1. Ifeanyi Festus Ezeli-Ndulue was born on October 21,1989 and is a Nigerian-American former professional basketball player who played five seasons in the National Basketball Association.
21 Facts About Festus Ezeli
1. 2.
Festus Ezeli played college basketball for the Vanderbilt Commodores before being selected with the 30th overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors, where he won an NBA Championship in 2015.
3.
One of five children, Festus Ezeli remembered in a 2011 interview with Andy Katz of ESPN.
4.
Festus Ezeli took a year of classes at Jesuit High School in Sacramento but did not play basketball; different sources report that Ezeli was either ineligible to play because he had graduated from high school in Nigeria or cut during tryouts.
5.
The start of Festus Ezeli's organized basketball career, with a low-level AAU team, was especially inauspicious since his first points were scored in his own team's basket.
6.
Also in the Katz interview, Festus Ezeli remarked on his struggles to learn the game:.
7.
At age 16, Festus Ezeli joined a second AAU team and enrolled part-time at Yuba Community College.
8.
Festus Ezeli arrived in Nashville in 2007 as a biology major and among the rawest of basketball prospects.
9.
Festus Ezeli broke Will Perdue's Vanderbilt single-season record for blocked shots.
10.
Festus Ezeli has improved so much that he gives them the best of both worlds [offense and defense].
11.
Festus Ezeli didn't learn the game in elementary school like I did.
12.
Festus Ezeli was trying to learn the game while competing effectively in the SEC.
13.
Festus Ezeli was selected by the Golden State Warriors with the 30th overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft.
14.
In June 2013, Festus Ezeli was ruled out for six to nine months after undergoing surgery on his right knee.
15.
The injury kept him out all of January, when on January 28,2015, Festus Ezeli was assigned to the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA Development League for rehabilitation.
16.
Festus Ezeli won his first NBA championship after the Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2015 NBA Finals in six games.
17.
On February 8,2016, Festus Ezeli underwent successful arthroscopic surgery to clean out debris from his left knee and was ruled out for six weeks.
18.
On July 7,2016, Festus Ezeli signed with the Portland Trail Blazers.
19.
Two months later, Festus Ezeli suffered a minor setback in his comeback from the procedure, with swelling in his left knee.
20.
On June 30,2017, Festus Ezeli was waived by the Trail Blazers without having played a game for them.
21.
On March 2,2021, Festus Ezeli signed a contract with the Westchester Knicks of the NBA G League, returning to professional basketball after a four-year hiatus dealing with multiple injuries and difficult recoveries.