Isaac Evolue Etue Bofenda Bonga (born November 8, 1999) is a German professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for Partizan Mozzart Bet of the

Basketball League of Serbia The Basketball League of Serbia (), commonly abbreviated as KLS, is a Serbian basketball league system, top-tier men's professional basketball Sports league, league in Serbia. Founded in 2006. It is currently not run by the Basketball Federation o ...

(KLS), the

ABA League The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedoni ...

and the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

. Standing , he began his professional career with

Skyliners Frankfurt The Skyliners Frankfurt, formerly known as Fraport Skyliners for sponsorship reasons, are a professional basketball club based in Frankfurt, Germany. Their home arena is Ballsporthalle. The club has played in the Basketball Bundesliga since 19 ...

of the Basketball Bundesliga. Bonga represents the Germany national team in international competitions. He was selected by the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

(second round, 39th overall) and immediately traded to the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

in the

2018 NBA draft The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including internationa ...

Early life

Bonga was born in

Neuwied Neuwied (, ) is a town in the north of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, capital of the Neuwied (district), District of Neuwied. Neuwied lies on the east bank of the Rhine, 12 km northwest of Koblenz, on the railway from Frankfurt ...

, Germany to parents originally from

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. His father emigrated to Germany in the early 1990s with plans to move to Canada, but he instead stayed in the country and began living in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

and then

Koblenz Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...

. Bonga's older brother Tarsis plays

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

for

Rot-Weiß Oberhausen Rot-Weiß Oberhausen is a German association football club in Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club was formed as ''Oberhausener SV'' in December 1904 out of the merger of ''Emschertaler SV'' (1902) and the football enthusiasts of ''Oberh ...

, while his younger brother

Joshua Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' Literal translation, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and ...

also plays basketball. At age seven, Bonga began playing

streetball Streetball (or street basketball) is a variation of basketball, typically played on outdoor courts and featuring significantly less formal structure and enforcement of the game's rules. As such, its format is more conducive to allowing players ...

in Neuwied, and two years later, he joined the local club.

Amateur career

Bonga is a product of Post SV Koblenz, and logged his first minutes in senior basketball during the 2014–15 season, when competing in Germany's fifth-tier level 2 Regionalliga with SG Lützel-Post Koblenz. After winning the championship with the team, and earning a league

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

to the fourth division (Regionalliga), he saw action in 24 games during the 2015–16 Regionalliga season, averaging 5.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2 assists per contest. He also represented the under-19 squad of

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

, in Germany's top-junior division NBBL.

Professional career

Skyliners Frankfurt (2016–2018)

In June 2016, Bonga signed a four-year deal with

of the

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the German basketball league system, highest level Sports league, league of professional club basketball in German ...

. He was invited to the NBA Top 100 camp in

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the county seat, seat of government of Albemarle County, Virginia, Albemarle County, which surrounds the ...

, the same month. Bonga was one of the top European prospects to be picked to attend the 2016 Basketball without Borders Camp Europe in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

in September 2016. Bonga made his Bundesliga debut for the Skyliners at age 16 on September 23, 2016, in an 84–55 loss to

Brose Bamberg Bamberg Baskets is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia/North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup six times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketball ...

, as he played 28 seconds.

Los Angeles Lakers (2018–2019)

On May 1, 2017, Bonga signed with agents Jason Ranne and Thad Foucher to enter the

, and entered the 2018 NBA draft as one of 54 international players to enter the draft that year. On June 21, 2018, Bonga was selected with the 39th overall pick in the

by the

on behalf of the

. On July 6, the Lakers officially acquired Bonga in a trade involving the 76ers trading him to the Lakers in exchange for a 2019 second round pick and cash considerations. After the acquisition, he signed a rookie scale contract with the Lakers. He was assigned to their

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

team

South Bay Lakers The South Bay Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, that competes in the NBA G League. Founded in 2006 as the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the team is owned by the Los Angeles Lakers, who were the first ...

on October 22, after having appeared in preseason contests for the Los Angeles Lakers. In his G League debut on November 3, Bonga scored 27 points in a 108–106 loss to the

Stockton Kings The Stockton Kings are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Stockton, California, and are affiliated with the Sacramento Kings. The Kings play their home games at the Adventist Health Arena and compete in the G ...

. He made his NBA debut on December 7, 2018, playing one minute and seven seconds against the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

. On December 20, 2018, Bonga was sent back to the G League. Bonga saw the hardwood in 22 games in his NBA rookie season to average 0.9 points and 1.1 rebounds. In G League play, he tallied 11.9 points per game in 31 contests as a rookie.

Washington Wizards (2019–2021)

On July 5, 2019, Bonga was traded to the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

in a three-team trade. With the Wizards, he averaged 5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists per game in his first year (2019–20). In the 2020–21 season, he averaged 2 points, 1.7 rebounds and .6 assists per contest.

Toronto Raptors (2021–2022)

Bonga signed with the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

as a free agent on August 12, 2021. He saw action in 15 regular season games and had one playoff appearance, but never broke through.

Bayern Munich (2022–2024)

On August 19, 2022, Bonga signed a two-year deal with German powerhouse

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

. With the Munich team, Bonga won the 2024 German championship as well as the 2023 and 2024 German Cup championship. On July 10, 2024, Bonga parted ways with the German club.

Partizan (2024–present)

On August 20, 2024, Bonga signed with Partizan Mozzart Bet of the

(KLS),

and the

. In his debut season with Partizan, Bonga averaged 7.7 points and 4.5 rebounds over 30 EuroLeague games. During the 2024–25 season, Partizan managed to lift the record eighth

championship, and the

Serbian League The Serbian League () is the third level football league in Serbia. It consists of four groups, namely Belgrade, East, Vojvodina, and West. The winner of each group earns promotion to the Serbian First League. History 1992–1995 In the summer o ...

championship, the first one after 11 seasons.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 30 , , 22 , , 20.3 , , .391 , , .333 , , .804 , , 3.9 , , 1.1 , , .8 , , .1 , , 6.4 , , 6.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , 31 , , 21 , , 19.9 , , .439 , , .299 , , .795 , , 4.2 , , 1.2 , , .7 , , .3 , , 5.8 , , 7.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2024–25 , style="text-align:left;", Partizan , 30 , , 20 , , 25.0 , , .442 , , .412 , , .933 , , 4.5 , , 1.1 , , .7 , , .5 , , 7.7 , , 9.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 91 , , 63 , , 21.7 , , .424 , , .358 , , .843 , , 4.2 , , 1.1 , , .7 , , .3 , , 6.6 , , 7.9

NBA

Regular season

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L.A. Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The Lakers play their hom ...

, 22 , , 0 , , 5.5 , , .152 , , .000 , , .600 , , 1.1 , , .7 , , .4 , , .2 , , .9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, 66 , , 49 , , 18.9 , , .504 , , .352 , , .812 , , 3.4 , , 1.2 , , .7 , , .3 , , 5.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 40 , , 8 , , 10.8 , , .370 , , .277 , , .625 , , 1.7 , , .6 , , .3 , , .2 , , 2.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, 15 , , 0 , , 4.6 , , .231 , , .250 , , .625 , , .5 , , .3 , , .5 , , .1 , , .8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 143 , , 57 , , 13.1 , , .432 , , .300 , , .759 , , 2.2 , , .8 , , .5 , , .3 , , 3.1

Playoffs

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2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

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, 4 , , 0 , , 2.5 , , .000 , , , , , , , , , , , , .2 , , 0.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 1 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , , , , , 1.000 , , 1.0 , , , , , , , , 2.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 5 , , 0 , , 2.6 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , .2 , , , , , , .2 , , 0.4

Basketball Champions League

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 4 , , 0 , , 3.2 , , .000 , , , , , , , , .5 , , .7 , , , , 0.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 4 , , 0 , , 3.2 , , .000 , , , , , , , , .5 , , .7 , , , , 0.0

Domestic leagues

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100%; text-align:right;" ! Year ! Team ! League ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , , style="text-align:left;",

Skyliners Juniors Skyliners Juniors, for sponsorship reasons Fraport Skyliners Juniors, is the reserve team of German basketball club Skyliners Frankfurt. The team is based in Frankfurt. It currently plays in the ProB, the third-tier national division. To develop it ...

, , style="text-align:center;",

ProB The ProB is the German basketball league system, third-tier level Sports league, league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 24 teams, separated into a Northern and a Southern Division. Officially, the ProB is part of ...

, , 21 , , 27.7 , , .385 , , .230 , , .695 , , 6.2 , , 3.9 , , 1.2 , , .7 , , 10.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:center;", BBL , , 15 , , 9.0 , , .370 , , .000 , , .333 , , 1.2 , , .5 , , .5 , , .1 , , 1.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:center;",

, , 7 , , 26.5 , , .458 , , .259 , , .900 , , 5.0 , , 3.0 , , 2.4 , , .7 , , 14.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:center;", BBL , , 33 , , 21.3 , , .420 , , .343 , , .921 , , 3.1 , , 2.3 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:center;",

G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

, , 31 , , 28.1 , , .432 , , .344 , , .816 , , 6.2 , , 2.7 , , 1.2 , , 1.1 , , 11.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , , style="text-align:left;",

Raptors 905 The Raptors 905 are a Canadian professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Mississauga, and are affiliated with the Toronto Raptors. Raptors 905 began play in the 2015–16 season and play their home games at Paramount Fine Foods ...

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, , 24 , , 28.0 , , .447 , , .297 , , .784 , , 9.5 , , 3.6 , , 1.2 , , .8 , , 13.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, , style="text-align:center;", BBL , , 35 , , 22.0 , , .475 , , .407 , , .750 , , 5.1 , , 1.7 , , .6 , , .3 , , 8.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:center;", BBL , , 41 , , 19.6 , , .508 , , .447 , , .786 , , 4.6 , , 1.7 , , .7 , , .7 , , 8.3

National team career

Bonga played at both the

2014 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship The 2014 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship was the 28th edition of the European Under-16 Basketball Championship. 16 teams participated in the competition, held in the four Latvian cities of Ogre, Grobiņa, Liepāja and Riga, from 20 to 30 Augus ...

and the

2015 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship The 2015 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship was the 29th edition of the European Under-16 Basketball Championship. 16 teams participated in the competition, held in Kaunas, Lithuania in two venues ( Arvydas Sabonis Basketball Centre and the legenda ...

for the German under-16 national team. In 2017, he participated in the

2017 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup The 2017 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup (Arabic: 2017 كأس العالم لكرة السلة تحت 19 سنة فيبا) was the 13th edition of the FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup, the biennial international men's youth basketball champi ...

with the German under-19 national team, averaging 6.6 points in seven contests en route to a fifth-place finish. In November 2017, he was named to the senior German men's national team roster for the first time in his career, to take part in

the qualifiers The Rugby League Super 8s are a feature of the British rugby league system. Between 2015 and 2018 they were played in the top three professional divisions. Following the completion of the regular season home-and-away fixtures in the Super Leagu ...

for the

2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 18th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams, held from 31 August to 15 September 2019. The tournament was hosted in China and was rescheduled from 2018 to 2019, b ...

. Aged 18 and three months, he made his German senior national team debut on February 23, 2018, in a World Cup qualifier against

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, becoming the youngest German player to play for the senior team in 40 years. Bonga played for Germany at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

in Tokyo. In four appearances (four starts) at the Olympics, he averaged 8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per contest.

References

External links

*
Isaac Bonga
at fiba.com
Issac Bonga
at eurobasket.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonga, Isaac 1999 births Living people 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup players Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2024 Summer Olympics FC Bayern Munich basketball players KK Partizan players FIBA Basketball World Cup–winning players German expatriate basketball people in the United States German men's basketball players German sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Los Angeles Lakers players NBA players from Germany Olympic basketball players for Germany Philadelphia 76ers draft picks Raptors 905 players Skyliners Frankfurt players Small forwards South Bay Lakers players Sportspeople from Neuwied Toronto Raptors players Washington Wizards players 21st-century German sportsmen