Lakers: Mo Bamba's Clever Nickname For His New Star Teammates

In a recent interview, the center shared how he's been meshing with his new team.

One big move the Los Angeles Lakers made ahead of this year's trade deadline was the acquisition of Mo Bamba. The team traded Patrick Beverley to Bamba's old team, the Orlando Magic, and flipped reserve big man Thomas Bryant to the Denver Nuggets to make room for the 7-foot center.

Although he joined the Purple and Gold just a week ago, he has already found himself fitting well within the team and even quickly created a nickname for his new teammates, Anthony Davis and LeBron James.

Bamba first revealed the nickname in a recent interview before the Lakers' matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday:

“I think continuity shouldn’t be a problem when we’ve got the 3-6 Mafia — the nickname I gave AD and LeBron. But it’s easy when we’ve got guys who are that far into their careers.”

Bamba continued to joke that the King (who wears jersey No. 6 for LA) is on year a million in the league. Nonetheless, there is no doubt that LeBron continues to perform at a high level, as does Davis (No. 3). James sets the standard for the rest of the team, including Bamba and the other recent acquisitions like Rui Hachimura, D'Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Malik Beasley.

Of those picks-ups, D’Angelo Russell is one guy Bamba has previously learned from and created a former relationship with prior to playing in LA together

“I spent a little bit of time with D-Lo in Chris Brickley’s Black Ops Runs and I was just watching and soaking in how he and Jarett Allen was. I was just asking him about screens and how he wants his screens and he just had all of the answers and this was 4-5 years ago.”

Years later, Bamba links up with Russell and a handful of other players whom the center expressed that he’s been around already. He mentioned Lonnie Walker IV, Troy Brown Jr., Jarred Vanderbilt, and Rui Hachimura as players he has played against already dating back to college and AAU days.

It is clear that Bamba is already comfortable with his teammates. He hopes to build upon this early chemistry to help turn things around for the Lakers alongside the 3-6 Mafia. 

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