The Rise Of Serge Ibaka

How Toronto Or Serge Ibaka Survived Poverty In Congo And Rose To Nba Stardom

Sarah Kanbar

City Life enjoyed an exciting evening when we visited the swanky hotel and residence One King West to meet one of the city's most celebrated athletes, Serge Ibaka of the Toronto Raptors, for an exclusive. We set up our cameras and our team of stylists in the hotel's impressive Fifteen Hundred penthouse suite. Upon the arrival of "Mr. Avec Classe," the first thing that struck us was Ibaka's grand stature, at 6-10, 235 pounds and 28 years of age. Behind his commanding presence and designer gear is a compelling story of survival and hope.

His story begins in Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo, in humble beginnings a world away from the fast-paced, glamorous life the NBA power forward now lives. Ibaka's childhood of poverty and struggle would be the driving force behind his relentless motivation to succeed. Ibaka has chilling memories of his youth, in circumstances so adverse that children like himself were experiencing malnutrition and had to sell water on the streets to support themselves and their families — but often it wasn't enough. Ibaka's harsh reality was one of scarcity, at one time being homeless without a bed, food or clean water.

But amidst the hardship, young Ibaka was aware of his talents and, moreover, of the opportunities his talent opened up for him. He made a vow to himself: "The way things are right now, I need to go play basketball abroad. Until there is nothing else I can do, I will never stop trying." 

It helped that basketball ran deep in Ibaka’s blood. Both his mother and his father played for national basketball teams — his father for the Republic of Congo, his mother for the  Democratic Republic of Congo. Like most parents who see potential in their children, Ibaka’s parents encouraged him to pursue his dreams from a young age.

“My father was a big inspiration because he was a basketball player, too. He was hard on me and pushed me a little bit, but he didn’t pressure me to play, as basketball runs in our family’s veins,” says Ibaka.

Basketball served a deeper purpose as not just a sport, but also an escape when Ibaka experienced a series of losses in his life. First came his mother’s untimely death, when Ibaka was eight years old. Soon after, the brewing civil unrest in the country boiled over into the bloody Second Congo War. The family fled the city for most of the war, but on their return to Brazzaville, Ibaka’s father was arrested for straying on the wrong side of the battlefield. During his father’s year-long imprisonment, Ibaka at first lived with uncles, but then was turned out to live on the street. Eventually, his grandmother took him in.