Former Milwaukee Bucks forward Serge Ibaka is heading back to Europe. According to Marc Mundet, the 33-year-old Ibaka has signed a one-year deal with Euroleague team FC Bayern Munich in Germany.
The defensive specialist Ibaka last played for the Milwaukee Bucks. He appeared in 16 games last season and averaged 4.1 points and 2.8 rebounds in a limited 11.6 minutes per contest.
Bitter fallout in Milwaukee
In a recent interview with The Athletic, Ibaka admitted to requesting a trade over his lack of playing time with the Bucks.
“What happened for me..when I decided to leave, I felt like I got to a point where you know I couldn't take what was happening anymore,” the 6'11'' big man said in the interview with Shams Charania.
The Bucks went on to grant Ibaka’s trade request and sent him to the Indiana Pacers in a three-team deal that also involved the Brooklyn Nets before the trade deadline. The Pacers waived Ibaka after three days.
Impressive NBA career
Ibaka won an NBA title with the Toronto Raptors in 2019. He has career averages of 12.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks in 919 games (697 starts) over 14 seasons.
The Congolese/Spanish big man also had stints with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic, and the Los Angeles Clippers. Serge was the 24th pick of the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2008 NBA Draft, but he stayed in Europe to play for Manresa before joining the NBA in 2009.
During the 2011 NBA lockout, Ibaka returned to Europe and signed a two-month contract with Real Madrid alongside Rudy Fernandez. Ibaka averaged 5.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 15 minutes per game in six EuroLeague games, as he will have a chance to improve the Euroleauge stats next season.
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