Former Celtics 1st-Round Pick Opens Up about His Second Chance

Bobby Krivitsky | Sep 2, 2024

Aug 10, 2024; Paris, France; France power forward Guerschon Yabusele (7) dunks against United States guard Devin Booker (15) and centre Joel Embiid (11) in the first quarter in the men's basketball gold medal game during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Accor Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

An impressive showing at the Olympics helped a former Celtics' first-round draft pick earn a second chance that often doesn't come.

But at the Paris Olympics this summer, the head coach of France's men's basketball team, Vincent Collet, helped propel the host country to the gold medal game with a bold change to his starting lineup.

Collet moved four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert to the second unit, inserting Guerschon Yabusele in his place. The latter responded by generating 19.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.0 steals per contest in France's final three matchups.

That includes a 20-point performance in the gold medal round against Team USA, where he posterized LeBron James.

GUERSCHON YABUSELE ON LEBRON JAMES. 😳

📺 NBC and Peacock | #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/cjrH6Q9Epd

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 10, 2024

Not long after that, Yabusele's wait was over. The Philadelphia 76ers signed him to a one-year, $2.1 million contract on the heels of the Olympics.

"Not a lot of people have a chance of second shots in the NBA," said Yabusele at the Sixers' practice facility, per Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer. "So, when the opportunity comes, you don't think twice. ... I feel like I just wanted to better myself and [say], 'Let's try.'"

Selected 16th overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2016 NBA Draft, Yabusele averaged 2.3 points and 1.4 rebounds in 6.6 minutes of floor time across 74 games in two years. He converted on 32.3 percent of the 0.9 threes he hoisted.

At 23, he left the NBA, building an impressive career overseas that ultimately took him from the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association to Real Madrid. Yabusele had to secure a buyout from the latter to take his talents to the City of Brotherly Love.

"I feel like if you don't come back in the NBA, then you play your whole career, and you [would] be like, 'If, if, if,'" conveyed Yabusele. "I was for sure comfortable in Europe. I cannot lie about it. But, like I always say -- and I express myself about it -- I wanted to come back to the NBA."

Despite how well he played at the Olympics this summer, he also shared that there was only one team in the Association willing to give him that second opportunity he yearned for.

"They were the only team that gave me the shot, so it was just the situation," Yabusele said of the 76ers offering him a contract. "Everything looks pretty good for me, so I'm excited to join the team."

Yabusele, who turns 29 in December, returns to the NBA more seasoned, his skills sharpened, and with the hunger that comes from an appreciation of a journey that's afforded him a second chance that many don't get.

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