Just 10 years ago, Serge Ibaka became a father. Unfortunately, no one told him.
The 6-foot-10 Thunder power forward sat down with the mini-doc series, The Vertical, earlier in the season to give them a glimpse of his personal life. During the documentary, he reveals that he is a father and had only just come to know about his daughter two years ago.
Serge Ibaka was just 17 when he left the war torn Republic of the Congo to chase his dreams of becoming a professional basketball player in Europe. Shortly after his move, however, Ibaka’s ex-girlfriend reached out to his family to inform them that she was pregnant. Ibaka’s father, and the child’s mother, kept this a secret from Serge for over 8 years, fearful that he would quit his dreams and return to the Congo if he found out.
“I knew [my father] did that to protect me,” Serge Ibaka said. “When I left Congo I was young. I knew he didn’t want me to have that kind of pressure. He said to me ‘I was just doing that to protect you.'”
Serge says that when he found out he was a father, he was nervous, scared and slightly angry. Serge says the moment he met his daughter, he fell in love. He knew she was his because she was so young, yet so tall.
Serge’s daughter, Ranie, is now 10 years old and considers her father her hero.
“I wanna make sure she had a better life than I had in the Congo,” says Ibaka. You can just tell he is completely smitten with her. I love it!
