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https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2719392-serge-ibaka-releases-statement-regarding-age-discrepancy-rumors

hes back to playing 5 on 5 and he will be back from injury and looks like a fitness model. I do think it is worthwhile to look back at these things and discuss it later on. People in nba front offices believed he was more than 5 years older than he is. Do you guys still buy this? I found a lot of people believed the theory 5 years ago when this was being discussed, curious to see opinions now that he is in his early 30s, when he is allegedly supposed to be 37 years old now according to some who still work in the NBA

I don't care how old he is.

But worth noting you can be well into your 40's even 50's and have an absolutely chiseled physique. That video provides precisely zero insight into his age.

I've never thought that myself, I feel like theres a stereotype that is drawn upon when making those claims.

I always assumed people were just joking, if people were actually serious thinking he was falsifying his age, I dont know what to tell them.

Texas Chuck wrote:I don't care how old he is.

But worth noting you can be well into your 40's even 50's and have an absolutely chiseled physique. That video provides precisely zero insight into his age.

Also zero insight into his ability to play NBA level basketball. Dwight has had a chiseled physique forever but never fully regained his pre-injury form after his back injury.

Texas Chuck wrote:I don't care how old he is.

But worth noting you can be well into your 40's even 50's and have an absolutely chiseled physique. That video provides precisely zero insight into his age.

i agee, i just remember how high up this theory went, and thought it was surprising given that ilyasova buddy heild and numerous others even from countries with sketchy hospital records were definitively caught, but ibaka as late as 3 years ago was still putting out statements refuting these claims.

And if your team wanted him, wouldnt you want to know? I mean when we got him i was really into the whole controversy, not because of any even anectdotal evidence, but because of how many other people in front offices believed it.

You need a certain level of worldly perspective to understand the nature of these claims. Most NBA fans from North America lack the perspective and/or cultural awareness to fully grasp the gravity of the situation on the grounds.

This is analogous to the idiom of living a day in someone else's shoes. It is just an experience those living in ivory towers will never be able to fully absorb and understand.

I don't know if he's older, but he seemed longer when he was younger.

As if him being ripped would give any indication of how old he is. Have you seen Yoel Romero?

you mean like,,,is he 94 instead of 92?

Jcity08 wrote:I've never thought that myself, I feel like theres a stereotype that is drawn upon when making those claims.

I always assumed people were just joking, if people were actually serious thinking he was falsifying his age, I dont know what to tell them.

There was always some subtle racist tropes behind those claims of Ibaka being older than he is. It’s like “ha ha those Africans are so dumb and backwards they don’t have paper for birth certificates.”

Another guy who looks old as **** and who’s game fell off suddenly is Steven Adams but no one accuses him of lying about his age. I encourage people to look up Steven Adam’s age, I was genuinely shocked.

Pointgod wrote:

Jcity08 wrote:I've never thought that myself, I feel like theres a stereotype that is drawn upon when making those claims.

I always assumed people were just joking, if people were actually serious thinking he was falsifying his age, I dont know what to tell them.

There was always some subtle racist tropes behind those claims of Ibaka being older than he is. It’s like “ha ha those Africans are so dumb and backwards they don’t have paper for birth certificates.”

Another guy who looks old as **** and who’s game fell off suddenly is Steven Adams but no one accuses him of lying about his age. I encourage people to look up Steven Adam’s age, I was genuinely shocked.

I assumed the stereotype was about immigration, where in some case people would lie about their age, place of birth, country of origin, name in order to expedite their immigration status or to help family members reunite quicker...ect... as an African immigrant myself, I've heard a lot of different accounts of that sort of thing. People trying to escape from government instability, war or just seeking better opprotunity in their lives.

I just dont think Ibaka would have any reason to lie about his age, to any significant degree and he's always looked his age to me.

The skepticism of his true age could have been fueled by racism, I honestly couldn't say. Or just xenophobia in general. Or maybe something else less serious.

Pointgod wrote:

Jcity08 wrote:I've never thought that myself, I feel like theres a stereotype that is drawn upon when making those claims.

I always assumed people were just joking, if people were actually serious thinking he was falsifying his age, I dont know what to tell them.

There was always some subtle racist tropes behind those claims of Ibaka being older than he is. It’s like “ha ha those Africans are so dumb and backwards they don’t have paper for birth certificates.”

I think this statement about "racial stereotyping" reflects more on your own thought process than on others.

There have been a larger number of birth year shenanigans involving African soccer players... on an individual level, club-team level, and even national-team level. Players from other continents do it often too (notably Asia and S America), but there has been more of it seen/caught with African players than others. So nobody thinks that "Africans are so dumb and backwards to not have paper for birth certificates"... we simply accept there is a higher chance of there being age-fraud when it looks like there might be age-fraud, due to empirical evidence, across multiple sports. In fact, you should say they are quite clever when it comes to doing things like this.

Also, hope you know that Africa has countries like Egypt?

yes, he looks way washed to age even in okc.

Pointgod wrote:

Jcity08 wrote:I've never thought that myself, I feel like theres a stereotype that is drawn upon when making those claims.

I always assumed people were just joking, if people were actually serious thinking he was falsifying his age, I dont know what to tell them.

There was always some subtle racist tropes behind those claims of Ibaka being older than he is. It’s like “ha ha those Africans are so dumb and backwards they don’t have paper for birth certificates.”

Another guy who looks old as **** and who’s game fell off suddenly is Steven Adams but no one accuses him of lying about his age. I encourage people to look up Steven Adam’s age, I was genuinely shocked.

thats not racist. its 3rd world countries not having strict birth certificate system. china did it too.

It certainly does happen...Bakery Jatta & Silas Katompa Mvumpa are two highly publicized examples we've seen in recent years in german football...but that doesn't mean that claims about how prevalent that kind of thing is are legitimate and that people's stereotypes don't increase their willingness to believe these kinds of claims without any evidence; as in the case of Ibaka or Youssoufa Moukoko.

Biyombo has lost 2 steps despite allegedly being barely 29 and staying in flawless shape and injury free. He's probably in his early 30s

I know that I looked stupid, but on Raptors board I did defended this belief. I do not believe this anymore, but I really believed it could be true. And its not just because hes from Africa, he was one of few players in Europe whose passport's legitimacy was questioned when he emmerged as very young talent, because they came from very obscure systems, and not all players who were like that were from Africa. In particular, Enes Kanter, who was born in Switzerland had this as well, for some reason his passport was seen as not legitimate, I am not expert, but ENes, Ibaka and Ersan Illyasova, who were from 3 different continents, but people in Europe for years were questioning their real dates of birth. ANd most likely all of them were born the day their papers say, but some people in the industry had doubts and thats all I am saying, its not just Africa thing.

i don't think there's a racist trope here. one of the most high profile nba examples was ersan ilyasova, who is not african born. jonathan givony speculated that serge was one to two years older than his listed age.

Dwayne Johnson is 49 and he's still a fitness model.