Ndudi Hamani Ebi (born 18 June 1984) is an English-born Nigerian former 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 who most notably played for the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) between 2003 and 2005. He initially committed to the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

, before making himself eligible for the

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

. Ebi was selected out of

Westbury Christian School Westbury Christian School is a private, co-educational, K3 through 12th grade Christian school located in Houston, Texas, United States. Westbury Christian School is open to students of all faiths, nationalities, and ethnic origins. History Pl ...

by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round (26th pick overall) of the

2003 NBA draft The 2003 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2003, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The NBA announced that 41 college and high school players and a record 31 international players had filed as early-entry candidates ...

. In 2007-08 he was the top rebounder in the Israel Basketball Premier League. Ebi was raised in Nigeria before moving to

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, as a teenager to attend high school. He holds both British and Nigerian citizenship.

Professional career

Ebi was the first first-round pick in three years for the Wolves; the team had forfeited five first-round picks after the team owner illegally made a deal with forward Joe Smith (the penalty was later reduced to three picks). After Ebi appeared in 19 games over the course of two seasons, Minnesota attempted to get an exception from the NBA so they could send him to the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of the 2024–25 season, ...

. Ebi was technically ineligible as the

2005–06 NBA season The 2005–06 NBA season was the 60th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, four games to two, to win their first NBA championship. This marked that it was the final ...

was his third year, and the D-League only accepted players who had been in the NBA for less than two years. Minnesota wanted to guide Ebi in, and they tacitly argued that Ebi was hardly a two-year veteran in the figurative sense, given his limited playing time. The league rejected Minnesota's request regarding Ebi, and to make room for Ronald Dupree, Minnesota released Ebi on 31 October 2005. That two seasons with the Timberwolves ended up being Ebi's only playing time in the NBA, as his final game was on 20 April 2005, in a 95–73 win over 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 ...

. In his final game, Ebi recorded 18 points and 8 rebounds. Ebi signed a free agent contract over the summer of 2006 with the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

. After playing five pre-season games, averaging 5.2 points per game (ppg), Ebi was waived by the Mavericks on 26 October 2006. On 30 September 2007, he signed with Israeli club

Bnei HaSharon Bnei Herzliya Basket (, lit. ''Sons of Herzliya''), is a professional basketball club that is based in Herzliya, in central Israel. The club plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top division of Israeli basketball. History The club w ...

for one season. In 2007-08 he was the top rebounder in the Israel Basketball Premier League. On 3 August 2008, he signed with Italian club Carife Ferrara, newly promoted to

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

. He later played for the Basket Rimini Crabs in Italy and averaged 15.3 points per game, 13.6 rebounds per game, and 3.2 steals per game. In March 2011, he signed with

Limoges CSP Limoges Cercle Saint-Pierre, commonly referred to as Limoges CSP or CSP, is a French professional basketball club based in the city of Limoges. History The club was founded in 1929, but its peak was during the 1980s and 1990s, when they became t ...

. In summer 2011, he signed with

Anibal Zahle Anibal Zahle () is a Lebanese sports club most known for its basketball program. It is located Zahlé, Lebanon. Its women basketball team presently plays in top division for women. Its name is derived from Hannibal Hannibal (; ; 247 – betw ...

in Lebanon and thus joined the Division 1 of the

Lebanese Basketball League The Lebanese Basketball League is recognized as the top-tier professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Lebanon. It is organized annually as a national championship with playoffs and a national cup by the Lebanese Basketb ...

. In 2012, he signed with

Sidigas Avellino S.S. Felice Scandone was an Italian professional basketball club based in Avellino, Campania. Founded in 1948, the team has been a regular in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), the first tier of basketball in Italy, for 19 years (2000/01 to 2018/19). ...

of Italy. He signed with the

Vaqueros de Bayamón The ''vaquero'' (; , ) is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula and extensively developed in what what is today Mexico (then New Spain) and Spanish Florida from a method brought to the Americ ...

in 2013. On 4 February 2014, he 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 Italy. On 15 January 2015, after playing for Egyptian team

Zamalek Zamalek ( , ''al zamalek'') is a ''qism'' (ward) within the West District (''hayy gharb'') in the Western Area of Cairo, Egypt. It is an affluent district on a man-made island which is geologically a part of the west bank of the Nile River, wit ...

, Ebi returned to Italy after signing with

Virtus Roma Virtus Roma 1960, commonly known as Virtus Roma, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Rome, Lazio. The club, named Pallacanestro Virtus Roma competed in the first division of Italian basketball, the LBA, for decades until 2020, whe ...

. On 28 July 2015, Ebi signed with Auxilium CUS Torino. On 7 April 2017, Ebi signed with Shahrdari Tabriz of the

Iranian Basketball Super League The Iranian Basketball Super League (IBSL) is a professional men's basketball league in Iran. It was founded in 1998. The current champions is Shahrdari Gorgan. The league follows the promotion and relegation system in which the worst two teams ...

. On 15 December 2017, Ebi signed with French club

Boulazac Basket Dordogne Boulazac Basket Dordogne, also known as BBD or simply Boulazac, is a French professional basketball club, based in Boulazac. The team currently plays in the LNB Pro B, the second level of basketball in France. The club plays its games in its home ...

NBA statistics

Regular season

References

External links

*
NBA.com Draft ProfileLNB Pro A ProfileSafsal.co.il Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ebi, Ndudi 1984 births Living people Auxilium Pallacanestro Torino players Basketball players from London Basketball players from Houston Basket Rimini Crabs players Black British sportsmen 21st-century Black British people Bnei HaSharon players English men's basketball players English expatriate sportspeople in Israel English expatriate sportspeople in Italy English people of Nigerian descent Sportspeople of Nigerian descent Israeli Basketball Premier League players McDonald's High School All-Americans Minnesota Timberwolves draft picks Minnesota Timberwolves players NBA high school draftees Nigerian expatriate basketball people in Italy Nigerian expatriate basketball people in the United States Nigerian expatriates in Israel Nigerian men's basketball players Virtus Roma players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Power forwards S.S. Felice Scandone players Virtus Bologna players Zamalek SC basketball players Manama Club basketball players Vaqueros de Bayamón basketball players Jiangsu Monkey Kings (NBL) players Hainan Haixiang players Byblos Club players 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen