How Chu Maduabum became a memorable figure during one of the Sixers’ most memorable periods of basketball
- Feb. 22, 2017 timestamp*
A memorable player during Sam Hinkie’s “Process Era,” Chu Maduabum reflects on his unique Sixers experience and bond with fans.
Chukwudiebere “Chu” Maduabum couldn’t stop smiling as a youth growing up in Lagos, Nigeria. Maduabum’s constant glee drew the ire of his mom, who found it unusual, but it was natural emotion. Transforming from a jovial kid to a hulking specimen in his adolescence, Maduabum embodied the “gentle giant” persona. The spurt was advantageous for his future job.
Soccer should’ve been Maduabum’s calling, being Nigeria’s most prominent sport. But basketball spoke to him.
“I started playing basketball in high school,” Maduabum told Liberty Ballers. “At first, I thought basketball was going to be a boring sport. I started off playing soccer then I started playing basketball… started to get into the competition, physicality and everything. I loved it.”
Maduabum recalls playing in his first tournament, not “knowing what he was doing” and just “being tall.” His experience allowed him to see what competition looked like on the court, with the raw big man having only playing non-organized basketball previously. Having Maduabum’s competition outperform him was the necessary wake-up call to ignite a sincere passion for basketball.
Maduabum’s progression on the court was aided by analysis of NBA stars’ game film. It wasn’t just the local Nigerian cuisine Maduabum savored, he had a hunger to improve as a player and emulate some of the NBA’s greats.
“I was watching old NBA videos,” Maduabum said. “It was Magic vs. Bird, Dr. J., all those videos and I’m like, ‘I really want this.’ I saw 17-year-old Kobe killing [it on the court], KG [Kevin Garnett] and all these guys. I’m like ‘I can do this.’ I was a year younger than their age at the time. I just wanted to be that — wanted to have that.”
The man who gave him that opportunity had an intricate role in Maduabum’s early career arc in Nigeria. Considered one of the most calculating minds in NBA front offices, current Toronto Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri hosted camps in his home country of Nigeria, which Maduabum attended. Ujiri provided a broader world view and inspired players to succeed.
His words stuck with Maduabum, providing a dose of needed confidence. The teenager reveled in the chance to embrace a highly-regarded basketball figure, and years later a reunion commenced. Eligible for the 2011 draft at 19 years old, after finishing a three-game stint with the Bakersfield Jam in the D-League, the Los Angeles Lakers opted to use one of their four second-round picks on Maduabum.
Ujiri, the Denver Nuggets GM at the time, saw a chance to add the 6-foot-9, 209-pound Maduabum to his roster. After a brief stint at Bakersfield, one Maduabum would like to forget, a multitude of international stops and a change in management, Chu failed to reach the pinnacle of professional basketball throughout his first four professional seasons.
Denver still possessed his draft rights, harboring Maduabum as an asset to potentially feature in deals. With current general manager Tim Connelly supplanting Ujiri near the end of 2013, management wasn’t “interested at all” in exploring Maduabum’s future with the team. The Nigerian forward’s unfulfilled dream to suit up for the Nuggets never wavered his confidence and dedication for the sport.
“You have to believe in yourself,” Maduabum said. “If I wasn’t positive, I’d probably stop playing after my first year in Mongolia (2013–14). I tried to get pumped and hyped during the games. I try to stay positive.”
An overseas mainstay through his four-year tenure with the team, Maduabum broke into the national spotlight once again in 2015. Via christened Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie, Maduabum, center Javale McGee and a future first-round pick that would eventually materialize into Furkan Korkmaz, became new figures in The Process.
Maduabum never got the chance to suit up, call himself a Philadelphia 76er or touch the Wells Fargo Center’s hardwood. Playing for Talinna Ulikool/Kalev (7.1 PPG, 4.7 RPG in 2014–15) in Estonia’s KML league and Tampereen Pyrintö (2.1 PPG, 2.6 RPG) in the Finnish Korisliiga league last season, during his tenure with the Sixers, Maduabum ultimately failed to garner an NBA opportunity.
“I got traded to Philly and I was like ‘okay,’” Maduabum said. “It was a new team and, no offense, ‘they’re not doing great right now.’ ‘Hopefully they bring me in and I get a chance to do something.’ They [management] said they didn’t really have any plans for me. It’s understandable because they drafted a million bigs at that time.”
McGee appeared in backup minutes to spell then-rookie Nerlens Noel, but Hinkie folded quickly. While McGee drew admiration from fans for his quirky playing style, Maduabum became, arguably, the more memorable figure over time. The context, however, expands beyond on court production.
While McGee is thriving in a career renaissance as a backup center in Golden State, Maduabum’s innate positivity and charisma had a definite, lasting impression on fans. His relationship with the Sixers contingent wasn’t evident in 2015 on social media, but the fan-player link evolved dramatically last year. Ironically, Maduabum’s roots of discourse with fans sprouted from a botched 2016 trade deadline deal, with Joel Anthony failing a physical.
After an outpouring of support from the Sixers faithful on Twitter, Maduabum acknowledged fans’ cherishing him as a member of the organization.
Professional athletes have an alluring quality and any response naturally elevates your mood. There are constant attempts at adding their handle in posts on any platform in order to obtain their attention. Fans clamor for recognition from players they admire but have to understand athletes possess their own social lives as well. Maduabum’s active relationship with them is uncommon, but it fits the narrative of a joyous individual seeking positive vibes again from others.
Even after a successful deal, with the team’s previous GM trading his rights to Cleveland last summer to bolster the Cavs’ cap flexibility, Maduabum remained loyal to the Sixers faithful.
“I was sad,” Maduabum said. “I looked at it like ‘Cleveland might bring me in too,’ but I was also sad. I’ve never been to a Sixers [operated] gym or anything and the love I get from that team is crazy. I didn’t want to leave that.”
Maduabum laughed off Philadelphia’s attempt to deal his rights twice saying, “that’s how you know they really didn’t care [about his future with the team],” but there wasn’t any animosity towards the organization. The relationship with fans persisted over the summer, a thread he believes won’t tear, and a prominent local social media figure rewarded Maduabum.
OptionaliTEES, a clothing manufacturer run by Liberty Ballers’ own Max Rappaport and part of teepublic.com, designed a custom Maduabum shirt for the big guy last September. On it, a jet black t-shirt with “Who the f-ck is Chu Chu Maduabum?” draped across the middle in white text.
Once again, fans flocked to Maduabum’s account, showering him with favorable support. The flood of retweets from the 26-year-old talent to his supporters displayed a new chapter in the mutual relationship. In what should’ve been Maduabum’s viral social media day transitioned into a festivity. It wasn’t just his preferred outcome from Sep. 6, but also a microcosm of this meaningful linkage.
“It’s just love back and forth,” Maduabum said. “We make jokes. They tweet something and I’ll retweet it, they buy a shirt and I’ll retweet it. I don’t know why they buy Sixers shirts with my name on it, but they do. It’s fun.”
Maduabum, exhibiting his humbleness, poked fun at the suggestive attire as well.
“My cousin and I were laughing our asses off,” Maduabum said, laughing. “I love that shirt. That shirt describes my career. Every time I get traded that’s the reaction. Even when I got drafted that was the reaction.”
Maduabum acknowledged that his career in the NBA is off of his name, but he’s still coveting an NBA opportunity. With sour experiences in the D-League, which stunted his development, Maduabum’s hoping to climb the ranks of the overseas leagues.
A seasoned 26-year-old forward, Maduabum has mapped out a possible, ideal career path.
“If I were to make it in the EuroLeague, I’d stand a chance to make it in the NBA. I’d get a chance to play in the NBA. I’m just trying to get to the highest level overseas and hopefully that catches the eye of somebody in the NBA — that’ll make that trade to make me play and not to get rid of a contract.
On a young Kagoshima team in Japan, he’s serving as a productive frontcourt talent and essential figure. Averaging 11.9 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, Maduabum’s become a reliable force in the 2016–17 season and a veteran his young teammates can turn to. Playing basketball in his eighth different country, Maduabum has cultivated a relationship with fans in the Land of the Rising Sun as well.
However, his bond with Sixers fans is a wrinkle in Maduabum’s career he’ll cherish.
“It’s always going to be there,” Maduabum said. “Hopefully, I’m always going to have that. Even if I end up playing for a different NBA team, I hopefully will always have that. Hopefully, one day, I’ll be able to come to Philly and go to a bar with everyone.”