“It's a Crazy Year For Me”: Guerschon Yabusele Delivering On Second Chance In NBA

Sixers forward Guerschon Yabusele opens up to RG about his second stint in the NBA, his team turning things around and more (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)

Picture this: in January, you’re in Spain as a part of the EuroLeague. Fast forward to July, and you’re in France, representing your home country in the Olympics. Come December, you’re in the United States of America, playing for the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA.

As the calendar year comes to a close in a short few days, Guerschon Yabusele will be over 5,400 miles from where he started in 2024.

Looking back on what he accomplished these last 365 days and the second chance it ultimately led to, the recently-turned 29-year-old admits that not even he could’ve seen this coming when it began.

“Nah, nah, nah,” Yabusele confessed candidly to RG in an exclusive interview in Cleveland. “I mean, it was something that I wanted. It was something that I desired for sure. But knowing that it was gonna be true and me here in that type of situation? No, it's not something that I was expecting. But I'm pretty glad that it turned out that way.”

After placing in the EuroLeague Final Four with Real Madrid and showing out in Paris with the French national team on a global stage, which included a viral moment where he put LeBron James on a poster, Yabusele garnered attention worldwide – from fans and executives alike.

“It's a crazy year for me,” Yabusele told RG. “I always say the resolve that we had in Real Madrid and then go to Olympics, be able to have that silver medal but also compete at the highest level and be able to be on the court with the best guy in the world, just that was amazing for me. And then, to be able to come back to the league to get the contract. It's been just full of emotion, you know?”

Yabusele’s second stint in the NBA has been a complete 180 from his initial go-round. In just 27 games played, he’s already doubled his total amount of career starts and quadrupled his minutes average from his first two seasons in the league between 2017 and 2019.

Playing With Joy

Unlike when he was a young reserve with the Boston Celtics, Yabusele is an everyday rotational piece for the Sixers. With moving pieces and parts in Philadelphia’s starting lineup and the team’s injury woes in the first half of the season, his responsibilities have differentiated, but he’s consistently been on the court.  

Getting those chances is not something he’s taken for granted, and Yabusele believes he’s returning the favor for that belief.

“Oh yeah, for sure,” Yabusele told RG. “I'm always enjoying, leave everything on the court. I also give a lot of joy. I really want to enjoy that time. It's the first time I'm really part of a team in the NBA, and I'm truly playing, having playing time and being able to make mistakes and learn and get better the next game. And I have a big role, so of course I'm learning, still.”

Look no further than the last two games to demonstrate how Yabusele impacts winning. Spelling Joel Embiid at the center position and occasionally sliding to power forward beside him and/or Andre Drummond, he’s doing his part on each end for Philadelphia.

Using his 6-foot-8, 265-pound frame, Yabusele is screening for ball handlers like Tyrese Maxey, knocking down threes that have been created for him and hustling to get extra possessions. He’s a fighter on the boards, makes shots at opportune times and does the little things that coaches love.

Efficiency in modern basketball is what separates the “non-stars” from the pack. While making 38.5% of your 3.7 triple tries per game certainly shows that, it’s the connecting plays that stand out – a well-executed cut, a pass off a catch, an attack off an aggressive closeout or sprinting on a fastbreak.

According to Cleaning the Glass, the Sixers’ offensive rating dips by 11.3 points per 100 possessions when Yabusele is off the floor, a figure that puts him in the 97th percentile among his peers. Their effective field goal percentage also dips by a staggering 6.2% when he’s on the bench (98th percentile).  

“I would say both offense and defense, but I will say grabbing a rebound, just making a read and try to move the ball side to side,” Yabusele told RG of what areas he’d like to continue to get better at. “I have a good flow of the game.”

As he mentioned, activity on the defensive end of the hardwood is a surefire way of gaining trust. Over Philadelphia’s last three games, he’s recorded seven steals and a blocked shot on top of deflecting the ball and staying in front of his matchups, so it’s stating a strong case.

Looking at the team as a whole, the Sixers have done a better job of turning the opposition over and keeping guys off the free-throw line in December. It’s why they’ve gradually started to find a rhythm following a shaky start to the campaign.

“I would say definitely (on) defense we've been more efficient, more strong,” Yabusele told. “We've guarded guys 1-on-1 a little bit better. The way we talk on defense, if somebody gets beat, the other guys come and then we make rotations. We're getting better at that stuff for sure.”  

Still Early In Phildelphia

Though an 11-17 record doesn’t look pretty, taking injuries and lineup inconsistencies into account, Philadelphia has won seven of its 10 contests in December and is still in the Eastern Conference postseason mix.  

Having had only 13 total three-man lineup combinations who have played over 150 minutes together and only five trios exceeding 200 minutes, you have to take that temporary result if you’re in that locker room and on this coaching staff.

“But I think the main guys, Drum, Yabu, those guys get shifted around pretty heavily from game to game – positionally, minutes-wise, starting, not starting, even going from starting and playing most of the game to sometimes not playing that much. All that kind of stuff, they seem to have handled it pretty well.”

Knock on wood, Yabusele and Kelly Oubre Jr. have been the squad’s ironmen, not missing a game yet. Seeing how the Sixers have been snakebitten by setbacks and nightly tinkering when teammates get healthy, it has to be hard to establish a rhythm on a daily basis for anybody.

Yabusele, however, doesn’t see it that way.

“Just stay focused and be ready for whatever Coach [Nurse] decides to do every day,” Yabusele told RG. “Whether I'm at the 5 or the 4, whether I start or come from the bench, I've just got to be ready for whatever the situation is gonna be and be a pro about it, try to be the best I can.  

“I mean in my case, in my situation, you cannot have that type of emotion. I'm just trying to figure it out and be my best on the court and try to help the team every time. I always try to stay positive and figure out a way for me to be good on the court.”

After back-to-back wins over the San Antonio Spurs at home and against the Celtics in Boston on Christmas Day, the Sixers are starting to find ways to band together and come out on top.

With Embed and Maxey learning to play with Paul George and vice versa, they’re just now starting to learn each other. Bumps and bruises will happen along the way, but if the stars of the show can stay healthy for the most part, the chemistry should grow exponentially over the next few months across the board.  

There’s a long way to go.  

“It's a long season,” Yabusele told. “I think the NBA has the longest season among the whole basketball leagues in the world. We had a rough start because we had guys that was injured, in and out, stuff like that. But we're still trying to find good balance on the team because there's new guys too.  

“But we've definitely been having more momentum now in the games. We have the connection, and we're finding guys easier and stuff like that, so we've definitely gotten better.”