Player Bio

Silva was born Sep. 19, 1996 in Libreville, Gabon. His full name is Obame Correia Silva Junior Christopher. He has three brothers and was raised by his paternal grandparents until moving to New Jersey when he was 15 years old. His father was a 6-foot-11 center on the Gabonese National team, while his mother was a track star. Silva, who speaks English, French and Portuguese, graduated from South Carolina with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies while majoring in Integrated Information Technology. His hobbies include video games and spending time around water after growing up on the beach in Gabon where he swam and surfed. Silva is a fan of Barcelona and played soccer until he was 12 years old. Follow him on Twitter @SilvaObame. Silva was named to both the 2017-18 and 2018-19 All Southeast Conference First Team. Furthermore, the Libreville, Gabon native was named the SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year. He helped lead South Carolina to the 2017 NCAA Final Four before losing to Gonzaga. In his senior year, he was second in free throws (163) and free-throw attempts (219), fourth in blocks per game (1.9) and fifth in rebounds per game (7.6) in the SEC. Silva also led the Gamecocks in the 2018-19 season in points (486), rebounds (244), blocks (62), field goals (150), offensive rebounds (85) and defensive rebounds (159). Silva went undrafted in the 2019 NBA Draft. He signed with the Miami Heat in July 2019.