Serge Ibaka

Serge Jonas Ibaka Ngobila is a Congolese-Spanish professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association’s Milwaukee Bucks. The Seattle SuperSonics selected Ibaka with the 24th overall choice in the 2008 NBA Draft.

Childhood and Family

Serge Ibaka is a well-known basketball player born on September 18, 1989, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Serge was born into a family of 18 children. Despite the everyday violence that surrounded him and his family, his father, Désiré, and his mother, Amado, both former basketball players who excelled in the nation as children, instilled a great passion for the game.

Serge’s youth was affected by another tragedy: his mother died when he was nine years old. He wears the number 9 in honor of his mother.

His family was aware of rising tensions in Brazzaville. Désiré’s father made the decision to evacuate the family to Ouesso, in the country’s northwest region, away from the gunshots.

On the other hand, Serge was a diligent worker who rapidly acclimated to the environment. He focused his entire attention on school and basketball.

His uncle, who was already in the Tours region of France, helped bring him over to try out for various clubs in Paris and the rest of France. Serge was not picked despite his apparent potential.

Early Career| Rise to the Fame

Ibaka traveled to France at the age of 17 and joined a second-division basketball team before going to Spain and self-teaching Spanish.

Serge immediately joined CB L’Hospitalet, a Spanish second-division basketball team. He shot 55% and averaged 10.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.

He competed in many foreign showcases in 2008, earning the MVP title at the Reebok Eurocamp and garnering the attention of NBA scouts.

“He’s off the charts athletically—no, there’s no telling how good he can be,” one NBA scout at one of the camps stated.

 

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Professional Career

Serge Ibaka decided to stay in Spain after being picked in order to strengthen his skills. Likely, he learns how to play professionally in the top European league, the ACB.

He played with Bàsquet Manresa from 2008 to 2009, when he was the league’s youngest player at 18 years old. He put on a great display with them and even won the ACB Dunk Contest.

Ibaka moved to Oklahoma City in the summer of 2009 to begin his NBA career with the Thunder.

Ibaka had a breakout season in 2012-2013, averaging 13.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks per game and finished third in the Defensive Player of the Year voting.

With the Thunder, Ibaka was a three-time NBA All-Defensive First Team selection, a three-time league leader in blocks, and a competitor in the 2011 NBA Slam Dunk Contest.

He established himself as an important player of a strong Western Conference squad, helping them reach the Western Conference Finals in 2016 and the NBA Finals in 2012.

After seven seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Serge was transferred to the Orlando Magic in the summer of 2016.

NBA Draft

Ibaka was picked by the Seattle SuperSonics with the 24th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.

Despite the Oklahoma City Thunder deciding to keep Serge in Europe, Serge became the first player from the Republic of Congo to be taken in the draft.

In July 2009, the Thunder paid the buyout and signed him to a two-year deal with two additional seasons optioned.

Olympics

While with the Thunder, Ibaka also registered as a Spanish citizen, letting him compete in the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Spain won silver, Ibaka’s second medal with the national team after earning gold at EuroBasket in 2011.

He would miss Spain’s bronze-medal performance in Rio 2016 due to a lack of fitness. Further, he was not a member of the gold-medal-winning 2019 Basketball World Cup squad.

Ibaka was a youth representative for the Republic of Congo. At the 2006 FIBA Africa Under-18 Championship in Durban, he led all players in rebounds and scoring, averaging 18.6 points and 13.8 rebounds.

Charity Works

Serge Ibaka’s Serge Ibaka Foundation is focused on assisting individuals in need outside of basketball.

He wants to use his NBA platform to aid his own country and the rest of the globe.

He is a UNICEF ambassador in the Congo, where he established a project to restore two all-boys orphanages in the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, respectively.

The Serge Ibaka Foundation’s objectives include extending UNICEF’s work as well as cooperating with other organizations like the Starkey Hearing Foundation.

Net Worth 

Serge Ibaka has a $12 million net worth. Furthermore, his career earnings through the 2020-21 season total $127,417,830, according to Spotrac.

Ibaka became a free agent in 2020 and signed with the Los Angeles Clippers, which was a shocking decision.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, he agreed to a two-year, $19 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.

The second year was a player option that he accepted in the 2021 offseason, allowing him to stay with the Los Angeles Kings for another year. He will earn $9,720,900 in the 2021-22 season.

Ibaka is an Adidas athlete who has worn a variety of Adidas footwear over his career.

Relationship Status

Ibaka has had romantic connections with a number of high-profile personalities in the entertainment sector, notably South African actress Pearl Thusi.

Rumors of the two datings initially arose in June 2018, when the actress visited Barcelona, Spain, alongside Ibaka.

Despite the fact that there were few symptoms of their romance at the time, additional ‘proof’ that she and Ibaka were dating continued to emerge as Pearl was willing to be seen supporting him at basketball games.

During one of these games, she was seen holding a ticket with Ibaka’s face on it. The dating rumors were verified when she was seen inside Ibaka’s residence in the footage she shared on her Instagram stories.

Ibaka’s Instagram photos further proved their relationship, since he posted the same food and lodging as Pearl’s story.

Even though the pair haven’t spoken about their relationship, it’s easy to assume they’re dating.

Relationship with Keri Helson

Before meeting Pearl Thusi, Serge Ibaka was in a serious relationship with Keri Hilson, a prominent American singer, and songwriter. The couple initially met and began dating in 2012.

Their romance was extensively documented, and the pair attended several public events together. In 2016, the couple divorced and went their own ways.

Furthermore, Ranie, Ibaka’s daughter, was born when he was still a teenager, shortly after leaving the Republic of Congo.

Ibaka was reared by her father and Ranie’s mother; the father and daughter did not meet until she was three years old, and the duo first met when she was five years old.

Serge Ibaka: Music 

Ibaka’s most recent significant effort is in the field of music.

Serge took it up another level after working with Dadju on the single “Mafuzzy style” in 2018, releasing “Champion” with Ninho a few months ago (13 million views on YouTube at the time of writing).

In addition, he released “LEGGO” with Tayc (5 million views) and “Rumba” with Guy2BezBar (5 million views) (1 million views).

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Body Measurements, Height, Weight

On September 18, 1989, Serge was born. Serge is a big, muscular basketball center and sometimes power forward who is only 32 years old.

Ibaka has a height of 6’10”. He is 107 kg in weight. He has an athletic build. Serge also has dark brown eyes and black hair.

Social Media

Serge has a million followers on Instagram. He is quite active on social media and frequently posts photographs of his daily life.

He is very active on Twitter where he has 9.1k followers.

 

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FAQ’s

Quick Facts

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