In November 2017, Mo Bamba and his Texas Longhorns played the Gonzaga Bulldogs in Portland, Oregon at the Moda Center in an early season college basketball tournament. Bamba had nine points, 10 rebounds and five blocks that game, but his team lost in overtime.
Nearly four years later, the now Orlando Magic center and his alma mater got some revenge. While it didn’t happen on the court, Bamba and fellow UT alum Myles Turner beat a pair of 2021 NBA Draft prospects out of Gonzaga in a late-night television show trivia competition.
In a segment called “College Knowledge” on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live that aired after Game 5 of the NBA Finals, the Texas duo edged Jalen Suggs and Joel Ayayi by correctly answering four of the seven questions.
Bamba and Turner didn’t even need Anthony Anderson, the fill-in host for the contest, to finish asking the decisive question to give the correct response, which was “photosynthesis.”
There are currently 10 Texas alums in the NBA including Turner, who has been with the Indiana Pacers since 2015, and Bamba. The others are Kevin Durant, P.J. Tucker, Jarrett Allen, Tristan Thompson, Avery Bradley, Jaxson Hayes, Cory Joseph and former Magic guard D.J. Augustin.
Bamba, the Magic’s No. 6 overall draft pick in 2018, averaged 8.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks during the 2020-21 season. The 7-foot, 231-pounder came on strong toward the end of the year, averaging 11.1 points on 46.9 percent shooting over his final 24 games.
Other NBA players who have appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live’s basketball-themed trivia segment in the past include Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns, Zach LaVine, Andre Drummond, Brook Lopez and Jrue Holiday.