Christian Koloko

Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers have re-signed center Christian Koloko to a two-way contract.

Koloko (7’0”, 230) returns to the Lakers as a two-way player after appearing in 37 games in 2024-25, averaging 2.4 points and 2.5 rebounds in 9.2 minutes. In 95 career NBA games (19 starts) across two seasons with the Lakers and Toronto Raptors (2022-23), the 25-year-old has averaged 2.9 points and 2.8 rebounds in 12.0 minutes.

Koloko was selected 33rd overall in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft by Toronto. A native of Cameroon, he moved to the United States in 2017 and played three collegiate seasons (2019-22) at the University of Arizona.

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Lakers Re-Sign Center Christian Koloko to Two-Way Contract

Mike Trudell

Born and raised in Douala, Cameroon, Christian Koloko is just the 7th NBA player from his native country, and 90th in the history of the league from the continent of Africa.A soccer player as a child like most kids from his part of the world, Koloko didn’t start playing basketball until he was 12.But after being spotted as a teenager, he was invited to participate in Basketball Without Borders in South Africa, exposure that eventually brought him to California for two years of high school basketball, then to the University of Arizona. In 2022, Toronto drafted him with the 33nd pick, and two years later, the Lakers signed the 7'1" center to a two-way contract this past fall.Below is a conversation with Koloko about growing in up Africa, and making the massive transition to the United States to pursue a dream:MT: I know that soccer is the main sport in Cameroon, and assume that was your first athletic experience?Koloko: Yeah, I played soccer basically my whole life. Back then, I wasn't aware of basketball, it was only soccer. Legends like Samuel Eto'o*… MT: Of course, the great striker* was also from Cameroon, right! Eto'o was at Barcelona when you were just a little kid, yeah?Koloko: Yes, from Douala, actually! Lionel Messi is my favorite player, but Eto'o was the one who made me start watching FC Barcelona, and then I picked up Messi. Growing up in Cameroon, everybody starts playing soccer in the street when you're two or three years old. You want to be one of those guys like Eto'o. *Eto'o scored 293 goals for the biggest clubs in the world, like F.C. Barcelona and Inter Milan, and 56 for the Cameroon National Team.

MT: When did you start becoming familiar with the African basketball players like Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigeria), Dikembe Mutumbo (Congo) and eventually Joel Embiid and Pascal Siakam (both Cameroon)?Koloko: Right, and also Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, he's from Cameroon and has a camp every summer in Cameroon, and he's the one who brought Siakam and Embiid to the U.S.; growing up and seeing those guys make it to the NBA opened up the eyes to everybody else, and we started taking basketball more seriously and watching more basketball.MT: What was it like growing up in Cameroon*?Koloko: It's fun. I come from a good family. I have four big sisters, I'm the only boy. Coming back from school, we just played with friends, played outside, played soccer all day. We would play for four or five hours every day and not get tired. I had a pretty good time in Cameroon.*The population of Cameroon is roughly 30 million, ranking 52nd in the world, and it’s the 54th largest by area.MT: OK wow, four older sisters. Names? And parents?Koloko: Stephanie, Claude, Kelly and Manuella. My dad is Jean-Paul and my mom Henreette. MT: Fair to assume you speak French?Koloko: Yeah, in Cameroon we speak French and English, but I come from the French part. It's more than 80 percent French, only one or two regions that speak English.MT: And then there are local dialects, maintained through a long period of colonization?Koloko: Yeah, more than 200 dialects. Mine is called Fefe. That's in the western part of Cameroon. I think it was the Germans that came first, then the French, then the English. Growing up in school, we learned a lot about it, and why we're speaking French and English. Now we're just trying not to make the same mistakes the older generations made, and try to have a better future for the country.MT: What is a difference between your home of Douala and the capital, Yaoundé? What's the climate like? Koloko: Douala is the economic capital, and Yaoundé is the political capital. We have basically two seasons, a rainy season for 5-6 months, and a sunny season where it's really hot and humid. Where I'm from, we're by the ocean*. It's mostly people from Cameroon, but there are a lot of French people. There are Chinese people there now because they have contracts with (mining, natural resource businesses).*Cameroon is in Central Africa, with the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Nigeria to the north and west, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea to the south, and Chad to the northeast.

MT: OK, so with your four older sisters, were any of them athletes?Koloko: Nope, none of them were athletes.MT: You're listed at 7'1". Imagine your parents are tall?Koloko: No. My dad is probably 5'11", and my mom about 5'7". But both of my granddads were pretty tall. Not as tall as me, but that's probably where I got it from. I'm the tallest in the family, for sure. MT: As you’re growing up, how good were you at soccer? Did your height start to become an issue early and eventually push you towards hoops?Koloko: Yeah I was good, but I didn't feel like I’d go professional in soccer – I was too tall for that. There are no soccer players that are seven feet…MT: Peter Crouch is the tallest, right, and he was 6'7"…Koloko: Right. So I loved soccer and played every day, but I was never thinking about becoming a professional athlete at all.MT: Now, we do have some really notable examples of NBA players that benefitted from playing soccer growing up. Hakeem, Steve Nash, Kobe...The footwork really seems to translate. Koloko: Yeah for sure.MT: So how does your pivot to basketball start?Koloko: I started playing basketball when I was 11 or 12, but it was just every two weeks, a fun weekend activity. At the same time, I was still playing soccer every day. But then when I turned 15, that's when I really started taking basketball seriously. At 16, I had a chance to go to Basketball Without Borders in South Africa. That's what really opened my eyes. There were NBA coaches and players there, and I had a bunch of offers to play high school basketball in the USA. I felt like I had the talent, and I just had to take advantage of it and use it. MT: My understanding is there aren't many indoor basketball facilities in Cameroon. Can you describe your early days of playing?Koloko: There are only a couple indoor facilities, and they weren't hardwood courts like here. They were cement. I went to a really good school, and we had a pretty good gym, but it wasn't hardwood. There is only one hardwood arena in the whole country, and it was in the capital, where the national team plays and all that. We didn’t have access to that. We were just playing outside, and the courts were really bad. The hoops sometimes were inclined or crooked. One side might be regular height, the other side might be taller or shorter. We had to play around those (circumstances). Sometimes we had to play in the rain, which is dangerous. Sometimes you wait for the rain to stop, and then you have to wipe the floor, and then start playing – the first 10 minutes you're still sliding around until it dries. I think that's what made it even more beautiful. It was more fun, and I think when you see all the African kids that comes here, it's made us very grateful for what we have here in America.

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Christian Koloko Childhood Basketball

MT: As you mentioned, you got picked to go to Basketball Without Borders. How did that invitation come about?Koloko: There was a coach in Cameroon, Francois Eyengue – he was actually with the Spurs for Summer League this summer – that (spotted me). We had a national championship, and he was supervising the players and scouting, and seeing who deserved to go. You have to be under 18 to go, so he was looking at the best players, and if you have the profile. You were tall, you were playing good in the local championship … then you have a chance. So he approached my family. MT: How did they respond?Koloko: At first my parents didn't want me to go. They said, 'No, you're not going.' But eventually, when they allowed me to go, it was because of my sister, Stephanie. She lives here in Los Angeles, where she first moved in 2006. My parents said if they wanted me to go to South Africa, my sister had to come with me. She said she would, and she flew from LA to South Africa, and I was competing against the best talents in Africa. I ended up on the All-Star team over there, and that really opened my eyes that I could play at a high level. Even though the high level in Africa isn't the same as it is here in the US, but for my first time leaving my country, and playing against all the young guys, the way I was competing and playing made me believe that if I took basketball seriously, I could get somewhere with it. MT: When you started playing in Cameroon, do you have school teams? Clubs?Koloko: I started playing at a club, called Ecole de Basket, which means school of basketball in French. MT: And that’s where you were when Coach Eyengue said 'Who's this kid?!'Koloko: Right. But I also remember, Luc Richard Mbah a Mouté had his camp every year, and there was a pre-selection for it where I played. He was picking guys that would be a part of the actual camp. I think he was with the Clippers at the time, and they didn't make the playoffs, so he came early and was making his selections. He was going to every city and picking five players. And now, every time I see him, I say, "Man you didn't pick me!"MT: Oh really?Koloko: Yeah he didn't pick me! But I understand, because I was 14, going against kids that were mostly 17. (Mbah a Mouté) just laughs about it now. He was also at Basketball Without Borders, and when he saw me there, he'd say 'I remember you from my pre selection!' And I'd say, 'Yeah but you didn't pick me!' That's the beauty of it, now that I'm (in the NBA).MT: So you’re playing well in South Africa. What happens next?Koloko: My sister had coaches approaching her saying they thought I had a chance to get a basketball scholarship to a high school if I came to the United States. I had a bunch of offers from Texas schools, but my mom was like, 'No, if you're going to the U.S., you're going to live with your sister.' So my sister looked up all of the schools that were around her in California, and she sent random emails to coaches. She actually told them that I was 6'4", because she didn’t know how tall I was.MT: Wow, seriously?Koloko: Yes, so she sent a picture of me and a video, and one of the first coaches who answered – probably like 10 minutes after she sent the e-mail – was Nicholas Halic – the coach for Birmingham High School* replied. He told my sister, 'He is definitely not 6'4"!' Then he said, 'Yes, we would love to have him here!'*In Lake Balboa, in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles.MT: That’s amazing. Your sister finds the email of this coach, and way undersells your height, and he immediately responds with a "Yes please!"…Koloko: Right, and my parents said yes, we're going to make it happen. But one thing was, even though I had other full scholarship offers, my parents had to pay for me to go to that school that year, because they wanted me to stay with my sister. So I went there for my junior year before I transferred to Sierra Canyon. 

MT: I’d love to know exactly how your sister thought you were only 6'4" at the time?Koloko: Well, she left Cameroon when I was only six or seven. So she knew I was really tall, but not exactly, because she hadn't seen me in 10 years. I was probably 6'9" or 6'10" already. MT: Makes sense. How did Stephanie end up in Los Angeles?Koloko: She came for school. She went to Long Beach State, and I think also UC Irvine? Then she relocated to LA.MT: Just to fast forward for a bit: now that you play for the Lakers, I assume you see her all the time?Koloko: Yeah I still live with her! So, she comes to basically every game. That was one of the reasons that I decided to come to the Lakers. MT: And do your parents come visit a lot?Koloko: Yeah, my dad actually just left last week.MT: OK let's get back to the path … what made you go from Birmingham to Sierra Canyon?Koloko: When I was at Birmingham, I was an international student, and there's a California rule where you can't spend two years in a public school. I had been playing AAU with the Oakland Soldiers with Scotty Pippen Jr. and KJ Martin, and they went to Sierra Canyon. So when I talked to them and the coaches, Scotty's dad and KJ's dad, they said that they could talk to Sierra Canyon's coach. They said, 'We need somebody like you on our team, we don't have a 7-footer.' The Sierra Canyon coach came to me and said he wanted me. So I got a scholarship, and I transferred.MT: How did you start with the Oakland Soldiers?Koloko: They recruited me, they knew my high school coach. They talked to me and my sister, and we saw that they were serious, and the plan they had for me. They were going to play in the Peach Jam, and the Nike EYBL, which is the best circuit in the U.S. So for someone coming from Cameroon to have that much exposure was going to be really good for me.MT: Birmingham and Sierra Canyon are in the Valley, but Oakland is in Northern California, of course…Koloko: We didn't practice much, but there would be a training camp for like a week. There were five us of living in Los Angeles who had to fly up there. But it's Nike, so, they would pay for it.MT: OK, now we're at Sierra Canyon. My guess is you'd already started to hear from college coaches well before then?Koloko: Yeah, actually, I kind of already knew I was going to Arizona. The coach there at the time, Sean Miller, came to a bunch of my Birmingham games because he was recruiting Devonaire Doutrive. It was actually one of my first high school games, because I had to sit out the first four months because of California rules. I started playing in January, and right after my second or third game, maybe, Sean Miller offered me a scholarship. I was surprised, I said, 'I didn't know it was that easy to get a scholarship!'MT: It's not usually! There aren't that many 7-footers who can move like that!Koloko: I remember that game I almost had a triple-double with blocks. I think I had eight blocks. Right after the game, my sister was waiting for me outside the locker room, and she said, 'This guy wants to talk to you.' They'd already told her. And I went over to him. He's like, 'Yeah I'm Sean Miller, we like your game, we want you to come to Arizona for a visit and we want to offer you.' I looked at Stephanie like, 'It's that easy?'

MT: Amazing.Koloko: It was actually kind of crazy. From there, even though other schools came, Arizona kept showing me love. Sean Miller was calling me every day, asking how I was doing, asking how my family was doing and all that. Then when I went there for my visit with my parents, they saw where I was going to live and everything, and they said if I wanted to go there, they were cool with it. I committed right there on my visit. It's the only visit I took.MT: Before we get to Arizona, what did the move to Sierra Canyon do for you?Koloko: At Birmingham we had some good players on the team, but it wasn't as good as Sierra Canyon. Everybody was D1 talent, and just in practice, I was seeing how I was getting better every day because I was going against KJ Martin, Scotty Pippen Jr., Amari Bailey, Cassius Stanley. We had five, six eventual NBA players, and I was also going against a 7'3" center from China, Harold Yu, I think he was the rookie of the year in China two years ago. So we had really good players, and that really helped me before Arizona. Because at first, we were talking about me taking a redshirt season, but then when I got there, Sean Miller said 'We don't think you need to redshirt anymore.' Sierra Canyon really helped me – we were playing a national schedule too, traveling to Boston, to Hawaii playing all the best teams around the country. MT: Setting basketball aside for a second, what was the biggest culture shock for you in your transition from Africa to American high schools?Koloko: It was really different. The biggest thing was trying to learn to speak the language. My writing was really good – I had no problem writing in English because even in Cameroon, I was taking hard English classes. But talking was the issue. When all the people were talking to me, it was really hard for me to understand. So my first year at Birmingham was just a learning year, to get my English better. I was really shy. I was scared to talk to people because I knew my English wasn't good. But when I went to Sierra Canyon, the guys like KJ and Scotty and some of my other friends really helped me. Even though they were always making fun of me, they helped me be more open. Also, the lifestyle was different. But I was lucky to move here with my sister. She helped me a lot, told me what to do and what not to do. Where to go, where not to go. MT: How many years older is Stephanie?Koloko: Like 11 years older.MT: So in some ways was she almost like a motherly figure for you? Would she cook dishes from Cameroon?Koloko: Yeah, for sure. She would make fufu*. And then braised chicken or braised fish with Cameroonian seasoning. That was really nice for me.*Fufu is a West African staple made up of boiled or pounded vegetables, eaten with various stews and sauces.MT: What's Cameroonian seasoning like? Spicy?Koloko: Most of the time it is spicy, but I don't like spicy, so you can make it without the spice. I don't know how to explain it, but it's just really filled with seasoning. We also like Okra soup. It felt like we were back home when we ate.MT: Did you guys speak French most of the time?Koloko: Yeah, French. Some people would get mad at her, saying 'You need to speak to him in English so his English gets better,' but she couldn't do it. It's hard to speak English when you can speak in your first language. It's the same for me too – if I know you can speak French, it's going to be hard for me to speak English.

MT: So you must have been happy to have Armel Traoré* here!Koloko: Yes, we speak French. I remember when I got signed, and I saw Armel, he was like, 'Thank you, I'm really happy you signed so I have somebody to speak French to!'*Traoré, an undrafted rookie from Paris, is on a two-way deal with the South Bay Lakers, like Koloko.MT: What’s the time difference from Los Angeles to Cameroon? How hard was it to communicate with your family in your high school and college days?Koloko: I think it’s eight*. The same as Paris. My mom would call me a lot. And my dad would call, but sometimes it would last one minute, like, 'Are you good? Good.' But mom would call three times a week. Sometimes it was hard because she'd wake up right when I was going to bed. Even now it's hard when she's back up, because when I want to call her she's sleeping. But I'm lucky that my parents come here to the US at least once or twice a year. *Koloko’s dad and other family members will typically wake up at around 3:30 in the morning to watch the 7:30 p.m. Pacific Lakers games.MT: All right, getting back to Arizona. You played a bit as a freshman, more as a sophomore and then really emerged as a junior, averaging 12.6 points, 7.3 boards and 2.8 blocks. What was your experience there relative to high school?Koloko: It was different. It's one of the best programs in the country, and we had the No. 1 recruiting class. After my first year, all three of the other freshman left for the NBA Draft: Zeke Nnaji, Josh Green and Nico Mannion. I was the only one who stayed. During that season was also when COVID happened, and things got shut down, and we went home. Then we came back to school, and Arizona had a self-ban, so we couldn't do any postseason tournament, and we were playing with no fans. And then after my second season, Sean Miller got fired. And then we had Tommy Lloyd come from Gonzaga, and I wasn't sure if I should transfer. But we had a meeting and he told me the plan he had for me, and he really helped me. He gave me more confidence, and that's how I took off.MT: Did you start thinking more about the NBA when you saw your freshman teammates get drafted? Or did that click in more when you started playing more and better as a junior?Koloko: From the beginning of that junior year, it was me, Ben Mathurin and Dalen Terry, we all looked at each other and said, 'Last year didn't end the way we wanted. This year is our year. We want to show people that we have a good team and we are NBA players.' We worked really hard all summer, and we were unranked before the season, but I feel like one or two weeks in, we were No. 4 in the country. By the end of the season we were No. 1. MT: Being there during COVID had to have a huge impact…Koloko: Yeah, I really enjoyed my time at Arizona, it was a really nice place. The first two years it was mostly just basketball and school. With COVID, we didn't want to risk not being able to play. We were there to play basketball, and didn't want to be in a position to not play. But the last year, we were winning games, and we might go out as a team, and we'd all be there. We had really good team chemistry. You could see it on the court, too. We were always playing for each other because we all had each other's back.

MT: You guys end up losing to Houston in the Sweet 16 that year, but a few weeks later, you hear your name called in the 2022 NBA Draft, to Toronto with the 33rd pick. Koloko: I was happy for sure. My family was happy, even though Toronto is a 6-hour flight, and my sister was still in LA. But I got lucky because I had two cousins who lived in Toronto, and they helped me to get set up. And actually, my best friend from Cameroon that I went to middle school with was living in Toronto, going to school there. That really helped me not to be by myself. Now, I had never lived anywhere that was cold before. Cameroon and LA are both hot. Arizona is hot. And then boom, I get drafted to Toronto. But I handled it pretty good, I felt like, and unfortunately it ended when I got sick.MT: How did that health scare impact you? It must have been a scary, or at least uncertain time for you, just as you'd started to realize your NBA dreams?Koloko: Yeah, it was scary at first. During my rookie season, I never quite felt 100%. When I was playing, I was always feeling like there was something going on. It never went to the point that I felt like I was going to collapse or anything, but I knew my body, and I knew there was something going on. I did all the physical tests and I was passing everything, so they were looking at me like, 'What are you talking about?' Eventually I went to see a doctor, and he thought it was asthma, and he gave me an (inhaler), and I tried it. But I know people that have asthma, and when they use the inhaler, they get instant relief, and that wasn't it for me. So I ended up finishing my rookie season, and they took me to take a chest scan, and that's when I found out I had blood clots. I remember when they told me, I didn't know what that was. So at first I was happy, that we'd found out what was going on, and we would just fix it and I'd be back playing and 100%. I remember that day I got home and went on Google, and typed blood clots and the first person that popped up was Chris Bosh. When I saw that, I was like, 'Oh, this is serious,' because that's why Chris retired. So that was a pretty tough summer.MT: For sure…Koloko: After that, I went to see a doctor, and he said I'd be good in three months, before the start of the next season (in the fall of 2023). But when I saw the doctor again in training camp, he said there were more blood clots. Then I got a second opinion, and it was the same thing. They thought maybe I wouldn't be able to play basketball again, and I feel like that's one of the reasons I got waived by the Raptors. That's when I came back here in LA, back with my sister, and we went to see some different doctors. They figured out what was going on, and I had to get a surgery. Now I'm back, but it was a tough time. You're living your dream, basically, and then boom, just like that, they're saying 'You're done.' MT: I can't imagine. All that you’d gone through to come from Cameroon across the ocean, become one of the best players in the world, only to have it taken away for a moment, not certain you could get it back. Did the procedure bring you more clarity and hope, though?Koloko: Yeah, because one of the reasons the (initial) doctors thought I wouldn't be able to play basketball was because we couldn't find the cause of the blood clots. But when they finally found the cause and I had the surgery, I was on medication for about three months, but the doctor said I'd be good after that. So we did all the testing, and there were no more blood clots, and I could get off the medication. If I were staying on the medication, I couldn't play basketball again. We figured it out, and I'm just happy and blessed and grateful to be here today.MT: So as we wrap this up here, when you get cleared, you get a call from the Lakers, and sign a two-way contract. In theory, you'll have some time to get back in game shape, play some games with the South Bay Lakers, perhaps practice with the senior squad. But at the same time, big men Christian Wood and Jarred Vanderbilt are both out with injuries to start the season. Then eight games into the season, Anthony Davis had to miss a game at Memphis at the end of a 5-game road trip. You were with the South Bay Lakers, as I recall, but flew in last minute, and suddenly were playing backup center minutes after barely practicing with the big squad…Koloko: It was actually tough, because I was working out all summer, and thought I was in good shape...and waiting for the NBA to clear me, but it took time. When they finally cleared me, I was talking with (VP of Basketball Ops and GM) Rob (Pelinka) and the coaching staff, and they asked me how long I'd need to get ready for games. They said they'd send me to South Bay training camp, and then whenever I thought I was good, to let them know. They didn't want to rush me. But then when AD was going to be out, I was just driving to South Bay practice, and Rob called me and asked if I could give the team 10 minutes in Memphis. I was like … 'Oh, tomorrow?' I hadn't even practiced with the big team once. But I said, 'Yeah for sure, I can give you guys 10 minutes.' So they booked me a flight, and I played my first game with the Lakers, no practice or anything. Then AD came back the next game, but Jaxson (Hayes) got hurt, and I had more responsibilities. I just kept getting better as the time has gone on, and I'm still getting better every week.MT: You played well in that game, too! OK last question – can you sum everything up? From Cameroon to the Valley, to Arizona and Toronto, and now the Los Angeles Lakers. How are you feeling about your journey?Koloko: I was just a kid from Douala, Cameroon. There aren't a lot of basketball players from there. It's only Pascal Siakam, the only one from my city who made it to the NBA. I came all the way here. I'm happy to be here, happy to be playing basketball again, and I just hope I have a long NBA career. I just want to show people that I deserve to be here, and get back to where I used to be. I feel like I'm still not 100%, not the same player I was before, but I can see it coming back, and I want to get back to who I was and continue to get better.

getting-to-know-christian-koloko

Getting to Know: Christian Koloko

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed center Christian Koloko to a two-way contract. In a related move, the team waived two-way forward Blake Hinson.Koloko (7’0”, 230) last suited up for the Toronto Raptors during the 2022-23 season, appearing in 58 games (19 starts) and averaging 3.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 13.8 minutes. Selected No. 33 overall in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft by the Raptors, the 24-year-old was waived by the team Jan. 17, 2024. Born in Cameroon, Koloko moved to the United States prior to his junior year of high school in 2017.He attended the University of Arizona for three seasons (2019-22). After averaging 12.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 2.8 blocks in 25.4 minutes in his final season with the Wildcats, Koloko was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, the league’s most improved player and first-team all-conference.Hinson was signed by the Lakers July 5.

Christian Koloko

Lakers Re-Sign Center Christian Koloko to Two-Way Contract

Getting to Know: Christian Koloko

Lakers Sign Christian Koloko to Two-Way Contract