Serge Ibaka

“I love this game. When I step on the court I'm going to compete. That's one of the reasons I work hard every day.”

“When I was 16 I took the first opportunity I had to play basketball in a different country. I flew to Europe for the first time and found myself in the small town of Macon, in France. That was the first time I lived far away from my people, from my culture. I was young and had to adapt quickly.”

“At first, I wanted to be a good player in the NBA. When I get to a team where you have one of the two best scorers in the league, I just said to myself that I needed to do something. I need to do something to help my team, something to make my name. That's where I started to focus on defense.”

“I love defense.”

“It's a long story, my life, growing up with my dad, my mom when she died, everything. I had bad moments in my life, my dad going to prison, I had nothing, and that's where I got my motivation.”

“I played football when I was a kid, it is such a fun sport to play, I fancied myself as a midfielder until I grew too tall and discovered basketball.”

“Mentally, starting the game versus coming off the bench, there are different vibes.”

“When I think about power, it's not about having money. It's about changing people's lives, changing people's moods. To me, it's a blessing to have that power.”

“In this world where we live, some people are going to love you, some people are going to hate you - that's what it is. You cannot try to force everybody to love you, it's not gonna work.”

“In life, sometimes you are up and sometimes you are down.”

“By the time I was 19 years old, I had lived in five different cities in four different countries and three different continents.”

“All my life, I believe what my mind tells me; what my heart tells me. All the way back to Congo, it has worked for me.”

“When I'm on the court, I don't smile, I don't joke, I'm not friends with anybody.”

“I didn't know there was an NBA draft. But in my mind, I was always telling myself, one day, 'I'm going to be in professional basketball.' And I believed it. One day, I will. I believe this every day. I think about this every day. I was going to do whatever I had to do to be there. And it comes true.”

“I wish I had more body parts that I could work out. If I had my way, I'd be in the gym all day. I love to lift.”

“I know people that was playing basketball better than me. If they were in the NBA, they could be All-Stars, those people. They just never had the opportunity to go play professional basketball in Europe.”

“When it's time to dress, I have to think. I have to envision myself in a certain outfit. The night before, when I go to bed, I close my eyes and start thinking about the outfit I'm going to wear tomorrow: all the colors, the fabrics, how it's going to look. It's about putting the whole thing together.”

“An hour and a half before games, I always eat fruit - a banana, an apple, and an orange - because I'm trying to get natural energy. You get natural sugars and natural energy from that.”

“I've been learning when to block shots against who I'm playing. I'm not just going to leave a shooter to go block shots.”

“I lost my mom when I was seven, and at some point in my life having food it was like a big deal for me because it was not every day.”