COVID-19 shuts down center Bamba for season
Orlando Magic center Mo Bamba has left the NBA campus at Walt Disney World to undergo a “comprehensive post-coronavirus evaluation” and will be out for the remainder of the season, the team announced Friday.
The move was done on the advice of the Magic’s human performance staff and team physicians, according to the team. Bamba was diagnosed with COVID-19 on June 11 and has struggled with his conditioning during the NBA restart. The second-year center appeared in the second half in each of the team’s first two seeding games but has not played since.
It’s another disappointing and frustrating end to the season for the second-year center. During his rookie campaign, he missed the final 30 regular-season games and ensuing playoff series against Toronto with a stress fracture in his right leg.
Bamba now will miss the postseason for the second straight year, with the Magic set to face the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Bamba added about 20 pounds to his 7-foot frame while the NBA season was hold amid the coronavirus pandemic. Once the season restarted last month, he struggled to regain his form and build up his conditioning and it was later revealed that he had contracted COVID-19 in June.
The COVID-19 setback hasn’t altered Bamba’s demeanor on social media. He borrowed a teammate’s large fish and claimed he caught it inside the NBA bubble. Recently, he posted video of a round of golf he played with former UCF center Tacko Fall.
The Magic’s playing rotation, meanwhile, largely won’t be affected with Bamba out. Khem Birch has been getting the bulk of the playing time at the back-up center spot since the restart.
The rest of the Orlando lineup