Luc Mbah a Moute is a legitimate prince in his native country of Cameroon, but in the NBA, he does the dirty work for whichever NBA team he is on. While he received recognition on the contending Houston Rockets in 2017-18, prior to that he spent two seasons with the “Lob City” Clippers locking down opposing wings.
That has been Mbah a Moute’s calling card since he entered the league in 2008 out of UCLA, guarding the best wing player on the other team — be that LeBron James, Kevin Durant or Paul George. While on/off metrics struggle to quantify his impact, simply watching his play on the court shows a heady and instinctive defender key to strong defenses.
During the latter years of “Lob City” their five top offensive players offered no one capable of guarding the elite wings this team had to play. That meant Mbah a Moute was called upon to play significant minutes despite his offensive limitations. He rose to the challenge, improving his outside shot and hitting 39.1 percent of his 3-pointers by his final season with the Clippers.
Perhaps no fact is more telling of Mbah a Moute’s value to the Clippers than how he left. When Chris Paul joined James Harden on the Rockets, he lobbied for Mbah a Moute to come and join him in Houston. He thus left the Clippers at the close of the era as the final starting small forward for “Lob City”.