Guerschon Yabusele’s journey back to the NBA and how he will impact the 76ers

BOSTON – As he packed his bags, Guerschon Yabsuele had one last thing to get off his chest before heading to paradise.

As he celebrated with Team France after their silver medal against Team USA at the Paris Olympics, his phone buzzed with text messages and tweets about how well he had played on the world stage. There was an outpouring of support that showed he belonged back where he always wanted to be: the NBA.

“I thought, ‘This is the moment to say it,'” Yabusele said The athlete. “I was just trying to get that light. I felt like I had this light in that moment.”

So he picked up his phone, opened X and made a statement.

I was waiting for a second chance. I’m ready 😤🧸

— Guerschon Yabusele (@yabusele28) August 11, 2024

Before Yabusele went on vacation to St. Martin with his family to relax and unwind on the beach, his agent called. Some teams were interested, but unlike previous years, the interest was real.

He told his agent to call back if he had anything serious, knowing the Philadelphia 76ers had been watching him for some time. It didn’t take long for him to get the call.

“I just remember grabbing my family and telling them, ‘Maybe we’ll go back,'” Yabusele said. “It was really special.”

It took just over two weeks after the Olympics ended for him to land with the Sixers, leaving Real Madrid and Europe behind for another chance in the NBA. Yabusele was selected 16th overall by the Boston Celtics along with Jaylen Brown (No. 3 overall) in the 2016 NBA Draft.

Brown later became MVP of the 2024 NBA Finals for Boston, but Yabusele spent two disappointing seasons there, averaging 2.3 points and 1.4 rebounds in 74 games. The Celtics pushed Yabusele to get in better shape and spruce up the defense, but that never happened. The faint promise that the “Dancing Bear” would become a successor to Al Horford as a versatile stretch five disappeared in a flash.

“It was a hard feeling leaving the league because as a kid it was one of my dreams to come here,” he said. “I didn’t want to come here, just stay for a few years and then leave. I wanted to stay here for a long time. For me it was just a long process of learning from this experience and trying to make it a good thing.

“I just looked forward and tried to learn as much as I could to do my best.”

After the Celtics released him halfway through his rookie contract, he played for the Nanjing Tongxi Monkey Kings in China before returning to France to play for ASVEL. It was at this point that his game finally began to take hold and he turned his career around, leading his team to the top French league title and attracting interest from Europe’s biggest teams.

“I just worked my ass off and played pretty well in the EuroLeague,” he said. “When I got the call from Real Madrid it was a must. You can never say no to Real Madrid.”

After working his way into Real Madrid’s starting lineup, Yabusele did the same for the French national team and was their second-leading scorer (14.0 ppg) at this summer’s Olympics, just behind San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama.

Former first-round picks who quickly exit the NBA and head across the pond usually don’t make it back to the league. While Yabusele still wanted to return to the United States and the NBA, he had a career in Europe that most players would envy. He was well paid on an elite team, lived in a world-class city and his family was happy.

“It was another step in my career where I thought, ‘I’m not in the league, but this is the best thing for me in Europe.’ I was just happy to be there,” he said. “I thank Real Madrid because they were a big part of my return here, they just developed my game and put pressure on me. We had so many trophies, so many finals, so many things that I’m learning every day to get better.”

While Real Madrid increased his profile in the basketball community, Team France brought him back to the international stage. The host nation was an underdog to Canada and even Germany in the knockout rounds but stormed through the group while its frontcourt shone.

“We had a lot of doubters,” Yabusele said. “Especially some of our fans, some people in the organization and people around us doubted we could beat Canada. After that it was, ‘Can we beat Germany?’ It gave me the strength, the power and the confidence to say, ‘Screw it.’ We need that.’ ”

His confidence was never more evident as he portrayed Team USA’s LeBron James in the gold medal game. Yabusele played one of the best games of his life to keep France in the game, but Steph Curry’s decisive attack saw France give up in the fight for the title.

Despite losing to James and Team USA, Yabusele won the Sixers and finally got the guaranteed minimum contract he had been waiting for.

Now the 28-year-old has a chance to log minutes at four and stretch five this season, as he started at center against the Celtics in a preseason game on Saturday night. Philadelphia has long been looking for a replacement who can also play with former MVP Joel Embiid in certain lineups.

Yabusele showed some of that range against his former team, hitting two of four shots from beyond the 3-point line and scoring a total of eight points in a 139-89 loss.

Andre Drummond is expected to get the bulk of the reserve center minutes and will likely start if Embiid isn’t ready for the regular season as his knee strengthens after surgery last season. But with Embiid likely to miss two straight games this season, Yabusele can be used in a variety of roles in the frontcourt.

“I think with Joel and Tyrese (Maxey), we always felt like we needed guys that could at least give them room to operate,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said. “That when the ball comes out to them, they’re somewhat willing shooters and doers.”

Nurse pointed to Yabusele’s ability to serve as a spot-up shooter who can also line up and attack the glass. He always had a good overview of passes when making short throws and in recent seasons he has improved his handling to the point where he can attack the basket off the dribble.

Yabusele said that while he is now a better shooter and playing better overall, the key to his improvement is to continue to develop and mature. He might well be content to return to the NBA and sit on the bench for a contender, but he knows what it’s like to lose that spot and fight his way back into the league.

Yabusele is now ready to stay here.

“I don’t want to stop here,” he said. “I want to keep going.”

(Photo by Guerschon Yabusele: Brian Babineau / NBAE via Getty Images)