Magic's Mo Bamba Talks Dramatic Muscle Gain, Diet Changes During NBA Hiatus

Expect to see a bigger Mo Bamba when the Orlando Magic take the court at the Disney World Resort when the 2019-20 NBA season restarts. 

To hear Josh Robbins of The Athletic put it, the University of Texas product "suddenly looks ripped, with conspicuously larger biceps and shoulder muscles."

Robbins and John Denton of the Magic's official website shared some of Bamba's comments from a Zoom session in which he described what he did while the season was on hiatus since March 11 in an effort to put on more weight and muscle. In all, Bamba put on 21 pounds and checks in at 252 after previously weighing 231.

Bamba stressed how much work he put in while the season was suspended:

"It was something that I had to work at every single day, and I had to make myself uncomfortable. I had to wake up a few times at 3 and 4 o’clock in the morning just to get some extra calories and an extra fill. I had to wake up early to get that extra, big breakfast. It was definitely uncomfortable at first, but as I got used to it, it definitely got a lot easier."

He said he is still as mobile as he was before even though he needed to grow accustomed to running at a higher weight and described his routine.

"I didn't have anything to do at home and they brought in, literally, half the weight room, and I didn't have anything else to do but to lift," he said. "I got a chef early on, like midway through March, and since then I've been eating like five-to-six meals a day and lifting for an hour or an hour-and-a-half."

Bamba has flashed potential, especially on defense, but has not yet lived up to expectations that accompanied him when the Magic selected him out of Texas with the No. 6 overall pick of the 2018 draft.

He averaged 6.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per game as a rookie and 5.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks a game this season before play was shut down.

Improved size and play from the big man would be a significant boost for the Magic, who are 30-35 and trying to hold off the Washington Wizards from forcing a play-in tournament for the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot.

Washington is 5.5 games back but would have an opportunity to potentially defeat the Magic two games in a row in the play-in tournament if it pulls within four games of the final spot during the eight seeding contests.

The Magic's first game back is July 31 against the Brooklyn Nets.