Clippers’ Serge Ibaka ramping up in the G League

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Clippers coach Tyronn Lue wanted to make something clear last week: He didn’t send Serge Ibaka down to the G League.

No, Ibaka asked for the assignment himself.

The NBA champion and three-time All-Defensive Team selection did something most veteran players wouldn’t even consider: Inspired in part by a book he was reading called “Ego is the Enemy,” Ibaka told the Clippers he wanted reps with the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario.

“Sometimes, as a player, we think about what people think about us or what people say,” said Ibaka, who missed 30 games last season with an ailing back and then played in just two postseason games before undergoing back surgery in June.

This season he’d played just two games with the NBA Clippers, averaging just seven minutes, after being cleared to return before he raised his hand and asked if he could go down for a spell.

To hear him tell it on a Zoom video conference on Wednesday, it’s been a brief, beneficial ramp-up that he expects will conclude Thursday with the Agua Caliente Clippers’ home opener against the Oklahoma City Blue at Toyota Arena in Ontario. That game will start at 7 p.m., as the NBA Clippers’ game is approaching its conclusion across the country in Memphis.

“It’s kind of funny, I saw some comment, people making fun of me; they don’t understand,” said the 32-year-old multilingual, multi-talented center from the Republic of Congo, who has overcome a myriad of much more substantial challenges to make it to the NBA.

“(But) I think a lot of players can use this example in that situation, if you sit out for long. If you’re Kawhi (Leonard) or Kevin Durant or Stephen Curry, those kind of guys they can sit for three years and they’re going to come back, they’re going to give them minutes, they’re going to try to get them their confidence … but if you’re not one of those guys, one of those names out there, sometimes you have to work for yourself to go get your confidence because nobody is going to give you that.

“So, listen, if I’m (expletive) Kevin Durant I can sit out for two years and come back and I will play. If you’re Serge Ibaka you have to work your way. Nobody is gonna give you (expletive).

“It’s been like this since my first day in the league, and that’s one reason I’m still in the league after 13 years, because it helped me, pushed me to work hard.”

And Ibaka said he’d worked as hard as he could during the offseason, doing everything he could to rehab his back and prepare for this season, “to get to get myself ready, in shape, stronger, healthier.” But there was something missing, something irreplicable.

“Only thing I’ve missed is to play really,” he said. “To play basketball.”

The 6-foot-10 veteran had relished the opportunity to play the game in three outings so far with the Agua Caliente squad, averaging 26.3 minutes – and 13.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.7 blocked shots.

“There’s nothing like playing basketball,” Ibaka said of his first G League stint. “The good thing about it is I’m playing with a lot of young guys out there. Just being able to be out there helping them, communicate with them, it’s fun.

“It’s like another experience I’m learning, too, to be patient, too, because those guys – they’re still young. They still have a lot to learn about playing basketball, so it forced me to be patient at the same time, to work harder. It’s just a great experience.”

Agua Caliente coach Paul Hewitt said Ibaka’s not the only one who has gained from his time with the team.

“When it’s all over, I’ve got to thank him because he’s been great reinforcing the message that I’ve been trying to get to these young players about how to prepare themselves and how to play,” Hewitt said. “I’ve overheard him talking to them about everything from how much rest they’re getting to how they’re eating, how they treat their bodies. He’s been particularly good in the half-court situation, getting these guys to understand how they’ve got to slow down and read their defender and set up their cuts.

“He’s been a major asset for my coaching staff and I.”

Also – perhaps by example, if not design – he’s shared with them a lesson about ego and getting past it.

“I do think it takes a player to have some humility about them, because it’s not the coolest thing in the world to go run around with the Agua Caliente Clippers in New Jersey and stay in some of the hotels we’re staying in,” Hewitt said. “It’s not what they’re used to. (But) I think Serge showed me and showed – I didn’t know until this experience – he’s serious about trying to get back to where he was as a player.”

CLIPPERS (9-5) at GRIZZLIES (7-7)

When: Thursday, 5 p.m.

Where: FedExForum, Memphis

TV: Bally Sports SoCal

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