Biyombo isn't in the Bizness of making friends

Josh Lewenberg

TSN Raptors Reporter

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TORONTO - Bismack Biyombo, the forgotten man on some mostly terrible Charlotte teams, would face the Toronto Raptors four times each season and did not have a fan in future teammate DeMar DeRozan.

"I hated Biz," said DeRozan, and he probably wasn't alone. "When he was in Charlotte, I hated Biz. I hated him. He was a fouler, always blocking shots. He always went for the pump fake, though, but I hated Biz. I told him myself, I told Bismack, I hated you." 

Sounds harsh, but isn't that the ultimate validation for a player of Biyombo's ilk, to be hated? 

An undersized centre at 6-foot-9, Biyombo will never be the most talented player on the court, not in the NBA. His game is not about finesse and isn't likely to earn any style points. Off the court, he's one of the kindest, most respectful and mild-mannered people you could ever have the pleasure of meeting. He's impossible not to like. On the court however, he transforms into a completely different person - a relentless, take-no-prisoners irritant. If that's how you know him, as a player, as an opponent, he's probably not getting your Christmas card. He's not going to win many popularity contests among his peers and, to his credit, he couldn't care less.

It's what makes him the player he is, a player that's endeared himself to a fan base that appreciates hard, physical play as much or more than any other; a player that has become invaluable to a conference finalist.

"Oh, I knew that," said the 23-year-old, told DeRozan didn't exactly look forward to their meetings. "He actually told me that personally, that he really hated me, until he got to know me as a person, and then he turned out to love me. I'm sure there was a lot of feeling-out there, but until you really get to know the real side of me, then you know who I am. But on the floor I don't have friends."

"I mean, [it's] probably because of my approach to the game," Biyombo continued. "I have friends, and once the game starts, I probably won't talk to you until the end of the game. That's just me. I'm just trying to win the ballgame, and I'm just trying to compete. At the end of the day, when the ball is up, I'm not trying to make friends. I know we're friends, we're cool, but we can always be cool after the game, too."

"But at the same time, that's the other side of me. Once basketball is over, off the court, then I'll go back to myself. I go back to being me and have fun and enjoy life."

Through little fault of his own, Biyombo's professional career got off to a slow start. The Kings drafted him seventh-overall in 2011, immediately moving him to Charlotte where, as a lottery pick, the expectations were high. One of the worst teams in league history, the Bobcats won just seven contests in the 66-game lockout shortened campaign, his rookie year. In four seasons with them he bounced back and forth from the starting lineup to the bench and quickly developed a reputation for being one of the worst offensive players in the NBA. He could always defend, he could always rebound, he always played the game hard but he was still perceived as being something of liability.

Masai Ujiri didn't care, not for what he brought him in to do and certainly not at the price he brought him in for. The Raptors signed Biyombo to a two-year, $6-million deal this summer. He can opt out after this season; he will and he'll more than quadruple his current paycheque. Ranked among the league's worst defensive teams last year, Toronto desperately needed to get tougher. Enter Biyombo.

A native of Zaire, the Congolese big man has always played that way.

"Since I grew up at home," Biyombo said. "The team, the way I started playing, that was our mindset. We had friends and stuff, but once the ball is up, it was us against you guys. We're going to go to dinner after the game, but while we're playing the game, we ain't going to be friends. That's just the bottom line. The bottom line is I've got to do what's best for my team, not what's best for my friends."

The Raptors recruited Biyombo to serve as the back-up centre behind starter Jonas Valanciunas and while the two bigs still haven't logged a single minute of court time together, he's turned out to be a lot more than that. Known to his teammates, his friends, as "Biz", Biyombo filled in admirably when Valanciunas missed time with a hand injury during the regular season and is now carrying a sizeable workload with JV sidelined in the playoffs.

On Saturday, as Toronto pulled off a remarkable upset, spoiling the Cavaliers perfect post-season, Biyombo was front and centre. He didn't record a single point until the end of the third quarter but, even in that moment, his impact on the game rivalled DeRozan's, who finished with 32 points. Biyombo pulled down 26 boards, a Raptors franchise record in any game, regular season or playoffs, eclipsing his own mark of 25 set against Indiana in March. He blocked four shots, set the tone with his physicality and seemed to be in the head of LeBron James.

A few days earlier he had told TSN that he didn't fear James, the best player of his generation and one of the greatest ever. True to character, he hasn't backed down. People accused the Raptors of quitting after dropping the first two games of their series against Cleveland, most of them hadn't watched them much, if at all this season. In years past they probably would have. 

For most of their 21-year history, the Raptors have been an NBA punchline. Opponents would circle them on the schedule. They were an easy win, not always because they were bad, but because they were soft.

Not only are they three wins away from the NBA Finals, which - however unlikely - seems unimaginable to long-time Raptors fans that never thought they'd see the day, they are as tough as they've ever been, both mentally and physically.

They've never employed anyone like Biyombo. They've had great rebounders, Reggie Evans comes to mind. They've had polarizing back-up centres, Keon Clark for instance. No Raptor has ever put his stamp on the game without scoring quite like Biyombo. 

He's not making friends on the Cavs, to no one's surprised. He's flattening them with hard fouls; he's ticking them off every time he wags his finger after blocking a shot, something he's borrowed from his idol Dikembe Mutombo.

"I think that's just who he is," Casey said. "I remember when Mutombo did it. When he did it, I don't think it motivated other players to play harder. When Bismack does it, as long as he backs it up, continues to rebound, continues to block shots and protect the rim, and as long as he doesn't get a technical, I don't mind that. It's a new NBA. It's a new day. He can do it all he wants to, as long as he backs it up. What you don't want to do is a guy to not be able to back it up and he's out there having a big rebounding night once a month. That's not him."

There probably aren't too many great defenders, at any position, now or in league history that are well liked, not if they're doing their job. It's part of the gig. You want to be respected, but if your opponents are looking forward to seeing you on the other side, there's a problem.

"Two of the biggest competitors I've ever coached were Gary Payton and Kevin Garnett," Casey said. "Those two guys did not like anybody on the opposing jerseys, and that's the way it should be. You don't have to be dirty, you don't have to be belligerent; just your compete level has to be there. They know you're not out there to have fun and laugh and smile. That's part of the game. That's part of it. You're not disrespecting anybody. You're not being a bad person, but you're out there to compete. You're out there to do your job. For that 48 minutes, there's one thing in mind and one thing only, and that's the way it should be."

Offensively, Biyombo continues to make strides. He scored six straight points, all big buckets, in the fourth quarter of Game 3. DeRozan found him for two of them and admitted that he probably wouldn't have thrown the big man, once believed to have stone hands, those passes earlier in the season. Biyombo has improved and they've built trust as teammates.

A year ago, DeRozan hated Biyombo. Now, he couldn't be happier to be in the foxhole with him.

"Now by far he's one of my favorite teammates of all time," DeRozan said. "It's great when you get to meet a person like that that was your rival, so to speak, from another team. To be on your team, now you understand why everybody else hated him so much, and I love it now."

"When he's on your team, you love him to death. We all love him, and like I say, he's the spirit when we're out there on the court."