concerns about having COVID-19. A number of NBA players were late to the Disney campus as they waited to be cleared after being diagnosed with the virus.
“I think if the doctors are concerned about anything they would have told me, but I’ve heard nothing but good news since I left the bubble,” Bamba said.
How much Bamba is able to push himself remains to be seen. On Monday, Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said Bamba’s recovery may be measured more in months than weeks.
Still, Weltman said Bamba already has shown resiliency in coming back from a leg injury that forced him to miss the final 30 regular-season games and first-round playoff series against the Raptors in 2018-19. Weltman expects more of the same from the 22-year-old.
“He still has a lot to work on and a lot of improvement in front of him and a lot of hard work,” Weltman said. “The most important thing with Mo is that he understands the big picture and he’s already shown a willingness to apply himself and do the work, and that’s the most important part right now because Mo’s obviously very talented and very bright. It’s just a matter of him continuing to show signs through his hard work and his effort, and that’s to me the most important part right now.”