Serge Ibaka

Serge Jonás Ibaka Ngobila (/ˈsɜːrdʒ iːˈbækə/; born 18 September 1989) is a Congolese-Spanish professional basketball player who last played for Real Madrid of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics with the 24th overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft. Ibaka is a three-time NBA All-Defensive First Team selection and has twice led the league in blocks. Although born in the Republic of the Congo, he is also a Spanish citizen and has played for the Spain national team. In 2019, Ibaka won an NBA championship as a key member of the Toronto Raptors.

Ibaka was born in Brazzaville, People's Republic of the Congo (modern-day Republic of the Congo) on 18 September 1989 and is the third youngest of 18 children. His father played basketball in the Republic of the Congo and with the Congolese national team, and his mother played for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Ibaka started playing basketball at a very young age with his first club, Avenir du Rail, using the sport as an escape from his mother's untimely death and his father's imprisonment during the Second Congo War. Ibaka's father organized for the family to flee the country prior to the war, but ended up as a political prisoner upon their return.

After playing for the Avenir du Rail senior team, Ibaka later joined rival club Inter Club junior team. Ibaka preferred the club because of its better structure, as it provided sneakers and meals. With Inter's senior team, Ibaka played in the 2006 FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup, the highest competition in Africa. There, he led the competition in rebounds and was named to the competition's All-Star Five.

In March 2007, Ibaka moved to France at age 17 and joined a second-division basketball team before moving to Spain, where he taught himself Spanish. In Spain, Ibaka soon began playing with a second-division basketball club CB L'Hospitalet. He averaged 10.8 points and 8.2 rebounds and shot 55%.

In 2008, Ibaka entered several international showcases, picking up an MVP award at the Reebok Eurocamp and the attention of NBA scouts. An NBA scout at one of the camps said that "athletically he's off the charts—there's no telling how good he can be".

Ibaka was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics with the 24th pick in the 2008 NBA draft. He became the first player from the Republic of Congo to be selected in the draft, although the Oklahoma City Thunder (the re-branded SuperSonics that relocated to Oklahoma City immediately after the draft) agreed to keep Ibaka in Europe. He then signed a three-year contract with Ricoh Manresa from the ACB League in Spain, keeping the option to leave for the NBA after each season. In the ACB, Ibaka averaged 7.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks in 16 minutes per game.

In July 2009, the Thunder paid the buyout for Ibaka's deal with Manresa and signed him to a two-year contract with two more optional seasons.

Although coming to the NBA as a raw talent, Ibaka had managed to become a starter in the Thunder rotation. He was often used for his energy in the paint, whether on defense or rebounding. In his first NBA season, Ibaka played 18.1 minutes per game in 73 games, averaging 6.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game. His blocks average led all rookies in the 2009–10 season, and he ranked number 20 overall. In the first round of the playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers, Ibaka played in six games, averaging 25.5 minutes, 7.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game. His seven blocks during Game 2 were a record, and Ibaka became the youngest player to have seven blocks in a playoff game.