Ibou Badji

Senegalese basketball player
Ibou Badji
No. 41 – Portland Trail Blazers
PositionCenter
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (2002-10-13) 13 October 2002 (age 21)
Dakar, Senegal
Listed height2.13 m (7 ft 0 in)
Listed weight109 kg (240 lb)
Career information
High schoolNBA Academy Africa
(Saly, Senegal)
NBA draft2022: undrafted
Playing career2019–present
Career history
2019–2021FC Barcelona B
2021–2022Força Lleida CE
2022–2023Wisconsin Herd
2023–presentPortland Trail Blazers
2023–present→Rip City Remix
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at Basketball-Reference.com

Ibou Dianko Badji (born 13 October 2002) is a Senegalese professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Rip City Remix of the NBA G League.

Early life and career

In 2017–18, Badji trained with NBA Academy Africa in Saly, Senegal, where he emerged as one of the best prospects in his age group.[1] By the time he turned 15 years old, he stood about 2.16 m (7 ft 1 in) with a 2.29 m (7 ft 6 in) wingspan.[2] On 27 December 2018, Badji signed with Spanish basketball club FC Barcelona and began playing for its youth sections.[3] In December 2019, he played for U18 FC Barcelona at ANGT Valencia, where he averaged eight points, 8.8 rebounds and five blocks per game.[4]

Professional career

Barcelona (2019–2021)

To prepare for the 2019–20 season, Badji trained with the first team of Barcelona.[5] He spent much of the season playing for FC Barcelona B, the club's reserve team, in the third-tier LEB Plata. On 26 October 2019, Badji had a season-high 12 points, nine rebounds and five blocks in an 86–77 win over Prat.[6] On 18 January 2020, he recorded eight points and a season-high eight blocks in an 88–80 victory over Prat.[7]

Força Lleida (2021–2022)

On 4 October 2021, Badji signed with Força Lleida CE of the LEB Oro.[8]

Wisconsin Herd (2022–2023)

After going undrafted in the 2022 NBA draft, on 3 November 2022, Badji was named to the opening night roster for the Wisconsin Herd after signing an Exhibition 10 contract.[9]

On 18 November 2022, the Portland Trail Blazers announced that they had signed Badji to a two-way contract.[10] On 7 March 2023, he underwent surgery on his left knee and was ruled out for at least eight weeks, thus missing out on playing the rest of the season.[11]

On 6 July 2023, Badji signed another two-way contract with the Trail Blazers,[12] but was waived on 24 October.[13] Six days later, he returned to the Herd.[14][15]

Portland Trail Blazers (2023–present)

On 22 November 2023, Badji signed another two-way contract with the Portland Trail Blazers.[16] On 26 December 2023, Badji made his NBA debut for the Trail Blazers in a 130–113 win over the Sacramento Kings[17] and two days later, he put up 7 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks in 14 minutes of action in a 118–105 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.[18]

National team career

Badji represented Senegal at the 2019 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup in Heraklion, Greece. He averaged 6.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game, which ranked second in the tournament, as his team finished in 15th place.[19]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

NBA

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2023–24 Portland 22 1 10.3 .636 — .500 2.3 .6 .1 .9 1.5
Career 22 1 10.3 .636 — .500 2.3 .6 .1 .9 1.5

References

  1. ^ "El Barça ficha al 'rey del mate' senegalés de 16 años y 2,18". Sport (in Spanish). 27 December 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  2. ^ Givony, Jonathan (28 December 2017). "Inside the NBA Academy and what it means for future prospects". ESPN. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  3. ^ "El Barcelona ata al 'anti-Tavares' del futuro forjado por la NBA: 16 años y 2,16 metros". Marca (in Spanish). 28 December 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  4. ^ Domínguez, Juan (27 December 2019). "Primera jornada del ANGT de Valencia: Roko Prkacin, Alonso Faure…". Fullbasket (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  5. ^ "Fc Barcelone : Le jeune Ibou Badji avec l'équipe première". Le Quotidien (in French). 29 August 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Espagne – LEB Plata : Brancou Badio et Ibou Badji décisifs avec le Barça". Basketsenegal (in French). 28 October 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  7. ^ "8 tapones con el filial del Barça para Ibou Badji: te lo presentamos". Gigantes del Basket (in Spanish). 18 January 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  8. ^ "Ibou Badji joins Lleida". Eurobasket. 5 October 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  9. ^ "Wisconsin Herd Announces 2022-23 Opening Day Roster". oursportscentral.com. 3 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  10. ^ "Portland Trail Blazers Sign Ibou Badji to Two-Way Contract". NBA.com. 18 November 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  11. ^ "IBOU BADJI INJURY UPDATE". NBA.com. 7 March 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  12. ^ "Trail Blazers Re-Sign Ibou Badji And John Butler Jr. To Two-Way Contracts". NBA.com. 6 July 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  13. ^ "Trail Blazers Sign Duop Reath to Two-Way Contract". NBA.com. 24 October 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  14. ^ "WISCONSIN HERD ANNOUNCE 2023 TRAINING CAMP ROSTER". NBA.com. 30 October 2023. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  15. ^ Owczarski, Jim (30 October 2023). "Drew Timme, Alex Antetokounmpo, Glenn Robinson III headline the Wisconsin Herd camp roster". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  16. ^ "Trail Blazers Re-Sign Ibou Badji To Two-Way Contract". NBA.com. 22 November 2023. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
  17. ^ "Sacramento Kings vs Portland Trail Blazers - Box Score". ESPN.com. 26 December 2023. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  18. ^ "San Antonio Spurs vs Portland Trail Blazers - Box Score". ESPN.com. 28 December 2023. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  19. ^ "Five players who blossomed at U19 World Cup". FIBA. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
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