Serge Ibaka will play for Bayern Munich. According to journalist Marc Mundet, the player has signed a contract for next season, which Relevo has also confirmed. After two inconsistent seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks, Insider returns to Europe to provide physicality and defense for Pablo Lasso And become one of the new signings for the next EuroLeague.
In recent campaigns, the interior has suffered from physical issues over the years.A back injury late in the 2020-21 season has hindered his opportunities, although he himself admits that he is 100%. After Antetokounmpo leaves the Clippers, the Bucks give him a new path. He’s the ideal partner for the Greeks: a perimeter player with physicality, defensive ability and the ability to score from outside. But injuries and a lack of confidence in him last year didn’t allow him to take off.
Even so, he signed a one-season extension with the Bucks in July 2022. Actually, In the second half of that season, he averaged 7 points and 5 rebounds per game..He suffered needlessly to get a spot on the team last year, to the point of being transferred Travel to Indiana Pacers in February. A few days later, it was confirmed they were cutting him. He didn’t play a minute.
since then, Ibaka has not played for the team and is preparing to take a new leap in his career. His destination is the European League, where he plans to settle after a long career across the pond. Since debuting with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2009, the center has spent 14 non-stop years in the United States… save for the 2011 “lockout.”
It was during this year that several NBA players flew across Europe in order not to lose their rhythm while collective rights negotiations continued. Serge Ibaka is one of them, and he chose Real Madrid. He had some adjustment issues but he achieved at a high level.
There he met coach Pablo Laso, who now came to his rescue and teamed up with him to compete for the Euroleague title. The coach finally got ACB’s excellent defensive level from him And systems that realize their full potential on the other side of the field. Although Real Madrid want to keep him in the team, he is already a player. A core of Thunder players that includes legends like Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
More importantly, they made it to the NBA Finals that same year, but lost to the Miami Heat team of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. Since then, his career has positioned him as a defensive specialist and gradually forged more resources, such as outside shooting. In 2016, he signed with the Orlando Magic; in 2017, he represented the Raptors and won the championship of the best league in the world; in 2020, the Clippers are looking for a new elite project for the ring.
For a player who’s still eligible, it’s been a career worth remembering. Ibaka received Spanish citizenship after playing basketball in the country for many years and defending Lithuania’s EuroBasket jersey in 2011. That event was won by Spain, not the Olympics, where he won the silver medal. Since then, he has not put on the national team jersey again, but who knows if life will still give him a chance. Now he will wear Pablo Lasso’s Bayern jersey, which is a great plan.
