This Monday, on the occasion of a very large victory for the Celtics against the Hornets (140-105), Mfiondu Kabengele played his first game in the NBA since May 2021. Eight short minutes played in “garbage time”, for 2 points and 4 rebounds.
” I was satisfied with the way I played, I offered good basketball. But above all, I was proud. Of all the hard work, when I look back » he said then.
Pride felt, therefore, when he looks back on his journey in recent months: 16 tasteless games with Cleveland to conclude the 2020/21 fiscal year, even before being out of the league the following season, forcing him to pass the entire 2021/22 fiscal year in the G-League, with the Rio Grande Vipers.
The former interior of Florida State then signed a “two-way contract” with Boston this season, with a view to finding his place among “the big ones”. Because the Canadian readily admits it: the start of his career took place in a very different way than he imagined, when he left the university circuit.
” When you arrive in the league, you have an idea of the type of player you want to be, with this style of play he adds, before explaining how his time in the G-League has taught us something. ” I started all over again [en arrivant à Rio Grande]. I wasn’t even a two-way contract or an assigned NBA player. I was a regular G-League player. And that’s when I realized that the way back [vers la NBA] was going to be long. I had to start all over again, to prove my worth again. It was the hardest to swallow. But once this bitterness has passed, we get to work. »
A new perspective
A season in the G-League at 17.5 points and 10.6 rebounds later, Mfiondu Kabengele therefore embarked on the 2022/23 season with a changed vision of his career, and more broadly a new perspective on basketball.
” From the moment I decided to let go of my old goals of how I wanted to pursue my career, and focused on the impact I could have, that’s when I felt a click “Admits the one who posted averages of 17.8 points and 9.9 rebounds this season in the G-League, with the Maine Celtics. ” I was no longer concerned with my shot total, my shot types. It was just the impact. As long as it was part of the win, I was satisfied. »
Today, after briefly returning to an NBA court for the first time in nearly a year and a half, Kabengele is at peace. With the player he is, even if it is not the one he envisioned to be when he landed in the Big League more than three years ago.
” Now I know I can have the same impact I did in college, just in a different way he concluded thus. ” And I’m OK with that. I no longer have any concerns or questions. Simply a desire to have an impact as soon as I enter the field. »
| Mfiondu Kabengele | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2019-20 | LAKE | 12 | 5 | 43.8 | 45.0 | 100.0 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 3.5 |
| 2020-21 * | All Teams | 39 | 7 | 37.1 | 26.0 | 80.0 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 2.4 |
| 2020-21 * | LAKE | 23 | 4 | 28.1 | 22.2 | 83.3 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.2 |
| 2020-21 * | KEY | 16 | 12 | 42.1 | 28.1 | 78.6 | 0.7 | 2.2 | 2.9 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 4.3 |
| 2022-23 | BOS | 1 | 8 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| Total | 52 | 7 | 39.0 | 31.0 | 84.0 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 2.7 | |
