Former Boston big man Guerschon Yabusele on season with 76ers, stint with Celtics
Former Boston big man Guerschon Yabusele on season with 76ers, stint with Celtics
Former Boston Celtics big man Guerschon Yabusele returning to the NBA last season was one of the best comebacks of the season, and fans of the Dancing Bear were happy to see him back in the league. But the moment was not lost on the French forward after a half-decade spent playing abroad, and wondering if he might get another crack at the Association.
"I think the main thing for me when I decided to go back to the NBA was to enjoy this time," said Yabu in a recent interview with the Basketball Network. "Because the first time when it stopped, I didn't realize it stopped that fast, but when it did, it took me five years to come back."
"So I really decided the main thing was to go over there to enjoy it, to really gain experience and try to get better. I was happy that I was able to perform," he added, alluding to his season with the Philadelphia 76ers. "Obviously, that's not the season that everybody thought we would have at the beginning of the season."
How Yabusele sees last season with the Sixers
"Injuries are part of the game," offered the Philly big man. "You've got to learn and try to get back to it and get better. I think having Joel (Embiid) back, Paul George, this is going to be big for us. And when we had those guys, and we had that run, we felt that we could beat everybody."
"That was really interesting, to have that part of the season, because at least people know that if they (were) healthy, that would have been a different scenario," suggested Yabusele.
On how he stayed motivated in his limited run with Boston
"Everybody has got to understand that it's hard, first of all (...)," he explained. "I remember ... I was playing a lot of minutes ... in France and in China, so my whole life I play minutes, so going for playing let's say like 20 minutes to zero minutes, it's a shock. So my first season, I had to to go through this and and it's pretty hard. It was hard for me to find the balance mentally because you you have a lot of questions."
"Especially (because) I was drafted in first round at 16, but also also it comes from having the the right people around you that keep you motivated. You don't want to have somebody that asks you the question, 'Why don't you play?,'" said Yabusele. "You want somebody to just say, 'You know what, keep working, it's going to come.'"
"I remember for me, we had a couple of guys in my situation. We had Semi Ojeleye, Daniel Theis, Shane Larkin, Abdul Nader. So we had a couple of guys that we could, let's say, help each other (...) I got so much experience from that because I was lucky enough to be with the Celtics, and we made the conference finals two years in a row."
What's next for the Dancing Bear
It remains to be seen what the future holds for Yabusele with his deal with Philly last season for just a single season. But with the way he played for a decimated Sixers squad, he doesn't expect to return to Europe -- nor should he, with 11.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game having been logged with Philadelphia in 2024-25.
"My plan is to try to get another contract in the NBA," said the former Boston forward in an interview with Basketnews. "I don't want to lie. "But I do keep an eye on the EuroLeague for sure, just to see how it's going, what the level is like."
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