Serge Ibaka Opens Up About Lack of Playing Time
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Serge Ibaka had a very rough month of December. Ibaka was receiving his first DNPs of the season, and some of the very few of his career. He finally opened up about it for the first time after defeating the Sacramento Kings.
"It's been a very strange month for me," Ibaka said. "It helped me to become stronger. All I could do is to keep walking and stay ready. That's the only thing I could control. The only thing that's in my power and my hands."
When Ibaka first came to the Clippers, he expected to be a starter. Ibaka went from being a starter, to being a bench player, to ultimately getting DNPs because Isaiah Hartenstein's great play. It's a change he wasn't used to, nor expecting.
"Things change, you have to try to adapt to it," Ibaka said. "Sometimes, it can be a little harder when you're not used to the situations. It is what it is now. I have to try to adapt to it, push myself, and keep walking."
Unfortunately for Ibaka, all of these changes were out of his control. An unexpected back injury is what kept Ibaka away from the team for the majority of the last season, and then surgery kept him out for the start of this season. It's been an incredibly long and grueling road tenure for him. In the midst of it all, he's lost his rotation spot to younger players who have started to shine.
"I'm gonna be honest with you, when being it can be frustrating," Ibaka said. "As a coach, you try to the best you can to keep the team together, to keep the team playing the best basketball you can. As a player... I wanna play too. At the same time, it can be really frustrating. That does not mean it will stop me from being professional."
Despite all of the frustrations, Ibaka puts in work every day. He hasn't stopped showing up to practices and continues to get shots up before shootaround. He even sent himself to the G-League to get some reps in.
"Even when I'm playing, even when I'm playing in the G-League - my checks still come in," Ibaka said. "That's blessed. It is what it is. No matter what the situation is I'm going to keep working, I'm going to keep being a professional, stay ready. That's all I can control."
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