After realizing NBA dream, Serge Ibaka working to help reshape Africa
GRANADA, Spain – All around Serge Ibaka, the children in the Republic of Congo's capital city of Brazzaville had come clutching belief in the sudden possibilities of a basketball life. Fathers and sons marched to Ibaka on a charitable July journey back to his boyhood home, elders declaring the kids had stored soccer balls and devoted themselves to the pursuit of NBA dreams.
Beneath Ibaka's feet on the old neighborhood court, cardboard inserts once separated the holes in his shoes and the gruff, dirt surface. Now, it had been all replaced with a glistening, modern court. Above Ibaka, bent rims and hollowed-out backboards had been transformed into FIBA-standard goals.
Back to present a transformed court on this summer day, back to play a part in the refurbishing of two regional orphanages, what washed over Ibaka was a sense of how deep his roots remained, how far had he had come, how long the odds.
Ibaka's eyes were growing wide now off the lobby of a hotel lounge several weeks later, his voice rising, his cadence accelerating. For there's no Spanish gold medal in Madrid next week, no NBA championship for Oklahoma City in the States next spring, that could touch him as did a trip as a UNICEF emissary had this summer. He changed basketball in the Congo, and plays a part in shaping its future throughout Africa.
"That's one of the most amazing things for me," Ibaka told Yahoo Sports. "I feel like that I am some people's … some people's …"
Ibaka speaks five languages, but he is searching for the proper word here. It is escaping him and his eyes dart to Jordi Vila – his longtime publicist – who had been listening to this part of the conversation.
"Inspiración?" Vila says.
"YES! YES!" Ibaka declares. "I am some people's … inspiración!"
Now, Ibaka is rolling. "I tell them all: If can make NBA player, if I play in the NBA, that's means anything is possible. When I was in Congo, basketball in Congo was nowhere like today there. I didn't watch the NBA. I knew two players. Michael Jordan. Magic Johnson. Oh, maybe [Dennis] Rodman, too. Only know a few teams. That's all I know. We did not see basketball. I didn't know there was an NBA draft.
"But in my mind, I was always telling myself, one day, 'I'm going to be in professional basketball.' And I believed it. One day, I will. I believe this every day. I think about this every day. I was going to do whatever I had to do to be there. And it comes true."
The Ibaka story out of the Congo still seems so surreal: His mother dies, his father becomes a political prisoner in the civil war. His 17 brothers and sisters must make way for themselves. Eventually, Ibaka worked his way to Spain as a young basketball prospect, developed a game, earned respect and became one of the best forwards in the world. Africa has had greater players before him, including Hakeem Ojaluwon, but the continent wasn't wired to watch Dikembe Mutombo and him the way that they are Ibaka and Luol Deng now.
"Imagine this day of Twitter and social media and satellite television, the way NBA has gone global, imagine Hakeem Olajuwon and Dikembe at their peaks," Toronto president and general manager Masai Ujiri, a Nigerian, told Yahoo Sports. "If people there could've really seen the Dream winning championships in Houston, as it was happening, Africans would have gone nuts.
"But it just … happened. Those guys just quietly did their things, they're legends, but I wish there was a bigger impact. And it's not their fault. It's nobody's fault. Now, Africa has Serge and [Miami's] Luol Deng and we need those guys to do for Africa what Dirk [Nowtizki] did for Europe, and Manu [Ginobili] did for South America. And they're doing it."
Beyond exposure, Africa still needs the facilities and infrastructure to development its best athletes. Ujiri is dedicating a personal foundation to that pursuit and Ibaka and Deng have long been engaged in the mission too. If Deng's proud and accomplished heritage has come under a disgraceful scrutiny this week because of the Atlanta Hawks fiasco, Ibaka gives the Congo and Africa a World Cup of Basketball stage to reaffirm the kind of character and toughness and talent that comes out of those lands.
Everyone who has played and worked with Ibaka in Oklahoma City will tell you there's no better teammate, no one as fiercely loyal as Ibaka. In Kendrick Perkins' experiences, only Kevin Garnett could compare in the locker room, Perkins told Yahoo Sports.
When Thunder physicians told Ibaka he would be lost for the Western Conference finals – perhaps two months – with a calf injury, he refused to recognize the prognosis. Rehab the tear, push through the pain and I'll see everyone in Game 3.
"To myself, I say, 'I don't feel nothing that says I'll wake up tomorrow and be done [for the season]," Ibaka says. "All my life, I believe what my mind tells me; what my heart tells me. All the way back to Congo, it has worked for me. I'm going to have this life, I have this life. And … hey … it's working! So why this time, I'm not going to trust that? I'm going to keep trusting that. My heart and my mind were telling me, don't believe that."
Soon, his body followed, and the forward that the Spurs coach Gregg Popovich calls the best defensive player in the NBA found his way back into the playoffs. This is so much why they love him with the Thunder, a selflessness that's transcended to the Spanish team.
After becoming a naturalized citizen, Ibaka's been willing to play a secondary role to the Gasol brothers – Pau and Marc – on the national team, the way he does Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook with Oklahoma City. Spain plays with a tremendous chemistry, the biggest threat to beat the United States in a long, long time.
Nevertheless, Ibaka is a truth teller, and laments nothing of the NBA's Most Valuable Player bailing on Team USA in the World Cup of Basketball.
Miss Durant in the tournament?
"No, no, no. No … nobody wants to play against Kevin," Ibaka says. "Who wants to play against him? Hell no. I saw in the Americans final in [2010] Turkey. Every time he take a shot, people start crying. No … no … no.
"Every time he got ball, people are saying, "Nooooo … Noooo…"
Ibaka rolls back his head and laughs again.
"Nobody want to play against him!"
Oklahoma City has always been ideal for Ibaka, because it gave him a sense of belonging, community, that he hadn't always had in his nomadic life. Nearing the beginning of the third season in his five-year, nearly $50 million-plus contract, Ibaka wants to play with Durant for the long run, but understands like everyone else the growing burden to deliver a championship in Oklahoma City. Existing within the countdown to Durant's 2016 free agency will take a toll on Oklahoma City, especially with Durant so far so eager to explore the market.
"He's a grown man," Ibaka says. "He runs his life. But one thing I know about Kevin. He likes to win. No matter what. That's the one thing I know: He likes to win. That's for sure.
"Of course, I think it's too early to talk about Kevin staying or going. It's going to distract people. It's going to distract the team. He's got two more years. Let's [talk] when the time comes, and we are going to see. It's too early. We have to work to do. We have things to do as a team."
From Madrid this week to Oklahoma City next season, Serge Ibaka leaves the summer with a most important reminder: He's playing for so much, playing for so many more. Sometimes, it is good to go home and remember: Inspiración, it is everywhere.
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