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Isaac Bonga

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Isaac Bonga
Bonga with Partizan in 2024
No. 17 – Partizan Mozzart Bet
PositionSmall forward
LeagueKLS
ABA League
EuroLeague
Personal information
Born (1999-11-08) November 8, 1999 (age 25)
Neuwied, Germany
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
NBA draft2018: 2nd round, 39th overall pick
Selected by the Philadelphia 76ers
Playing career2016–present
Career history
2016–2018Skyliners Frankfurt
2016–2018→ Skyliners Juniors
2018–2019Los Angeles Lakers
2018–2019→ South Bay Lakers
2019–2021Washington Wizards
2021–2022Toronto Raptors
2021–2022→ Raptors 905
2022–2024Bayern Munich
2024–presentPartizan
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Germany
FIBA World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2023 Philippines–Japan–Indonesia

Isaac Evolue Etue Bofenda Bonga (born November 8, 1999) is a German professional basketball player for Partizan Belgrade of the Basketball League of Serbia (KLS), the Adriatic League and the EuroLeague. Standing 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m), he began his professional career with Skyliners Frankfurt of the Basketball Bundesliga.[1] Bonga represents the Germany national team in international competitions. He was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers (second round, 39th overall) and immediately traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2018 NBA draft.

Early life

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Bonga was born in Neuwied, Germany to parents originally from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.[2][3] His father emigrated to Germany in the early 1990s with plans to move to Canada, but he instead stayed in the country and began living in Frankfurt and then Koblenz.[4][2] Bonga's older brother Tarsis plays association football for 1860 München, while his younger brother Joshua also plays basketball.[5] At age seven, Bonga began playing streetball in Neuwied, and two years later, he joined the local club.[3]

Amateur career

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Bonga is a product of Post SV Koblenz, and logged his first minutes in senior basketball during the 2014–15 season, when competing in Germany's fifth-tier level 2 Regionalliga with SG Lützel-Post Koblenz. After winning the championship with the team, and earning a league promotion to the fourth division (Regionalliga), he saw action in 24 games during the 2015–16 Regionalliga season, averaging 5.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2 assists per contest. He also represented the under-19 squad of Eintracht Frankfurt, in Germany's top-junior division NBBL.[6]

Professional career

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Skyliners Frankfurt (2016–2018)

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In June 2016, Bonga signed a four-year deal with Skyliners Frankfurt of the Basketball Bundesliga.[7] He was invited to the NBA Top 100 camp in Charlottesville, Virginia, the same month.[8] Bonga was one of the top European prospects to be picked to attend the 2016 Basketball without Borders Camp Europe in Helsinki in September 2016.[9]

Bonga made his Bundesliga debut for the Skyliners at age 16 on September 23, 2016, in an 84–55 loss to Brose Bamberg, as he played 28 seconds.[10]

Los Angeles Lakers (2018–2019)

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On May 1, 2017, Bonga signed with agents Jason Ranne and Thad Foucher to enter the 2018 NBA draft,[11] and entered the 2018 NBA draft as one of 54 international players to enter the draft that year.[12] On June 21, 2018, Bonga was selected with the 39th overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers on behalf of the Los Angeles Lakers. On July 6, the Lakers officially acquired Bonga in a trade involving the 76ers trading him to the Lakers in exchange for a 2019 second round pick and cash considerations.[13] After the acquisition, he signed a rookie scale contract with the Lakers.[14] He was assigned to their NBA G League team South Bay Lakers on October 22, after having appeared in preseason contests for the Los Angeles Lakers.[15] In his G League debut on November 3, Bonga scored 27 points in a 108–106 loss to the Stockton Kings.[16]

He made his NBA debut on December 7, 2018, playing one minute and seven seconds against the San Antonio Spurs.[17] On December 20, 2018, Bonga was sent back to the G League.[18] Bonga saw the hardwood in 22 games in his NBA rookie season to average 0.9 points and 1.1 rebounds.[19] In G League play, he tallied 11.9 points per game in 31 contests as a rookie.[20]

Washington Wizards (2019–2021)

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Bonga drives for a layup during a 2020 game

On July 5, 2019, Bonga was traded to the Washington Wizards in a three-team trade.[21] With the Wizards, he averaged 5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists per game in his first year (2019–20). In the 2020–21 season, he averaged 2 points, 1.7 rebounds and .6 assists per contest.[22]

Toronto Raptors (2021–2022)

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Bonga signed with the Toronto Raptors as a free agent on August 12, 2021.[23] He saw action in 15 regular season games and had one playoff appearance, but never broke through.[24]

Bayern Munich (2022–2024)

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On August 19, 2022, Bonga signed a two-year deal with German powerhouse Bayern Munich.[25] With the Munich team, Bonga won the 2024 German championship as well as the 2023 and 2024 German Cup championship.[26] On July 10, 2024, Bonga parted ways with the German club.

Partizan (2024–present)

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On August 20, 2024, Bonga signed with Partizan of the ABA League, Basketball League of Serbia (KLS) and the EuroLeague.[27][28][29]

Career statistics

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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  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

NBA

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Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2018–19 L.A. Lakers 22 0 5.5 .152 .000 .600 1.1 .7 .4 .2 .9
2019–20 Washington 66 49 18.9 .504 .352 .812 3.4 1.2 .7 .3 5.0
2020–21 Washington 40 8 10.8 .370 .277 .625 1.7 .6 .3 .2 2.0
2021–22 Toronto 15 0 4.6 .231 .250 .625 .5 .3 .5 .1 .8
Career 143 57 13.1 .432 .300 .759 2.2 .8 .5 .3 3.1

Play-in

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2021 Washington 1 0 5.3 .500 1.000 – 1.0 1.0 — — 3.0
Career 1 0 5.3 .500 1.000 – 1.0 1.0 — — 3.0

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2021 Washington 4 0 2.5 .000 — — — — — .2 0.0
2022 Toronto 1 0 3.0 — — 1.000 1.0 — — — 2.0
Career 5 0 2.6 .000 .000 1.000 .2 — — .2 0.4

EuroLeague

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2022–23 Bayern Munich 30 22 20.3 .391 .333 .804 3.9 1.1 .8 .1 6.4 6.8
2023–24 31 21 19.9 .439 .299 .795 4.2 1.2 .7 .3 5.8 7.2
Career 61 43 20.1 .414 .315 .800 4.0 1.1 .8 .2 6.1 7.0

Basketball Champions League

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2016–17 Skyliners Frankfurt 4 0 3.2 .000 — — — .5 .7 — 0.0
Career 4 0 3.2 .000 — — — .5 .7 — 0.0

Domestic leagues

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Year Team League GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2016–17 Germany Skyliners Juniors ProB 21 27.7 .385 .230 .695 6.2 3.9 1.2 .7 10.5
2016–17 Germany Skyliners Frankfurt BBL 15 9.0 .370 .000 .333 1.2 .5 .5 .1 1.4
2017–18 Germany Skyliners Juniors ProB 7 26.5 .458 .259 .900 5.0 3.0 2.4 .7 14.3
2017–18 Germany Skyliners Frankfurt BBL 33 21.3 .420 .343 .921 3.1 2.3 1.0 .4 6.0
2018–19 United States South Bay Lakers G League 31 28.1 .432 .344 .816 6.2 2.7 1.2 1.1 11.9
2021–22 United States Raptors 905 G League 24 28.0 .447 .297 .784 9.5 3.6 1.2 .8 13.2
2022–23 Germany Bayern Munich BBL 35 22.0 .475 .407 .750 5.1 1.7 .6 .3 8.8
2023–24 Germany Bayern Munich BBL 41 19.6 .508 .447 .786 4.6 1.7 .7 .7 8.3

National team career

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Bonga swipes the ball away from Canada's Kyle Alexander during a 2023 game

Bonga played at both the 2014 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship and the 2015 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship for the German under-16 national team.[30] In 2017, he participated in the 2017 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup with the German under-19 national team, averaging 6.6 points in seven contests[31] en route to a fifth-place finish.

In November 2017, he was named to the senior German men's national team roster for the first time in his career, to take part in the qualifiers for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.[32] Aged 18 and three months, he made his German senior national team debut on February 23, 2018, in a World Cup qualifier against Serbia, becoming the youngest German player to play for the senior team in 40 years.[33] Bonga played for Germany at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. In four appearances (four starts) at the Olympics, he averaged 8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per contest.[34]

References

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  1. ^ Timur Tinç, Von (August 7, 2017). "Basketball statt Schule". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  2. ^ a b Givony, Jonathan (September 12, 2016). "NBA Basketball Without Borders Europe Camp Top Prospects". DraftExpress. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Hein, David (January 13, 2017). "Leadership, taking responsibility atop Bonga's development list". Adidas Next Generation Tournament. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  4. ^ Hein, David (January 13, 2017). ""If people think I'm good or not, I'm not interested in that" – German talent Bonga". HeinNews. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  5. ^ "Joshua Bonga signs multi year deal with Zalgiris Kaunas". Sportando. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
  6. ^ "NBBL / JBBL – Spieler-Statistik – Eintracht Frankfurt / FRAPORT SKYLINERS". statistik.basketball-bundesliga.de. Archived from the original on June 18, 2016. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  7. ^ "FRAPORT SKYLINERS verpflichten Nachwuchs-Nationalspieler Isaac Bonga". fraport-skyliners.de. Archived from the original on June 18, 2016. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  8. ^ "2016 NBA Top 100 camp player roster". hoopseen.com. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  9. ^ "Bonga und Herkenhoff bei Basketball without Borders". Deutscher Basketball-Bund. Archived from the original on July 29, 2016. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
  10. ^ "2016-09-23 BAM-FRA". Basketball-Bundesliga. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  11. ^ Jonathan Givony [@DraftExpress] (May 1, 2017). "Jason Ranne and Thad Foucher of @Wasserman have signed elite 1999 German prospect Isaac Bonga for the 2018 NBA draft, the agency announces" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. ^ Boone, Kyle (May 31, 2018). "NBA Draft 2018: Who's staying in and who's going back to college after testing the waters". CBSSports.com. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  13. ^ "Lakers Acquire Isaac Bonga in Trade with Philadelphia". Lakers.com. July 6, 2018.
  14. ^ "Lakers Sign Isaac Bonga". National Basketball Association. July 6, 2018. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  15. ^ "Los Angeles Lakers assign Isaac Bonga to South Bay". South Bay Lakers. Archived from the original on April 18, 2022. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  16. ^ "11/03/18: Stockton Kings @ South Bay Lakers". NBA G League. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
  17. ^ "Features | National Basketball Association". National Basketball Association. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  18. ^ "Lakers' Isaac Bonga: Shipped back to G League". CBS Sports. December 20, 2018. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  19. ^ "Isaac Bonga". NBA Stats. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  20. ^ "Isaac Bonga". NBA G League. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  21. ^ "Wizards acquire Wagner, Jones and Bonga from Lakers". National Basketball Association. July 5, 2019.
  22. ^ "Isaac Bonga Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  23. ^ "Raptors sign F Bonga to contract". TSN. August 11, 2021. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
  24. ^ "2021–22 Seasons in Review: Khem Birch, Malachi Flynn, Isaac Bonga, and David Johnson". Raptors Republic. August 4, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  25. ^ "Die Bayern holen Nationalspieler Isaac Bonga aus der NBA zurück". FC Bayern München. August 19, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  26. ^ "Sieg in Berlin: Bayerns Basketballer sind Deutscher Meister". ZDF (in German). June 14, 2024. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
  27. ^ "Crno-bela simfonija: Nova energija i duh tradicije Partizana na ulasku u sezonu 2024-25". Partizan.basketball (in Serbian). August 20, 2024. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  28. ^ Petrinovic, Igor (August 19, 2024). "Partizan reels Isaac Bonga to Belgrade". EuroLeagueBasketball.net. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  29. ^ "Isaac Bonga on joining Partizan: 'It wasn't an easy decision'". basketnews.com. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
  30. ^ "Isaac Evolue Etue B. Bonga profile, U16 European Championship Men 2015". FIBA.COM. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  31. ^ "Allemagne at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017 – FIBA.basketball". FIBA.basketball (in French). Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  32. ^ "DBB-Herren: Rödl nominiert Kader – Deutscher Basketball Bund". basketball-bund.de. November 3, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  33. ^ Germany, kicker online, Nürnberg. "Quali-Überraschung: Deutschland schlägt Serbien". kicker online (in German). Retrieved February 23, 2018.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  34. ^ "Allemagne at the Tokyo 2020 Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament 2020". FIBA.basketball (in French). Retrieved August 12, 2021.
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