Serge Ibaka wants to play for Spain in the 2016 Olympics – NBA News
As Serge Ibaka made his way to the 2012 London Olympics as part of the Spanish National Team, he was expected to play a critical role in the success of the Spanish squad. If there was one team that could have defeat the mighty
Americans at basketball this year at the Olympics, it was Spain with their strong front court combination of Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka. The Americans were particularly short on big men after Dwight Howard, LaMarcus Aldridge and Blake Griffin were
all ruled out ahead of the tournament due to injuries.
Ibaka was, however, not fully utilized by the Spanish team and did not play extended minutes. Many basketball analysts questioned the head coach’s decision to have Ibaka on the bench even when the Gasol brothers were facing foul
trouble. After all, he was the runner up in Defensive Player of the Year rankings in the NBA this past season.
Many suspected Ibaka to retire from international basketball after the Olympics, but in an interview with Marca, Ibaka has said that he is still looking forward to playing for Spain at the Olympics.
“I don’t want to leave the National Team. I will play with Spain if they ask me to. I feel very proud about playing with Spain,” said Ibaka in the interview which was translated by HoopsHype.
Ibaka recently signed a huge contract extension with the Oklahoma City Thunder and his team are in good contention to win the NBA title next season. He is having a good time as far as NBA basketball is confirmed. The next Olympics
are four years away but it is perhaps good that Ibaka has made his intentions clear early on.
Pau Gasol will likely not be playing for the Spanish side when the 2016 Olympics come around, which will give Ibaka more opportunity to show his skills as a big man and also as a leader. His game will only improve in the next four
years as he is going to be playing for the Thunder through the 2016 season and the Thunder are in a great position right now as far as team building is concerned. They are sure to make the playoffs for the next few seasons, which will help Ibaka improve his
skills.
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