Random NBA player of the day - Bismack Biyombo
Using voodoo, blood magic and unicorn tears, a random NBA player from the halls of history is chosen to have a random profile written about them. These can be either factual or just my thoughts on the player. But mostly just bullpoop.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/biyombi01.html
One of the highest paid backup centers in the NBA today, Bismack Biyombo has had a career that definitely has not gone the traditional path. Born in the Democratic Republic of the Kongo, Biyombo started to play basketball competitively at the age of 14. Blessed with terrific athletic gifts, especially for his size, he was discovered by a Spanish coach in tournament held in Yemen two years later in 2008. He was invited to move to Spain to train in a more professional environment. He made his pro debut in 2011 for Fuenlabrada in the Spanish league. While he was extremely raw, his physical profile allowed him to make plays based on energy and effort alone. Still, he was not on the radar of any NBA team.
That changed overnight at the 2011 Nike Hoop Summit. He recorded the first triple-double in the history of the event (12 points, 11 rebounds, 10 blocks) against a team featuring future number 1 pick Anthony Davis. Suddenly, Biyombo went from a projected second round pick to a surefire lottery pick. Teams where in awe of his athleticism and defensive potential, enough so that they did not really pay mind to the fact that he was easily the most raw prospect projected to go in the lottery. He was taken 7th overall that year by the Kings but he was traded immediately to the Charlotte Bobcats.
His career did not start in the most positive way, as during his rookie season, the Bobcats broke the record for the worst winning percentage by a NBA team in a single season. To put is simply, Biyombo had joined the worst team in NBA history. He spent the first 4 years of his career in Charlotte, proving to be a decent rebounder and shot-blocker but also being one of the worst offensive players in the league. In 2015 Biyombo joined the Raptors to serve as a backup to Jonas Valanciunas. While he had another pedestrian regular season, Biyombo exploded onto the scene in the 2016 Playoffs. His many loud dunks and blocks made him a household name again, with many projecting him to get a big payday in the summer. He definitely did, signing a 4 year, 72 million dollar contract with the Magic that is looking like one of the worst contracts in the league now in 2018. He spent the 2017-18 season as an average backup to Nikola Vucevic while getting paid like he was an All-Star.
Bismack Biyombo has had 2 great moments in his basketball career that have made him a lot of money. One exhibition game in 2011 got him drafted over Klay Thompson, Kahwi Leonard, Kemba Walker, Jimmy Butler and Isaiah Thomas. One great playoff series in 2016 got him 72 million dollars. If anyone ever asks why you can never trust on a single game or a single series when you are judging a player, point them towards Bismack Biyombo. Then again, a player just plays. Really at fault here are idiot GMs and owners, as they are the ones who make the draft choices and give out ludicrous contracts.
Is Biyombo an NBA-caliber player? Yes, he is. Was he worth a lottery pick? Absolutely not.
Are his rebounds, blocks and energy worth, say, 8 million annually? Yes, they are. 18 million? No. Hell no.
Has done a lot of great charity and community work in Congo and really seems to want to give back to his community.
Biyombo speaks 5 languages (English, Spanish, French, Swahili and Lingala).
Was actually born in a country that no longer exists (Current day Kongo was then called Zaire, but that is a long story).