Oklahoma City Thunder: Serge Ibaka's competitiveness hailed - NewsOK.com (blog)

on September 11, 2012M at 4:30 pm

Serge Ibaka started talking about his new contract, and he started thinking people, and soon he was thanking everyone. It was a cool moment of humanity that belied what Serge is on the court. One competitiveness rascal.

That was the theme of Monday’s press conference, in which Ibaka, Scotty Brooks and Sam Presti chatted about the four-year, $49-million extension that kicks in next summer.

“He gets to a level of competitiveness on a daily basis that not too many people can get to,” Presti said.

I don’t know that we’ve ever completely clued in to the level competitiveness that Presti spoke of, but we absolutely can relate to this. Ibaka is one serious dude. He is serious about basketball.

“He’s a serious player,” Presti said. “He studies the game. He cares about understanding his performance.”

Presti said Ibaka’s seriousness was exhibited by his decision to stay in Europe for the 2008-09 season. Presti drafted Ibaka 24th overall, but Ibaka decided to stay in Spain that season, which was Kevin Durant’s rookie season. The franchise from Seattle to Oklahoma City the next summer, and Ibaka came over then.

Presti said such wisdom is “not normal … most guys are in a hurry to get here, get what they can.” But Ibaka has made wise decisions for such a young player (he was 19 when drafted). Rather than languish on an NBA bench or even play in the D-League, Ibaka stayed in Spain and honed his game.

“There’s a wisdom to him,” Presti said. “Maybe you get wisdom when you have 18 brothers and sisters. Maybe you’re a survivalist when you’ve had to learn languages. You don’t get through that unless you have a lot of pride.

“It comes down to this. There’s a disciplined work ethic I think he has that I don’t think you can teach. He hasn’t had anything handed to him. There’s been plenty of nights when things didn’t go his way, but that doesn’t change his approach the next day.

“There’s a competitiveness that people have a hard time sustaining. Sometimes it gets the better of him; he’ll be the first to tell you that. But that’s a hard trait to find.”

One thing that goes along with competitiveness, or maybe from where that competitiveness flows, is that pride of which Presti spoke. Ibaka if fueled from within.

“He’s very prideful,” Brooks said. “You see it from the moment you meet him. He competes every single day we ask him to compete. He gives us everything he has … failure is not an option with Serge. He’s determined every day.”

And Monday, when Ibaka was in OKC to celebrate his contract signing, he was determined to thank the people who helped him.

He thanked God first, then said, “I want to thank Sam and Coach Scotty for the opportunity. Also I want to thank Mr. (Clay) Bennett for giving me the opportunity to stay in the place that I want to be and where I want to keep working to grow like a player and a person with my teammates. Also I want to thank coach (Mark) Bryant, he is the guy I spend most of my time with, more than my dad, so for me he is like a dad here. I always tell him that and he knows that. He helped me a lot in good moments and bad moments, so he was there with me every time, like his little son.

“Also, I want to thank Will (Dawkins, a Thunder scout). I remember the first time when I got here to Oklahoma, I did not speak English and he would pick me up in the morning or afternoon, every time I want to go practice, to go eat, to go to a movie, whatever, and I want to thank him also. All the staff, thank you. Coaches and everybody for the effort in my career. This is only the beginning for my career. In this moment I really want to thank my family, my dad.

“Most importantly the Thunder fans because they are a big part of why I want to stay in Oklahoma City. I want to thank them too.

“Ayana (Lawson, a Thunder staff member), thank you for everything. You’ve helped me a lot. Flash (Michael Chatman, security), I never forget Flash. Everybody thank you. Thank you everybody who was close to me in the beginning of my career in Oklahoma City and right now. I know I still have a long way to go and I will keep working and keep my focus and try to get better and better every day and with my team.”

-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.

Thank you for joining our conversation on Berry Tramel's Blog. We encourage your discussion but ask that you stay within the bounds of our commenting and posting policy.