Sixers big man Mike Muscala got YouTube famous way back in 2011 at Bucknell

The thing about Mike “Moose” Muscala is, at 6-foot-11 and 240 pounds, he doesn’t look anything like the nickname his last name begets. But then, he isn’t paid to push people around.

The Sixers traded two players for Muscala so he could shoot 3-pointers when All Star center Joel Embiid needs a break. Muscala hit 37.1 percent of his threes for the Hawks in 2017-18 and hit at least three 3-pointers six times in his 53 games.

As of Wednesday’s win over the Spurs, he’d already hit at least three 3-pointers eight times in his 42 games as a Sixer.

A second-round pick out of Bucknell in 2013, at 27 he is in his sixth NBA season, and has steadily developed into the sort of viable threat the Sixers lost in free-agent reserves Ersan Ilyasova. But at $5 million, and in the last year of his contract, Muscala might deliver more bang for the buck than Ilyasova, 31, who returned to Milwaukee on a three-year, $21 million deal.

Muscala’s mild manner also belies his boisterous nickname — but then, this Moose is, in many ways, a Renaissance man: polite, well-traveled, with a highly developed palate.

And, like many Midwesterners, he’s always loved Wally World (not that Walley World). We spoke early this week.

Normally when a guy’s nicknamed “Moose," he’s built like a ... moose. You’re built more like an antelope. Has it always been this way?

I sometimes feel awkward running out there, yeah. My dad, he had the nickname, “Moose.” It caught on when I was at Bucknell, but, for some reason, it went away when I was in Atlanta. But it’s been brought back here.

As a sophomore at Bucknell in 2011, you sprang into the national consciousness when you chanelled Duke star Christian Laettner and beat Richmond with a last-second shot. It was part of a run in which Bucknell won 18 of 19 en route to the NCAA Tournament, and the shot was a big deal on YouTube. Do you wish that Twitter was a bigger deal back then? It might have gone viral ...

It would’ve gotten a little more “pub” if it had happened a couple years later. But, as for attention, I mean, I don’t necessarily seek it out. I’m a little shy.

You grew up near Minneapolis, when Kevin Garnett was starring for the Timberwolves but when it was Kobe Bryant’s league. Who was your favorite NBA player?

Wally Szczerbiak. (Nickname: Wally World). He’s a small forward. I was going through a lot of awkward youth phases growing up. I was tall when I was younger, but in middle school I didn’t grow as much, so I had to play on the perimeter.

Eighth and ninth grade I was only, like, 6-1. I guess that’s why I can shoot a little bit, for my size. Then I grew 3 inches each year in high school.

But there was a time when I had to move from the "5″ (center) to the "3″ (small forward). So watching Wally growing up was cool.

Your first year out of college, after you initially didn’t make an NBA squad, you spent a few weeks playing in northwest Spain for Monbus Obradoiro of the ACB League. Do you like tapas? Did you always?

I do like it. And no, I did not appreciate it before I went to Spain. It was sort of an acquired taste, but I could tell, off the bat, I would like it.

The first meal I had was really good: croquetas. That’s really the easiest, though, because they’re fried.

You only played 20 games in Spain before the Atlanta Hawks signed you in February of 2014, but you spent much of the 2014-15 season shuttling between the Hawks and Fort Wayne, where you played with Mad Ants of the NBA Developmental League. What’s the commute from Atlanta to northeastern Indiana like for a guy who’s almost 7 feet tall?

It’s a Delta flight. They might have a direct flight, but only one a day. Maybe two seats on each side. It’s pretty cramped.

It’s some good memories, though. It makes you grateful to play in the NBA. It was a good growing experience. Some of the most memorable times were playing in Fort Wayne.

It’s 13 degrees in Philadelphia right now. It’s also 13 degrees in Roseville, Minn., where you grew up. However, it’s going to average about 40 degrees over the weekend in Philly. It’s going to average about 8 degrees in Roseville, and about 5-below at night. Philadelphians are tough, but are they weather wimps?

I wouldn’t say weather wimps — that would probably belong to a different part of the country ... I’d say, Atlanta. Or California.

Even I’ve become more of a wimp. It’s all relative. … I do miss having more snow. Sledding. Snowboarding. Having snowball fights. Somewhat.

What’s the coldest you’ve ever been on the court?

In Spain. Some of those gyms are cold.

I meant, figuratively. Shooting.

Well, this year at Christmas I was bad, shooting-wise. (He went 1-for-9 from the field and 1-for-8 on 3-point attempts at Boston, on national television.)