By John Denton
Feb. 5, 2017
ORLANDO – Serge Ibaka lost his mother when he was young, saw his father jailed for years as a political prisoner and witnessed his homeland in the Republic of the Congo ripped apart by war.
By comparison, the disappointment of this season with the Orlando Magic – Ibaka’s first in Central Florida after a successful seven-year run with the Oklahoma City Thunder – is miniscule.
Sure, Ibaka expected much more from this season than the 20-33 record that the Magic took with them into Sunday following a particularly unsightly loss in Atlanta on Saturday night. But bitter memories from his past help bring proper perspective to Magic losses and poor individual performances for Ibaka, 27.
``It’s life, man, and life is never easy,’’ Ibaka said in an eerily quiet Magic locker room following the team’s 13th loss in the past 17 games. ``In life, sometimes you are up and sometimes you are down. I come from zero and I’ve had to push myself up to where I am today. I’m not going to give up and I’m going to keep pushing. I’m trying to get my mindset ready for the next game.’’
Ibaka had high hopes for the Magic when he was dealt from OKC to Orlando on the night of the NBA Draft back last June. And his optimism for the Magic’s fortunes soared following a summer in which Orlando added fellow shot-blocker Bismack Biyombo and former teammates Jeff Green and D.J. Augustin around him to fortify the roster.
Usually by this time of year, Ibaka has been on teams that have been firmly entrenched in the playoff hunt and have been looking to move up the seedings. Six times in Ibaka’s seven seasons in OKC he reached the playoffs, getting to the NBA Finals in 2012 and to the Western Conference Finals last spring. Now, he’s trying to figure out where everything went wrong for a Magic squad that hasn’t even been able to string together consecutive wins in six weeks.
``I believe in God,’’ Ibaka said, when he asked how he’s dealt with the frustration of this season. ``It’s hard because I’ve never been in this position before. I know people are criticizing – media and the fans – but I’m just not going to focus on it. Sometimes (tough situations) are going to make you a better person. (Not just on the court), but also off the court because one day I’m going to stop playing basketball. Everything that is happening right now, it just helps me (learn not to) give up and to keep pushing.’’
Despite moving from a contending team in OKC to a building one in Orlando, Ibaka welcomed the change of scenery because of the new opportunities it brought him. Forced to play a subservient role to superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook for years, Ibaka welcomed the chance to show off more of his total game for a Magic team that was looking to him to be a leader.
Ibaka’s season thus far has been good, but not great – 14.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots in 52 games – for a Magic team that has been wildly inconsistent on both ends of the floor. He’s been a solid shooter – 48.2 percent from the floor and 38.2 percent from 3-point range – but not good enough to make the offense consistently elite.
Following a dominant 20-point, 12-rebound, three-block performance in Orlando’s defeat of Toronto on Friday, Ibaka had boosted his scoring average to 15.1 points per game – equal to his previous career high set in the 2013-14 season. This season, he’s getting a career-most 12.5 shots a game, but too often he’s settled for too many 3-point tries (a career-most 3.9 a game) for a Magic team that doesn’t get to the free throw line or get easy baskets nearly enough.
Defensively, he’s been Orlando’s best shot-blocker, swatting at least one shot in 37 games and at least two shots in 21 games. But his effectiveness as a rim protector and a big man who can switch onto wing scorers has been limited as foes have exploited the Magic with various small-ball lineups.
With Ibaka as the team’s anchor, Orlando rose to as high as No. 3 in the NBA in defensive efficiency in Early December. However, the Magic have been mired in the bottom five of the NBA in defense for much of the past two months.
``When you lose, when the team loses, all I can say is, it’s not about me; it’s about the team,’’ Ibaka said following a two-of-nine shooting night on Saturday in Atlanta. ``I don’t care how good you play, if the team is losing, it doesn’t matter. I’m disappointed about my season because we’re not winning the way that we want and we’re not winning the way the team was thinking (it would at the beginning of the season). I’m disappointed, but I’m not going to give up and I’m going to keep pushing to the end of the season.’’
As a teenager in the Republic of Congo, Ibaka used basketball to escape his war-torn homeland and make something special of his life. Like his parents, he became a professional basketball player – first in Spain and later in the NBA – and his struggles in life taught him how to deal with adversity.
``I’m not used to this in basketball, but in life I’ve learned that you have some ups and downs,’’ he said. ``I’ve had some good momentum in life and basketball and now it’s down. It’s OK because I know I am going to go up again. And after I go up I’ll go down again because that’s how life is. Nobody is perfect, only God is. So I’ll keep working and taking care of my body.’’
He's doing that in hopes that the Magic can somehow turn around their season and make a push to get back into the playoff race in the Eastern Conference. And he is vowing that he will not let the Feb. 23 trade deadline have an impact on his focus going forward, even though he could be in play because of his pending free agency on July 1. Ibaka said he’s taken measures to try and block out the outside noise and rumors to ensure that his mind stays on trying to help the Magic win games.
``I just delete my social media and focus on basketball. That’s it,’’ Ibaka said. ``I don’t read nothing and I focus on basketball because (trade talks are) nothing that I can control. What I can control is practicing every day hard and coming to play hard.’’
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