Real Madrid C. F. has reached an agreement with Serge Ibaka by which the player will join the team to replace Novica Velickovic. The Oklahoma City Thunder centre will remain at Real Madrid for two months as long as there is no resolution to the NBA lockout.
Serge Ibaka (18-9-1989, Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo) is a 207 cm tall centre with a spectacular physique that became last season's top blocker in the NBA. Nicknamed 'Air Congo' in the 2011 All Star, Ibaka joins Real Madrid after playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder the last couple of years and winning the Gold Medal with Spain in the 2011 EuroBasket. He is the second NBA player to sign for Real Madrid this season.
Realmadrid.com
Serge Ibaka has been passionate about basketball since he was a child. His father and mother were internationals for the Congo and he started to make his mark when he was just 14 years old. He signed for Brazziville's Avenir du Rail in the 2004/05 season, played the African Championship with Inter Brazzaville in 2005, and participated in the Under-18 African Championship with the Congolese national team in 2006.
Ibaka signed for Barcelona side Hospitalet in 2007 as an Under-19. His performances with the team in the LEB Oro league allowed him to be picked by the Thuder in the 24th position of the NBA Draft. Before leaving for the US, Ibaka played in the ACB League during the 2008/09 season with Ricoh Manresa, scoring 7 points and grabbing 4.5 rebounds on average per clash.
The centre has been one of the Thunder's most prominent players in the last couple of years (9.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.4 blocks pg in the regular season) and helped them reach the Western Conference Finals. After becoming a Spanish national, coach Sergio Scariolo called him to play in the 2011 EuroBasket, which Spain eventually won.