Ifeanyi Festus Ezeli-Ndulue Listen^ⓘ(born October 21, 1989) is a Nigerian-American former professional basketball player who played five seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Vanderbilt Commodores before being selected with the 30th overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors, where he won an NBA Championship in 2015. Ezeli last appeared in the 2016 NBA Finals and did not play basketball due to knee surgery in the 2017 season, then coming back in 2021.

One of five children, Ezeli remembered in a 2011 interview with Andy Katz of ESPN.com, "My parents told me I was an unusual child. My first name is Ifeanyi, and that means 'nothing is impossible with God'. That sets the tone for my journey while I'm alive." Ezeli concentrated on academics, graduating from high school when he was only 14, and aspiring to become a physician. To further his career goals, Ezeli's parents sent him to live with his uncle, a pediatrician, in Yuba City, California in 2004.

Shortly after Ezeli arrived in Yuba City, his uncle encouraged him to take up what seemed to be the most appropriate sport for a 6-foot-8-inch (2.03 m) teenager—basketball. This proved much more difficult for Ezeli than academics because he had never played any organized sports despite the fact that Ezeli played soccer as a child. He took a year of classes at Jesuit High School in Sacramento but did not play basketball; different sources report that Ezeli was either ineligible to play because he had graduated from high school in Nigeria or cut during tryouts. The start of Ezeli's organized basketball career, with a low-level AAU team, was especially inauspicious since his first points were scored in his own team's basket. Recalling that incident, Ezeli said, "Everybody was running up the court, and I was just running with them. It's kind of surreal. Sometimes I think about it now and I'm like, Damn. How did I get here?"

Also in the Katz interview, Ezeli remarked on his struggles to learn the game:

"I didn't know what I was doing. Imagine someone who is 14 or 15 years old, and you're teaching them as if they're a 6-year-old. It was tough. Everyone was getting frustrated with me. I was getting frustrated with it. I tried playing in 2005. I stopped. I tried again in 2006. And when I had my first dunk in a summer league game in Las Vegas in 2006, that's when I was so excited. It was so exhilarating that I started to like it."

At age 16, Ezeli joined a second AAU team and also enrolled part-time at Yuba Community College. By not attending full-time, he retained a full four years of college eligibility and was still able to practice with the team; Ezeli also served as the team's videographer. Although still learning the most basic of basketball skills, Ezeli made his high-level competitive debut on the AAU circuit in the summer of 2007. By then, Ezeli had reached 6 feet 11 inches (2.11 m), and averaged 10 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocks per game, earning an invitation to the Reebok All-American Camp in July 2007.

Ezeli's appearance at the camp marked a major turning point in his life. According to Sports Illustrated writer Pablo S. Torre,

"Recruiters...awaited his arrival as if he were Bigfoot. They left with their heads spinning at Ezeli's size and raw potential, even if it was clear that he lacked confidence. Offers from 27 Division I schools he knew almost nothing about rolled in."