BOSTON — The Boston Celtics uncorked exuberant celebrations throughout Monday night’s blowout win against the Charlotte Hornets. Luke Kornet flapped his hands like a bird’s wings after a dunk. Blake Griffin’s alley-oop connection with Derrick White sent the whole team into a state of bliss. Mfiondu Kabengele had more reason to whoop it up than anyone after his own slam late in the game, but followed up the bucket simply by pointing at his teammate who set up the play.
“I was locked in,” Kabengele told The Athletic. “I was staying present.”
In his own way, Kabengele was embracing a milestone. He quickly turned back on defense after his dunk. Although his score pushed the Celtics ahead by 37 points, he wanted to continue handling his business. Once upon a time, the 27th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft would have cared more about his individual success, but a rocky start to his professional basketball career taught Kabengele to throw himself into the team concept. Still, this was a night for Kabengele to cherish on a personal level. He was appearing in an NBA game for the first time in more than a year. For the first time since the Cleveland Cavaliers waived him and he eventually landed a G League contract, not even a two-way deal. For the first time since an uneven journey forced him to re-examine the basketball vision he once wanted for himself.
Kabengele spent the last eight minutes of the Celtics’ 140-105 win trying to do all the right things. Set screens. Rebound. Play with pace. He couldn’t let the weight of the moment hit him on the court. Not while he still had work to do.
“I was satisfied that we finished the game off with the unit we had and I played a good brand of basketball,” Kabengele said. “But walking out, into the locker room, I was proud of myself. Just looking back, all the work I did, it felt really good.”
Kabengele needed to rework himself. His mentality. The way he looked at basketball. Back at Florida State, where he led the Seminoles in scoring on a team that also included future NBA rotation players Devin Vassell and Terance Mann, Kabengele fancied himself as the guy. He wanted the post-up touches, the back-to-the-basket looks, a big share of his team’s shots. He knew his role would need to change at least somewhat when he reached the NBA, but still wanted his game to look a certain way.
“As a player coming into the league, you have this idea of the player you want to be like, the image you want to put out, the style of play you want to play at,” Kabengele said.
Kabengele needed to ditch that idea. It took him a while. After he appeared in just 12 games as a rookie with the LA Clippers, the team declined to pick up his third-year option in December 2020. Although LA technically still could have kept Kabengele beyond his second season, the decision sent a clear message about his standing in the organization. He was the only first-round pick from the 2019 draft whose team decided against guaranteeing at least the third season of his rookie contract. Months later, the Clippers dealt Kabengele to the Sacramento Kings in a salary-dumping maneuver. He was waived by Sacramento days after the trade.
Kabengele resurfaced with the Cavaliers near the end of the 2020-21 season, but the organization waived him during training camp the following season. He knew the precious nature of NBA opportunities. And that he had let his slide away. When he signed with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the G League, the reality set in that he would have a long climb back to the NBA.
“I had my chance,” Kabengele said. “So I kind of had to start over, make another one. I knew once I got to RGV, I was a regular G-League player. I wasn’t a two-way or an NBA assignee. So I’m like, all right, I have to give you guys a body of work. That’s when I realized it was going to take a while. I had to reprove myself. Being on Day 1, having those Day 1 thoughts, knowing it was going to take a while, was probably the hardest part. And then once you get over the fact that it’s going to take a long time, let’s get to it, you just kind of go with the flow.”
Kabengele turned in an impressive G-League season, averaging 17.5 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. He said the way he played “justified” his thoughts about the player he could be. It’s not the same player he once wanted to become. He needed to stop caring about touches and shot attempts. He needed to recalibrate his game around how he could have the most impact on winning basketball. He needed to throw out the picture of his future that he once painted in his mind.
“Once I let go of what I wanted to look like and (decided it was about) the impact I wanted to have, and whatever that looked like, I was going to be OK with it as long as the impact was there, that’s when I felt like a switch changed,” Kabengele said. “Because now I wasn’t worried about getting a certain amount of shots up, shooting a certain type of way. It’s more just about impact. And whatever that led to in a game, if it led to a win I was satisfied.”
After parlaying a strong Las Vegas Summer League into a two-way contract with the Celtics, Kabengele isn’t yet back to where he wants to be. Like anyone else on a two-way contract, he wants to earn a full-fledged NBA deal. He has been shuttling back and forth from Maine. He averaged 17.8 points and 9.9 rebounds over eight games in the G League. And the Maine Celtics are 8-2 right now.
So, Monday night still carried great significance for him. It was another sign he’s back on the right path. Another signal the work is paying off. More proof that he’s taking steps forward again. His original vision of himself never materialized, but building a new vision takes grit and character, too.
“Now I have the idea that I can still have the impact that I had in college, now it’s just going to look different,” Kabengele said. “And I’m OK with what it’s going to look like. I have no worries about that. I’m just worried about the impact I will have on the court. That’s all.”
At least for now, the celebrations can wait. Kabengele has a team to help and an opportunity to chase.
(Photo: Brian Fluharty / USA Today)
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