Guerschon Yabusele has been the Sixers’ one constant this season
Among the 76ers who played major minutes at the start of the season, only Yabusele played in Dallas on Sunday.
DALLAS — Guerschon Yabusele is dealing with a nagging knee injury in addition to being exhausted.
Yet the 76ers post player keeps trudging along while 10 of his teammates are sidelined with injuries.
“That’s just who I am,” he said. “I always try to keep playing no matter what. You know that’s just me. I just want to compete. I want to be out there and help the guys.
“I hate just being on the bench and looking at the guys over there, struggling or losing. It’s something I don’t like to be a part of.”
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On Sunday, Yabusele was one of nine available players in the Sixers’ 130-125 victory over the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center.
He finished with 14 points, six rebounds, and two steals as the starting center. The 6-foot-6 forward was actually the only rotation player to take the court against the Mavs. And he helped to set the tempo, scoring seven of his points in the first quarter.
Yabusele has missed games this season due to a right eye abrasion and right knee soreness, among other ailments. After the game, he iced both knees at his locker.
“I can’t really lie about it,” he said about dealing with nagging injuries. “But I’ve been OK. I feel like if I’m on the court, I can play.”
One knee actually bothered him during Sunday’s game after he fell on it.
“It got swollen a little bit,” he said. “But you know we take care of it. We have a good medical staff. So we are always careful about everything. So it’s day to day for us.”
Yabusele also cherishes every second he gets to play during his second go-round in the NBA. That also factors into his decision to finish out the season.
He averaged 2.3 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 6.6 minutes in 74 games during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons with the Boston Celtics. He also made just 32.3% of his three-pointers in Boston before being waived in the 2019 offseason.
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While out of the NBA, he spent a season with the Nanjing Monkey Kings of the Chinese Basketball Association before joining ASVEL of the French LNB Pro A in 2020.
Yabusele then signed with Real Madrid in July 2021. He helped lead the team to the 2023 EuroLeague championship, two Liga ACB titles, and three Spanish Super Cup championships. Yabusele averaged 9.7 points while shooting 44.5% from three-point range his last season in Spain, then attracted NBA attention while playing for France in the Summer Olympics last year.
But his journey back to the NBA involved much more than shooting, defending, and playmaking. He worked on improving his post moves and reading the game better. He worked on everything he thought would enable him to help an NBA franchise.
“Just growing through everything I’ve been through, you know, all the wins,” he said, “all the losses, all the ups and downs, being in the league, leaving the league, going back to France, getting a chance to go back to Madrid and play for five years, and try to come back here, it just makes me appreciate the game more.
“So now, I really try to enjoy every moment, every second that I’m on the court.”
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That’s why he’s always trying to bring joy and positive energy to his teammates. It’s also why Yabusele dives for loose balls and fights for everything, even in the midst of a loss season.
“This is,” he said, “kind of like my DNA.”