Luc Mbah a Moute

Luc Mbah a Moute

Mbah a Moute with the Timberwolves in 2014
No. 12 – Los Angeles Clippers
Position Small forward / Power forward
League NBA
Personal information
Born (1986-09-09) 9 September 1986
Yaoundé, Cameroon
Nationality Cameroonian
Listed height 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight 230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High school Montverde Academy
(Montverde, Florida)
College UCLA (2005–2008)
NBA draft 2008 / Round: 2 / Pick: 37th overall
Selected by the Milwaukee Bucks
Playing career 2008–present
Career history
2008–2013 Milwaukee Bucks
2013 Sacramento Kings
2013–2014 Minnesota Timberwolves
2014–2015 Philadelphia 76ers
2015–present Los Angeles Clippers
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Men's Basketball
Representing  Cameroon
African Championships
2007 Angola National team

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (pronounced BAH-ah-MOO-tay; born 9 September 1986) is a Cameroonian professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Mbah a Moute also plays for the Cameroon national basketball team.

College career

Mbah a Moute attended Montverde Academy in Florida from 2001-2005, where starred in basketball and led his team in scoring and rebounding his senior season. Soon, he would be Westwood-bound to play for Ben Howland and UCLA.

As a freshman in 2005-2006, Mbah a Moute led the Pac-10 Champion Bruins in rebounding. Mbah a Moute led or tied for the lead for the Bruins in rebounding in 27 regular season games. In the NCAA tournament, Mbah a Moute scored the winning layup at the end of a comeback win over Gonzaga in the Sweet 16. Mbah a Moute also posted 17 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 assist in a Final Four victory over LSU. For the year, Mbah a Moute averaged 8.9 points and 8.1 rebounds, and he was named Pac-10 Freshman of the Year.[1]

He became something of a cult phenomenon among the UCLA faithful. Along with fellow Cameroonian Alfred Aboya, the dynamic duo sparked the "Cameroon Crazies" (a take-off of Duke's "Cameron Crazies" fans) section, along with an enormously popular T-shirt which read "Moute Kicks Boute".[2] Mbah a Moute himself became known as 'The Fresh Prince', after the television show of the same name.[3]

His mother, Goufane a Ziem Agnes Bertine, and his father, Camille Moute à Bidias had never seen him play for UCLA, until they came from Cameroon to attend the Final Four of the 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.[4] During the 2008 season, his team had a record of 35–4 and won their third-straight Pac-10 title and third-straight NCAA Final Four.

Mbah a Moute ended his UCLA career with an honourable mention All-Pac-10, honourable mention Pac-10 All-Defensive Team selection and a fifth-place finish in scoring (8.8 ppg). He is ranked as the No. 15 rebounder with a total of 775 rebounds.

Mbah a Moute became the first player to start in three straight Final Fours at UCLA in thirty-four years. Bill Walton, Jamaal Wilkes and Greg Lee (1972–74) were the last players at UCLA, and Andre Hutson and Charlie Bell of Michigan State (1999–2001) were the last ones to do so.

NBA career

Milwaukee Bucks

Mbah a Moute with the Bucks in 2011

Mbah a Moute gave up his eligibility to play college basketball at UCLA for his senior year to enter the 2008 NBA draft, in which he was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the 37th overall pick.[5] Mbah a Moute got off to a quick start with the Bucks, and quickly became a fan favourite. His strong play, especially on defense, led to him overtaking Charlie Villanueva as the Bucks' starting power forward only nine games into the season. In his second game as a starter, Mbah a Moute posted career highs of 19 points and 17 rebounds in a 101–96 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. Bucks head coach Scott Skiles and general manager John Hammond both praised Mbah a Moute's defensive skills.[6]

After the 2010–11 season, Mbah a Moute became a restricted free agent. On 10 December 2011, he received a four-year, $18.7 million offer sheet from the Denver Nuggets. Three days later, the Bucks matched the offer sheet, re-signing Mbah a Moute.[7]

Sacramento Kings

On 12 July 2013, Mbah a Moute was traded to the Sacramento Kings.[8]

Minnesota Timberwolves

On 26 November 2013, Mbah a Moute was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Derrick Williams.[9]

Philadelphia 76ers

On 23 August 2014, a three-team trade was completed, involving the Timberwolves, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Philadelphia 76ers. As part of the deal, Mbah a Moute and teammate Alexey Shved were traded to the Sixers, along with a 2015 first round draft pick from Cleveland. The Cavaliers received Kevin Love from Minnesota, whereas the Wolves received Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett from Cleveland and Thaddeus Young from Philadelphia.[10]

On July 14, 2015, Mbah a Moute signed with the Sacramento Kings once again.[11] However, two days later, his contract was voided by the Kings after he failed his physical examination.[12] Mbah a Moute felt he was mistreated by the Kings and filed grievance against the team. He later passed a medical test in order to compete for Team Africa at the 2015 NBA Africa exhibition game on August 1.[13]

Los Angeles Clippers

On September 25, 2015, Mbah a Moute signed with the Los Angeles Clippers.[14] Midway through the 2015–16 season, the Clippers placed Mbah a Moute into the starting lineup. He scored 12 points in his first of what would be 61 starts on the season. He stayed in the starting throughout the playoffs as well, becoming a major defensive factor in the Clippers' playoff run.

On July 8, 2016, Mbah a Moute re-signed with the Clippers.[15]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2008–09 Milwaukee 82 51 25.8 .462 .000 .729 5.9 1.1 1.1 .5 7.2
2009–10 Milwaukee 73 62 25.6 .480 .353 .699 5.5 1.1 .8 .5 6.2
2010–11 Milwaukee 79 52 26.5 .463 .000 .707 5.3 .9 .9 .4 6.7
2011–12 Milwaukee 43 22 23.5 .510 .250 .641 5.3 .7 .9 .5 7.7
2012–13 Milwaukee 58 45 22.9 .401 .351 .571 4.4 .9 .7 .2 6.7
2013–14 Sacramento 9 5 21.8 .469 .333 .692 3.0 1.7 1.0 .6 4.4
2013–14 Minnesota 55 2 14.7 .447 .214 .685 2.2 .4 .4 .2 3.3
2014–15 Philadelphia 67 61 28.6 .395 .307 .589 4.9 1.6 1.2 .3 9.9
2015–16 L.A. Clippers 75 61 17.0 .454 .325 .526 2.3 .4 .6 .3 3.1
Career 541 362 23.3 .445 .302 .657 4.5 .9 .8 .4 6.3

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2010 Milwaukee 7 7 25.4 .520 .000 .600 5.6 .7 .3 .0 9.1
2013 Milwaukee 4 4 34.0 .435 .000 .722 3.5 1.8 1.0 .0 8.3
2016 L.A. Clippers 5 5 15.6 .667 .000 1.000 2.0 .2 .6 .0 1.8
Career 16 16 24.5 .506 .000 .667 3.9 .8 .6 .0 6.6

Personal

Mbah a Moute is a prince in the village of Bia Messe (near Yaoundé),[16] as he is a son of the elected village chief, Camille Mouté à Bidias. His father is a high-ranking government official, managing the National Employment Fund of Cameroon, a training and job-placement national agency. Mbah a Moute is the twin brother of Emmanuel Bidias a Moute, who played basketball for Texas State University. His younger brother, Roger Moute a Bidias, is a basketball student-athlete for the California Golden Bears.[17]

Mbah a Moute helped discover Cameroonian center Joel Embiid, the third overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft and eventual teammate on the Philadelphia 76ers.[18] He also helped discover another Cameroonian player in power forward Pascal Siakam, the 27th pick in the 2016 NBA draft.

References

  1. ↑ Springer, Steve (7 March 2006). "Bruin Gets Fresh Honor". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 29 July 2014.
  2. ↑ USA Today article about the Bruins which includes information about the Cameroon Crazies Accessed 20 July 2006
  3. ↑ "'Cameroon crazies' an odd couple for UCLA.". HighBeam.com. April 2, 2006. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  4. ↑ Diane Pucin and Mike Hiserman – UCLA's Collison has had enough of 'One Shining Moment'. Los Angeles Times, 5 April 2008
  5. ↑ "UCLA's Mbah a Moute the latest Bruin to enter NBA draft". Sports Illustrated. 18 April 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2008.
  6. ↑ Aschburner, Steve (13 January 2009). "Rookie Mbah a Moute proving to be a prince of a player for the Bucks". SI.com. Archived from the original on 16 April 2011.
  7. ↑ "Luc Richard Mbah a Moute re-signs". ESPN.com. 13 December 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  8. ↑ "Kings Acquire Luc Mbah a Moute". NBA.com. July 12, 2013. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Wolves Acquire Luc Mbah a Moute from Sacramento". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. 25 October 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  10. ↑ "Philadelphia 76ers Acquire 2015 First-round Pick From Minnesota". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. August 23, 2014. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Kings Sign Omri Casspi and Luc Mbah A Moute". NBA.com. July 14, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Kings Void Mbah a Moute Contract". NBA.com. July 17, 2015. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Report: NBPA filing grievance after Kings void Luc Mbah a Moute's deal". SI.com. August 1, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  14. ↑ "L.A. CLIPPERS SIGN MBAH A MOUTE AND TSKITISHVILI". NBA.com. September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Press Release: Clippers Re-sign Free Agents Crawford, Johnson, Mbah A Moute And Rivers". NBA.com. July 8, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
  16. ↑ Fast Glass, Seth (6 February 2006). "Cameroon calling". Daily Bruin. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  17. ↑ "#12 Roger Moute a Bidias". CalBears.com. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Report: Kansas basketball star Joel Embiid will enter NBA Draft". KansasCity.com. 9 April 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
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