The Indiana Pacers’ forward Serge Ibaka, who recently parted ways with the Milwaukee Bucks recently, talked about his exit in an interview. The former NBA champion blamed the poor communication for whatever happened with the Bucks.
Here is all the information you need about what Serge Ibaka said in the Interview with The Athletic’s Shams Charania!
Career: How has been the NBA journey for Serge Ibaka?
Ibaka started his career with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He stayed there for 7 seasons and played a total of 524 games. He managed to average 11.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game in that span. Then he spent 1 season with the Magic and 4 seasons with the Raptors and finally spent two seasons with the Clippers before coming to the Bucks in the 2021-22 season. Now after playing 919 games and scoring 11028 points, he has made a move to the Pacers for the upcoming season.
Serge Ibaka said the issue was a lack of communication of role and minutes that led to his exit from the Bucks.
(via @ShamsCharania, @TheAthletic) @sergeibaka pic.twitter.com/9VBJiTtgDm
— Hoops Nation (@_HoopsNation) August 3, 2023
How has Serge Ibaka performed in previous seasons?
Ibaka’s out of the world stats lie a little bit about his previous seasons. He has managed to play only 70 games in total in the past three seasons. He averages only 5.9 points, 0.67 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game. His performance declined every year since the 2020-21 season along with the number of games played. The Pacers is his 4th team in the last 6 years.
How much of the Serge Ibaka situation is due to his age?
Ibaka is now 33, it’s the time when players look out for hefty sums of money to end their career on a high. The veterans are valued a lot in the NBA market but that is not the case with him. He has managed to join the Pacers but he probably would have gotten better offers if not for his decline.
Serge Ibaka voiced his frustrations with the Bucks 🗣️#SergeIbaka #MilwaukeeBucks pic.twitter.com/jZol24fFLx
— Sportskeeda Basketball (@Basketball_SK) August 3, 2023
What did Serge Ibaka say in his recent interview?
Ibaka said that he was told by the Bucks that he would not get a lot of game time and was promised nothing by the coach. Everything depended on the health of other players. But he was surprised when he was not called up after multiple injuries and blamed the management for the communication gap they left. He said that he was not able to take what was happening anymore.
It’d be interesting to see how his career rolls out with the Pacers. We’ll keep you updated.
