The NBA is full of touching rags-to-riches stories. Toronto Raptors forward Serge Ibaka graced the league with another one on Monday when he shared the story behind bringing the Larry O'Brien trophy all the way to a small restaurant in the Congo.
From begging leftovers 15 years ago to coming back as an NBA Champhion to eat a full meal at the same restaurant in Congo. Sometimes life is like a movie and this script is written by God only… #anythingispossible pic.twitter.com/4bBQzTRa1x
— Serge Ibaka (@sergeibaka) August 12, 2019
Ibaka grew up in poverty, as the story above suggests — he was one of a whopping 18 children. Unfortunately, his mother was killed and his father was imprisoned when Ibaka was still a teenager.
Even through all this, Ibaka continued to play basketball and hone his skills. He took the Spanish league by storm when he was only 18. Finally, NBA scouts began to take notice of the young Congolese kid with freakish athleticism and plenty of raw talent.
Ibaka was selected 24th overall by the Seattle Supersonics, which gave him the break he needed. Over seven years with the Oklahoma City Thunder, he impressed enough to be a valuable free agent. After a stop in Orlando, the man known as “Air Congo” arrived in Toronto, and the rest is history.
Ibaka played a pivotal role for the Raptors in their 2019 postseason run and deserves the trophy just as much as anyone else on the team. It's great to see the champion return triumphantly to his home country after defeating some stacked odds. Hopefully, he can inspire kids in similar situations around the world to do the same.
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