Oakland, California — It’s late October, meaning basketball is back—but this was no ordinary season opener.

If you took a survey of 29 head coaches in this league, and asked them how they wanted to kickstart the new year-long campaign, it’s safe to say that playing the Warriors on the road would be the ‘less-than-ideal’ choice. Oracle Arena is an ear-splitting, deafening place, and Golden State is the gold standard, no pun intended, of elite NBA basketball.

The Houston Rockets acknowledge all of this. And they still don’t care.

If you’re reading this, you’ve probably watched your fair share of league games in the past. You either streamed it on your phone, laptop, or flipped to your local sports outlet. Maybe you opened your wallet and got the chance to go see your favorite team live. In any case, if you tune in early enough, you’d have seen how players get ready for games. Some spend the hour before tipoff on the court, taking jumpers. Some may be seated courtside, looking over some last-minute film with assistant coaches. Others might elect to stay in the locker room, listening to music and meditating.

As for Luc Mbah a Moute? He likes to dance.

“I’ve always been dancing, especially before the game. It gets me excited, gets me going.”, Luc said. “Everyone has their own thing they like to do, but to me, dancing relaxes you and gets you exited[for the game]. And for me, I gotta go back to the roots, so I throw the African music on.”

On this particular evening, his teammates, James Harden among them, surround Luc in a circle as he dances, some trying to imitate his movements. Bar Clint Capela, most of them might not know the origin of the music, but it excites them nonetheless. It was an emotional night to say the least–the second ring ceremony for the Warriors in the last three years, the first meaningful game for James Harden and the team since the Game 6 debacle, the debut of Chris Paul.

But it was Luc’s big night too.

The Rockets would go on to win the game 122-121, after Kevin Durant’s would-be game winner was deemed just a tad too late. Mbah a Moute finished the night with 23 minutes played, 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting, to go along with 2 triples. A good game, by any means. Hell, a great game, considering the fact that Houston trailed by 16 at one point late in the third. A comeback thriller over the defending champs on opening night? Pretty big deal if you ask me.

Not to Luc. After all, it’s just exactly what it looks like: one game.

“I think it was a good way to start the season—getting the win against the defending champs. Obviously a tough environment, playing up there on opening night. It showed a lot of character about our team, we took the first punch and hung, and we got the win at the end. Beating a team like the Warriors is a big statement, but it’s one game at a time.”

“Beating a team like the Warriors is a big statement, but it’s one game at a time.”

But he’s pleased. He’s been around the team for a couple of months now. Maybe this could be something special, something tangible.

Luc is now playing for his sixth NBA franchise, in 10 years. His career has taken him all over the country; from Philly to Milwaukee, cold Minnesota to warm California, and now here in Houston. Basketball players are still human beings, and a constant movement can get tiresome after a while. Yes, this is a business, but it’s nice to feel wanted after a while. He’d previously felt a sense of belonging in his five seasons with the Bucks, stemming from his rookie year. And having played in Los Angeles for the past two seasons, he thought he would be there for the forseeable future. The conversations he had with his agent, Raoul Keddy, echoed these same sentiments.

And then Daryl Morey happened.

Once Chris Paul was traded to the Rockets, Luc says “the dynamic changed”.

Immediately upon becoming a Rocket, All-Star point guard Chris Paul took the role of lead recruiter. He reached out to former teammates JJ Redick, along with Luc, making it clear that he believed in the vision held by Mike D’Antoni and Daryl Morey, and that they should join him.

So I asked Luc, what is it that makes Chris so special? What draws players to him? Why Houston?

“Everyone knows he’s a competitor and everyone knows how great of a player he is but he competes on everything—whether its a card game, any little game or whatever on or off the court he wants to win. But he cares a lot about the team and winning and the success of the team. He’s a great student of the game, studies the game really hard and just loves the game.”

The help of Chris, along with the offensive blueprint and defensive potential, eventually won Mbah a Moute over.

“For me, I enjoy being on a team that has a chance to compete for a championship. And when I talked to the Rockets, I felt like it was a good position—they had a great season last year and were ready to go and compete [for a title]. There was definitely a need for what I bring to the table, and as far as the offense a great way to play, so thats why I decided to go there.”

Basketball is Luc’s occupation. But it doesn’t define him.

He’s a proud Cameroonian man, with a strong family background and a deep love for his home country and African continent as a whole. The music that he was listening to in his pregame ritual was from Ivory Coast. He, along with Luol Deng, are the elder statesman of basketball in the continent of Africa, and they are helping usher in a new generation of African talent in the league. We see players like Clint Capela and Joel Embiid, two of the league’s bright young centers—In many ways, they would not be in the position they are now, had it not been for the efforts of Luc, Luol, and the plethora of African players paving the way before them.

Basketball without Borders is a joint venture between the NBA and FIBA, targeting basketball growth in communities, and that strives to “promote the sport and encourage positive social change in the areas of education, health, and wellness.” This past summer, the league hosted its annual NBA Africa Game, pitting some of the best talent from around the world, and putting them on the court against the best players across Africa. Johannesburg was the destination of choice, and in August, hundreds of thousands of fans tuned in to watch Kristaps Porzingis, Boogie Cousins, Kyle Lowry take on Luc, Luol, Thabo Sefalosha and others. Team Africa was ultimately bested 108-97, but the final score wasn’t the biggest takeway from the day.

The game is changing, and Luc is here for all of it.

“I think its a great initiative that the NBA is doing, they’ve been doing it for years now and that was the second year we had that game—just to keep going. The game is growing, it’s growing everywhere especially in Africa, and the impact of guys like us (Luol and me, the older African players) and then the younger guys like Joel, Pascal, and Emmanuel; the stuff that they doing, you have younger generations who can identify with these guys now. It had so many people watching the game and shows how far they’ve come globally in basketball.

“You have younger generations who can identify with these guys now. It had so many people watching the game, and shows how far they’ve come globally in basketball.”

Luc is a humble.

Just ask his agent, Raoul Keddy. He says something a lot of people may not know about his client is that he prefers to be behind the scenes. He isn’t one to brag or beat his chest for individual accomplishments. For someone that takes pride in guarding the best players on the floor, this may seem off to others.

Not to Luc. And definitely not to Mr. Keddy.

Raoul says he already knew about Luc due to his big influence on Cameroonian basketball, and the two met through mutual friends and a passion for business. He may not be a 10-time All Star, or former MVP, but Raoul is accomplished all the same. For starters, he’s the founder and marketing director of Raked International, a global consulting firm in international business, lobbying, management and international affairs. Raoul is also the president of Africa International Chamber of Commerce—he’s served on the Mayor of Houston International Trade Development Council and helps with economic development in the community.

Try and say that five times in a row. Needless to say, both he and Luc keep themselves busy. Businessmen have diverse portfolios, and both Luc and Raoul have an eye for lucrative ventures outside of basketball.

But Raoul is 100% Team Mbah a Moute. If he’s not on the road with the team, he’s back at home working the phones, looking for the next opportunity. Luc is making roughly $1.5 million with the team this year, and he’ll be an unrestricted free agent in the summer. When that time comes, Raoul with sit down with GM Daryl Morey and new owner Tilman Fertita, and look at all available options. They enjoy it here, and hopefully can strike a long-term deal in the near future.

Luc just wants to play ball.

He’s healthy now and feels those injury-plagued offseasons are behind him. He says he’s “blessed to be in this situation”, not missing games the last couple of years. He missed a game earlier with a sore knee, and will miss the Phoenix game with an illness. Houston will need him as much as possible, with the Western Conference getting even stronger, depth will be a key factor year-long.

By now, it’s common knowledge that the Rockets shoot threes. Like, a lot. Luc took FOUR(!) three-pointers in his rookie season, which sounds almost unimaginable when you watch Houston play today—he might get four good looks from deep in a quarter. Last season with the Clippers, he shot 39.1% from downtown, on 1.4 attempts per night. This season, he’s already doubled that output.

“Last year, I got an opportunity to shoot more, and this year the system [dictates] that we spread the floor, shoot a lot of threes and get to the basket—and that fits my game”, Mbah a Moute said. “I’ve been enjoying it, I think Coach [D’Antoni] is amazing, putting guys in postition where they can succeed.”

With Luc, Trevor Ariza, PJ Tucker, and Eric Gordon, the Rockets now possess the number of wings necessary to switch constantly—a big need when playing Golden State, and other elite offensive teams. Lack of defensive versatility showed last year, and hurt Houston in stretches in the playoffs. Heading into the offseason, Daryl Morey saw this as just as big of a coup as landing Chris Paul.

Speaking on defense, Luc noted “I think its a great thing—you look at teams now, everyone has a big 3 or big 2. Top teams now have three players who can really score, and being on a team where you got guys who are really good and versatile defenders, it’s so much fun because when we’re on the floor, we enjoy it cause we can switch and throw different matchups at guys, we can take turns and give them different looks. Its really good for us defensively”

“We can switch and throw different matchups at guys, we can take turns and give them different looks. Its really good for us defensively”

So far in the new campaign, Houston is sitting atop the Western Conference at 12-4, half a game behind the Warriors. One of the reasons to this red-hot start has been their defense, even without the services of Chris Paul. When Luc said the Rockets can throw different looks at teams he wasn’t joking. The combination of Luc, Eric Gordon, and PJ Tucker is good for a 92.6 defensive rating!

That is suffocating, to say the least.

And it’s very easy to see why—watch what happens here when Sabonis attempts to post up Gordon. Luc watches like a hawk, waiting until Sabonis ceases his dribble and swarms him, using his 7’2 wingspan to block all passing lanes and force the turnover.

Prior to his arrival in Houston, only 27% of his shot attempts came from behind the arc. Now? That number has skyrocketed, to almost 44%. Looking at his shot chart is a real thing of beauty, Daryl Morey would be shedding tears of joy. Corner threes and inside the circle? Yes please.

James Harden, Chris Paul and Coach D’Antoni want Luc to become more and more comfortable shooting those shots. The gravity that Harden and Paul draw on a nightly basis means that those looks will always be open. That’s half the problem solved right there—Houston wants their players to let it fly.

Initially, he might have passed on this kind of shot, or elected to swing the ball back to James. With time, he’ll learn about the green light. But this season will ultimately go how he said before: one game at a time.

And trust that he’ll be dancing this year, every step of the way.