Ismaël Bako (born 10 October 1995) is a Belgian 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

UNICS Kazan BC UNICS () is a professional basketball club in Kazan, Russia, that plays in the VTB United League, and formerly played in the EuroLeague. On February 28, 2022, EuroLeague Basketball suspended the team because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukr ...

of the Russian

VTB United League The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...

. Standing at , he plays at the

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

position. He started his career in 2012 with

Leuven Bears Leuven Bears, for sponsorship reasons also called Stella Artois Leuven Bears, is a Belgium, Belgian professional basketball club from Leuven. The club competes in the BNXT League, the highest tier in Belgian basketball. History The team has played ...

and transferred to

Antwerp Giants Antwerp Giants, named Windrose Giants Antwerp for sponsorship reasons, is a Belgian professional basketball club based in Antwerp. Their home arena is Lotto Arena. The club plays in the BNXT League, the highest tier of Belgian basketball. The c ...

in April 2017.

Professional career

Leuven

Bako started his career with

in the

Pro Basketball League The Pro Basketball League (PBL), was the highest tier level professional basketball league in Belgium for sports clubs, clubs. In 2021, the league was succeeded by the Belgian-Dutch BNXT League. The league is organized by the Basketball League B ...

, making his debut in 2012. He was named the BLB Young Player of the Year of the 2016–17 season, after averaging 8.0 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.

Antwerp

In April 2017, he signed with

. In the 2018–19 season, Bako won the

Belgian Basketball Cup The Belgian Basketball Cup (Beker van België / Coupe de Belgique), for sponsorship reasons the Lotto Basketball Cup, is the top tier national basketball cup competition in Belgium. The tournament is played in a knock-out format, in which teams ...

with the Giants. He was named the Belgian Cup

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

. In the same season, the team reached the Final Four of the

Basketball Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL), also commonly known as the FIBA Champions League, is an annual professional basketball competition for European sports club, clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the European professional club basketball system ...

. Antwerp finished in third place after defeating

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 ...

in the third place game. Bako was named to the

Basketball Champions League Star Lineup The Basketball Champions League Star Lineup, or FIBA Champions League Star Lineup, is an annual award for the Basketball Champions League (BCL)'s top ten basketball players for each season. The Basketball Champions League is, along with the Euro ...

ASVEL

On 3 July 2019, Bako signed a two-year contract with

LDLC ASVEL ASVEL Basket, currently known as LDLC ASVEL for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional basketball team located in the commune of Villeurbanne, a suburb of Lyon, France. The club, which is the basketball section of the ASVEL multi-sports ...

of the French

LNB Pro A LNB may refer to: Sport * Liga Nacional de Baloncesto, a professional basketball league in the Dominican Republic * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol, an Argentine basketball league * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (Paraguay), Liga Nacional de Básquetb ...

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 ...

. He averaged 3.8 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. On 12 June 2020 he re-signed with the team for an additional season. During the 2020-21 season Bako averaged 5.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. He parted ways with the team on 11 July 2021.

Baxi Manresa

On 24 July 2021 Bako signed a two-year deal with

Baxi Manresa Baxi is a manufacturer and distributor of domestic and commercial water and space heating systems, based in Warwick, England. It is a subsidiary of European group BDR Thermea. Baxi employs 6,400 people throughout Europe, with a turnover ex ...

of the Spanish

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

. On 5 September 2021 he won the Catalan League and won the MVP of the competition.

Virtus Bologna

On 13 July 2022 Bako signed with

Virtus Bologna Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...

of the

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club (sport), club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball ...

and the

. On 29 September 2022, after having ousted

Olimpia Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

in the semifinals, Virtus won its third Supercup, defeating 72–69

Banco di Sardegna Sassari Polisportiva Dinamo, commonly known as Dinamo Sassari and currently known as Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari for sponsorship reasons, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Sassari, Sardinia. They are the 2018–19 FIBA Euro ...

and achieving a back-to-back, following the 2021 trophy. However, despite good premises Virtus ended the EuroLeague season at the 14th place, thus it did not qualify for the playoffs. Moreover, the team was defeated in the

Italian Basketball Cup The Italian Basketball Cup (Italian: Coppa Italiana di Pallacanestro), or Coppa Italia, is an annual professional basketball competition between pro clubs from the Italian Basketball League (LBA). It is Italy's first-tier cup competition, and is ...

final by

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

. In June, after having ousted 3–0 both Brindisi and Tortona, Virtus was defeated 4–3 by Olimpia Milan in the national finals, following a series which was widely regarded among the best in the latest years of Italian basketball. On 25 August 2023 Bako parted ways with the Italian powerhouse.

National team career

Bako has been a member of the Belgian national basketball team since 2016. At 21, Bako was the youngest member of the squad that played at

EuroBasket 2017 EuroBasket 2017 was the 40th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe and held between 31 August and 17 September 2017. Beginning from 2017, the continental championships take place every four years with a similar ...

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2",

ASVEL ASVEL Basket, currently known as LDLC ASVEL for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional basketball team located in the commune of Villeurbanne, a suburb of Lyon, France. The club, which is the basketball section of the ASVEL multi-sports ...

, 24 , , 2 , , 11.0 , , .508 , , , , .818 , , 2.1 , , .3 , , .3 , , 1.0 , , 3.8 , , 4.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, 27 , , 3 , , 14.4 , , .600 , , , , .878 , , 3.6 , , .4 , , .5 , , .8 , , 5.6 , , 7.4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

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

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, 34 , , 0 , , 15.5 , , .670 , , , , .877 , , 2.6 , , .4 , , .5 , , .6 , , 6.1 , , 6.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 85 , , 5 , , 13.9 , , .606 , , , , .865 , , 2.8 , , .4 , , .5 , , .8 , , 5.3 , , 6.5

Personal life

Bako was born in Belgium to a Beninese father and Belgian mother.

Awards and accomplishments

Club

;Manresa *

Lliga Catalana de Bàsquet The Catalan Basketball League, more commonly known as ''Lliga Catalana'', is the regional preseason professional basketball competition that has been organized by the Catalan Basketball Federation since 1980, in Catalonia, Spain. Nowadays, only t ...

: (2021) ;ASVEL *

: (

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 ...

) *

French Cup The Coupe de France (), also known in English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is ...

: (2021) ;Antwerp Giants *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

: (

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

)

Individual

Final MVP: (2021) * All-Champions League First Team: (

) * Belgian Cup MVP: (2019) * Belgian League Young Player of the Year (

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

)

References

External links

Ismael Bako
at thisisbasketball.be {{DEFAULTSORT:Bako, Ismaël 1995 births Antwerp Giants players ASVEL Basket players Bàsquet Manresa players BC UNICS players Belgian expatriate basketball people in France Belgian expatriate basketball people in Italy Belgian expatriate basketball people in Russia Belgian expatriate basketball people in Spain Belgian men's basketball players Belgium national basketball players Belgian people of Beninese descent Centers (basketball) Leuven Bears players Liga ACB players Living people Sportspeople from Leuven Virtus Bologna players 21st-century Belgian sportsmen