Boniface N'Dong (born 3 September 1977) is a Senegalese retired basketball player and current coach. Currently, he is the assistant head coach of Denver Nuggets. Born in M'Bour, Senegal, he also holds German citizenship.
 N'Dong with Unicaja Málaga in 2009 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 3 September 1977 M'Bour, Senegal |
| Nationality | Senegalese / German |
| Listed height | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) |
| Listed weight | 245 lb (111 kg) |
| Career information | |
| NBA draft | 1999: undrafted |
| Playing career | 1999–2013 |
| Position | Center |
| Number | 22 |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 1999–2000 | SpVgg Rattelsdorf |
| 2000–2002 | TSV Tröster Breitengüßbach |
| 2002–2003 | TSK uniVersa Bamberg |
| 2003–2005 | Dijon Basket |
| 2005–2006 | Los Angeles Clippers |
| 2006–2007 | Spartak St. Petersburg |
| 2007–2009 | Unicaja Málaga |
| 2009–2012 | FC Barcelona Regal |
| 2012–2013 | Galatasaray Medical Park |
| As coach: | |
| 2015–2019 | Unicaja Málaga (assistant) |
| 2020–present | Senegal |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |
Professional career
editN'Dong had previously planned to enter the NCAA with an American college in hopes to gain major exposure. However, due to his weight being under what American colleges were looking for at the time, those plans were ultimately aborted. Instead, as a 21-year-old, N'Dong had to look into an alternative plan for increasing his talents due to Senegal's professional leagues performing less-than-par of expectations for him. During that time, Dallas Mavericks agent Amadou Fall recommended that he trained in Dirk Nowitzki's former club and improve his skills there.[1] Sometime in early 1999, N'Dong signed with the SpVgg Rattelsdorf in Germany for one-and-a-half seasons of play there. After being undrafted in 1999, he continued training for the next three years in the TSV Tröster Breitengüßbach to further improve his game. In 2003, he would finally improve his skills to play in the Basketball Bundesliga professional league with the TSK uniVersa Bamberg. After playing a season there, he would sign a two-year deal with the Dijon Basket out in the LNB Pro A. During this time, he would gain further exposure from NBA scouts.
The 2005–06 NBA season would be the first and only NBA season for the 28-year-old 7 ft 0 in center to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Los Angeles Clippers. During this season, N'Dong barely played any notable parts with the team, appearing in 23 games with a 7-minute per game average, starting only once for them. However, the Clippers would ultimately have a surprising season under their belt in his sole season there, making it to the Western Conference semifinals for the first time in franchise history, barely upsetting the Phoenix Suns in the process. In December 2006, he signed with the Russian club Spartak St. Petersburg.[2] N'Dong moved to the Spanish ACB league later that season and signed with Unicaja Málaga for the 2006–07 ACB League play-offs to replace the injured Daniel Santiago. On 14 July 2007 he re-signed with Malaga on a one-season contract. He has also played with the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Summer League squad in 2007.
In 2009, he signed a two-year contract worth €3.2 million net income with the Spanish league club FC Barcelona.[3] In 2011, he signed a one-year extension contract with Regal Barcelona.
In the summer of 2012, he signed a one-year contract with Galatasaray Medical Park.[4][5][6] On 16 June 2013, the day after Galatasaray won the 2012–13 league championship, he announced that he was going to retire.[7]
National team career
editN'dong helped the Senegal national team get the silver medal at the FIBA Africa Championship 2005 in Algeria, a competition he won the MVP award.
Coaching career
editFrom 2015 until 2019, N'Dong was an assistant coach for Unicaja Málaga. In autumn 2020, N'Dong took over as the head coach of the Senegal national basketball team during the qualifiers for AfroBasket 2021.[8]
Career statistics
edit| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | PIR | Performance Index Rating |
| Bold | Career high |
NBA
editRegular season
edit| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005–06 | L.A. Clippers | 23 | 1 | 16.6 | .415 | .000 | .667 | 1.6 | .3 | .1 | .2 | 2.2 |
| Career | 23 | 1 | 16.6 | .415 | .000 | .667 | 1.6 | .3 | .1 | .2 | 2.2 | |
EuroLeague
edit| † | Denotes seasons in which N'Dong won the EuroLeague |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–08 | Málaga | 19 | 7 | 18.7 | .577 | .000 | .592 | 5.2 | .5 | .4 | 1.4 | 8.3 | 10.7 |
| 2008–09 | 15 | 1 | 19.8 | .579 | 1.000 | .661 | 5.3 | .4 | .3 | 1.3 | 10.8 | 12.5 | |
| 2009–10† | Barcelona | 21 | 15 | 16.4 | .600 | .000 | .776 | 3.6 | .3 | .4 | .9 | 8.7 | 9.6 |
| 2010–11 | 20 | 5 | 12.0 | .676 | — | .692 | 2.6 | .1 | .2 | .4 | 6.8 | 7.1 | |
| 2011–12 | 21 | 9 | 15.8 | .465 | — | .727 | 3.5 | .3 | .6 | 1.1 | 5.9 | 7.2 | |
| Career | 96 | 37 | 16.3 | .575 | .333 | .688 | 3.9 | .3 | .4 | 1.0 | 7.9 | 9.2 | |
References
edit- ^ Ratteldorf’s Finest Archived 2018-11-07 at the Wayback Machine (in German)
- ^ "N'Dong joins Spartak". Archived from the original on 2009-07-03. Retrieved 2007-07-14.
- ^ Solobasket.com N'Dong signs with FC Barcelona.
- ^ Confirmado el fichaje de Ndong por el Galatasaray: el Barça debe recomponer la plantilla
- ^ "Ndong no continuará en el Barça Regal". Regal Barcelona Official Website. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
- ^ "Boniface Ndong Galatasaray Medical Park'ta". Galatasaray SK. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
- ^ "Ndong zirvede bıraktı".
- ^ "AfroBasket 2021 - Team Profile: Senegal". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
External links
edit- Euroleague.net Profile
- NBA.com Bio
- Player Profile @ Basketball-Reference.com
- Spanish League Profile (in Spanish)
- A report in German about N'Dong[permanent dead link]