Two snaps for the Congo. Serge Ibaka – who is originally from the DRC – is on the cover of the ESPN Magazine 2014 Body Issue looking amazing as he (almost) bares it all. Catch the photos and snippets from his interview, after the click.
Oklahoma City Thunder forward, Serge Ibaka, has one of the 6 covers for this year’s ESPN Magazine Body Issue and is featured in the “Bodies We Want” section.
In his interview for the issue, he talks about his love for working out, where he gets his number from, and his childhood (looking up to Kevin Garnett and being encouraged by his dad to play basketball, not soccer). Check out some highlights below:
On returning to the court after an injury during the playoffs:
I told them, “Hell no, no surgery.” [The doctors] told me I was going to be out for the rest of the playoffs: “The MRI showed that you are bleeding a lot in your calf and you’re going to be out the rest of the playoffs.” But my heart was telling me, “You’re going to be back.”
I didn’t want to believe that God could let me down like that. I said “I’m not just going to sit back and watch the rest of the playoffs at home.” I wasn’t listening to them. They told me “This is dangerous, this is serious; you can’t play like that.” I was like, “Man, excuse me, I’m about to play. This is too early to happen to me. (1) I’m not getting surgery, and (2) Trust me, I’m going to be back to play. At least one game, at least Game 7 or Game 6 or whatever, I will play.”
God and ice. The key was God and ice. I was icing 10 times a day, every day. 30 minutes ice, 30 minutes compression, all day just like that, all day on the couch.
On first playing basketball
I remember my first moment playing basketball. It was in the Congo. I think I was like 7 or 8. My mom and dad played basketball too, so my dad was always asking me to come to see him play. So one day one of the guys who was playing with my dad, he said, “Hey, let me teach you something.” So he took an empty bottle of water and was using it as a ball and he said, “OK, take one step and do two and then jump — that’s all it is.” I went back home, and all night I was doing it. All night. That’s all I could think about. Even in the bathroom, I’m brushing my teeth and I start doing this. That’s where everything started.
I had a poster of Kevin Garnett hanging in my room. He was one of my inspirations when I was young. I was at my friend’s house — he had a lot of money, so sometimes I’d go to his place to watch some NBA action. I remember the first time I saw Kevin Garnett, I just felt something in my body: “This feels like me.” I loved his spirit and his passion. I just felt like it was me out there playing on the court.
On playing ball as a kid
My father was always pushing me to become a basketball player. In Africa, when you’re a kid, every kid loves to play soccer, and I loved playing soccer. But my dad didn’t want me playing soccer. He would joke, “C’mon, man, you’re too tall!” Then he promised me, “If you start playing basketball, I’m going to give you my jersey.” That’s one of my favorite things from my dad is his old jersey. He played with No. 9, too. That’s where I get my number from.
Our court was the street. We’d collect a lot of plastic bags that we’d put together and it would become like a basketball and we’d start shooting with it. It was expensive to have a basketball. We’d just hang some basket on the street — something we could just shoot at where the ball could go in. We used a lot of things — a tire from a bike. That’s how we would play.
