What is Serge Ibaka's Net Worth?
Serge Ibaka is a Congolese-Spanish professional basketball player who has a net worth of $50 million. Serge Ibaka was born in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo in 1989. He is the third youngest of 18 children. Both of Serge's parents were basketball players, with his father playing for the Congolese national team, and his mother playing for the Democratic Republic of Congo. Serge used playing basketball to escape his pain due to his mother's young death and his father being imprisoned. At 17 Serge moved to France and then moved to Spain. He won an MVP award at Reebok Eurocamp in 2008 where he became noticed by NBA scouts.
Serge Ibaka was drafted 24th by the Seattle SuperSonics in 2008. Ibaka was only the second player from the Republic of Congo to be drafted into the NBA (Dikembe Mutombo). It was agreed that Ibaka would stay in Europe and he played for three years with Ricoh Manresa in Spain. He joined the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2009. Ibaka is commonly referred to as Serge Iblocka for his mastery of blocking shots. Ibaka chose to play for the Spanish national team and won a silver medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Contracts and Career Earnings
During his career, Serge Ibaka has earned over $120 million, with his substantial income primarily derived from his contracts with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Toronto Raptors, and Los Angeles Clippers.
He played for the Thunder from 2009 to 2016 and signed a four-year, $49 million contract extension with the team in 2012. After his time with the Thunder, Ibaka was traded to the Orlando Magic in 2016 and later to the Toronto Raptors in 2017. In 2017, Ibaka signed a three-year, $65 million contract with the Raptors, contributing to the team's 2019 NBA Championship victory. Following his successful tenure with the Raptors, Ibaka signed a two-year, $19 million deal with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2020.
Early Life
Serge Ibaka was born on September 18, 1989 in Brazzaville in what was then the People's Republic of the Congo. He is the third youngest of 18 children; both of his parents were basketball players. Due to this, Ibaka began playing basketball at a young age, first with the club Avenir du Rail. The sport helped him deal with the death of his mother and the imprisonment of his father during the Second Congo War.
Career Beginnings
Ibaka made his senior team debut with Avenir du Rail. He went on to join rival club Inter Club, which he admired for providing meals and sneakers to its players. On the Inter senior team, Ibaka played in the 2006 FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup, where he led all teams in rebounds. The next year, he moved to France and played with a second-division team. Ibaka then moved to Spain, where he joined the club L'Hospitalet. In 2008, he played in a number of international showcases and earned an MVP award at the Reebok Eurocamp. This drew the attention of NBA scouts. Ibaka was subsequently chosen by the Seattle SuperSonics, soon renamed the Oklahoma City Thunder, in the 2008 NBA draft. After the team agreed to keep Ibaka in Europe, Ibaka signed with the Spanish club Manresa.
Oklahoma City Thunder
In the summer of 2009, the Oklahoma City Thunder bought out Ibaka's deal with Manresa and signed him to a two-year contract. During his first season with the Thunder, he played 73 games and averaged 6.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. The team went on to the playoffs, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers. Due to the 2011 NBA lockout, Ibaka signed with Real Madrid with an option to return to the NBA after the lockout. He played six games in Spain before returning. In early 2012, Ibaka posted his first triple-double. Moving on to the Western Conference Finals, the Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs and advanced to the NBA Finals. Ultimately, the team fell to the Miami Heat. After the season, Ibaka signed a four-year deal with the Thunder.
In the 2012-13 season, Ibaka increased his scoring average to 13.2. He helped the Thunder make it to the playoffs, where the team lost to the Memphis Grizzlies. The following season, Ibaka averaged career highs of 15.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. In early 2015, he recorded a career-high 22 rebounds in a victory over the Dallas Mavericks. Ibaka played his final season with the Thunder in 2015-16.
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Orlando Magic
Ibaka was traded to the Orlando Magic in June of 2016. He made his debut in the team's season opener in late October, scoring 14 points and posting seven rebounds. The next month, Ibaka scored a career-high 31 points and made a game-winning baseline jumper in a win over his former team, the Thunder.
Toronto Raptors
In early 2017, Ibaka was traded to the Toronto Raptors. His best season with the team was in 2018-19. Early in the season, he posted a new career high of 34 points in a victory over the Lakers. Ibaka went on to record six straight double-doubles. He helped lead the Raptors to the NBA Finals, where they defeated the Golden State Warriors in six games to clinch the championship.
Los Angeles Clippers
Ibaka signed with the Los Angeles Clippers in late 2020. On the team, he was reunited with his former Raptors teammate Kawhi Leonard, with whom he won the NBA championship the prior year.
Milwaukee Bucks
Ibaka was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in early 2022. Early the next year, the two parties agreed for Ibaka to be traded, and he was subsequently traded to the Indiana Pacers. However, he was waived by the team two days later.
International Playing
On the international stage, Ibaka first represented the Republic of the Congo national team. Later, after gaining Spanish citizenship, he played on the Spanish national basketball team. With the team, he won the gold medal at EuroBasket 2011 and the silver at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Personal Life
Ibaka has been in romantic relationships with several women over the years, including Hedisa Visapa, singer-songwriter Keri Hilson, and Angela Simmons. Ibaka has a daughter who was born shortly after he left the Republic of the Congo as a teenager; they met for the first time when she was five.
Beyond basketball, Ibaka is an amateur chef. He has a cooking series on YouTube called "How Hungry Are You," in which he refers to himself as Mafuzzy Chef and serves various delicacies to his teammates.
