Gabriel Lundberg

Gabriel Ifeanyi "Iffe" Lundberg (born 4 December 1994) is a Nigerian-Danish professional basketball player for Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. He also represents the senior Danish national team. Standing at 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in), he can play at both guard positions.[1] According to numerous Danish outlets, Lundberg is Denmark's best basketball player.[2][3]

Gabriel Lundberg
Lundberg with Denmark in 2016
No. 1 – Virtus Bologna
PositionShooting guard / point guard
LeagueLBA
EuroLeague
Personal information
Born (1994-12-04) 4 December 1994
Copenhagen, Denmark
NationalityDanish / Nigerian
Listed height1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Listed weight92 kg (203 lb)
Career information
NBA draft2016: undrafted
Playing career2012–present
Career history
2014–2015Copenhagen Wolfpack
2015–2017Horsens
2017–2019Manresa
2019–2020Canarias
2020–2021Zielona Góra
2021–2022CSKA Moscow
2022Phoenix Suns
2022–presentVirtus Bologna
Career highlights and awards
Stats  at NBA.com

Professional career

Canarias (2019–2020)

In July 2019, Lundberg signed with CB 1939 Canarias for two years with the option of a third. He joined the team from the competitor Bàsquet Manresa where he had been a cornerstone of the team that won promotion to the Liga ACB.[1]

Zielona Góra (2020–2021)

On 13 July 2020, Lundberg signed with Stelmet Zielona Góra of the Polish League.[4] He averaged 20.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game in the VTB United League during the 2020–21 season.[5]

CSKA Moscow (2021–2022)

On February 15, 2021, he left Zielona Gora and signed with CSKA Moscow for the rest of the season.[6] On July 2, 2021, Lundberg signed a three-year (2+1) extension with the Russian club.

On February 27, 2022, upon the outbreak of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, he left the team.[7][8][9] The team accused him of violating his contract.[8][10]

Phoenix Suns (2022)

On March 12, 2022, the Phoenix Suns signed Lundberg to a two-way contract for the rest of the 2021–22 season.[11] He subsequently became the first Danish player in history to sign an NBA contract. However, he did not make his NBA debut until April 3 against the Oklahoma City Thunder due to visa issues that stemmed from the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[12] In the final game of the regular season, Lundberg recorded season-highs of 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in a loss to the Sacramento Kings.[13]

Virtus Bologna (2022–present)

On July 21, 2022, Lundberg signed a two-year deal with Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague.[14] On 29 September 2022, after having ousted Olimpia Milano in the semifinals, Virtus won its third Supercup, defeating 72–69 Banco di Sardegna Sassari and achieving a back-to-back, following the 2021 trophy.[15] However, despite good premises Virtus ended the EuroLeague season at the 14th place, thus it did not qualify for the playoffs.[16] Moreover, the team was defeated in the Italian Basketball Cup final by Brescia. In June, after having ousted 3–0 both Brindisi and Tortona, Virtus was defeated 4–3 by Olimpia Milan in the national finals, following a series which was widely regarded among the best in the latest years of Italian basketball.[17][18]

On 24 September 2023, after having ousted Olimpia Milano in the semifinals, Virtus won its fourth Supercup, and the third in a row, defeating 97–60 Germani Brescia.[19]

National team

Lundberg has been a member of the Danish national basketball team.[1] In November 2020, he led the team to two consecutive surprise victories against favorites Lithuania and the Czech Republic in the qualification round to the European championships. Lundberg had 28 points in the win against Lithuania[20] which was named arguably the greatest victory in Danish basketball history.[21] Against the Czech team, he scored 38 points, knocking down 7-of-9 from three-point range.[22]

Personal life

Lundberg is a native of Copenhagen.[2] He is of Nigerian and Danish descent. In the early years, he played 3x3 streetball at the local street courts in Vesterbro, the Copenhagen neighborhood in which he grew up. He was a regular at the GAME Finals Streetball Tournament at the Town Hall Square each summer and watched from the stands, when his older brother Abdel Jaleel Lundberg competed in the Elite Division and the Slam Dunk Contest, winning it several times. Iffe later joined Falcon Basketball Club where he played during most of his childhood. In the off-season Iffe would come back to play streetball and won in 2009 2nd place at the GAME Finals Streetball Tournament with his team.[23]

Career statistics
Legend
  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
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2021–22 Phoenix 4011.0.263.375—1.82.8.8.03.3
Career 4011.0.263.375—1.82.8.8.03.3

EuroLeague
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2020–21 CSKA Moscow 15220.1.564.436.5832.52.2.9.011.311.6
2021–22 241621.1.446.333.8332.42.0.9.19.18.0
Career 391820.7.492.371.7142.42.1.9.09.99.4

References
  1. Gabriel Lundberg cambia Manresa por Tenerife para seguir en la ACB Marca.com, 9 July 2019. Accessed 13 July 2020. (in Spanish)
  2. Gigantisk dansk triumf: Slår Barcelona Jonas Ryefelt (Ekstra Bladet), 26 June 2020. Accessed 13 July 2020. (in Danish)
  3. "Danmarks bedste basketballspiller tror stadig på NBA". TV 2 (in Danish). December 21, 2021. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  4. "Stelmet Enea inks Gabriel Lundberg". Eurobasket.com. July 13, 2020. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  5. "Iffe Lundberg is the first Dane in CSKA!". CSKA Moscow Basketball. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
  6. "Cska Moscow announces Iffe Lundberg". Sportando. February 15, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
  7. "Tornike Shengelia leaves CSKA Moscow: I can't play for the Russian army club". MARCA. February 26, 2022.
  8. "5 CSKA Moscow players leave team for war between Russia, Ukraine". www.aa.com.tr.
  9. Amico, Sam (March 1, 2022). "FIBA Suspends All Russian Teams, Officials From Competition".
  10. "CSKA confirms departures of Shengelia, Voigtmann, Grigonis and Lundberg". Eurohoops. February 27, 2022. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  11. Askounis, Johnny (March 12, 2022). "Lundberg inks deal with Suns". Eurohoops.net. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  12. https://www.12news.com/article/sports/nba/suns/suns-guard-becomes-first-danish-player-nba/75-1263f8ee-19ec-4080-b4de-7b0b1fedd885
  13. https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/202204100PHO.html
  14. "Gabriel Lundberg è un nuovo giocatore di Virtus Segafredo Bologna!". virtus.it. July 21, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
  15. "Supercoppa, trionfa la Virtus Bologna! Canestro decisivo di Mickey, Sassari cede 72-69". Gazzetta dello Sport. 29 September 2022.
  16. Virtus, il punto a fine EuroLega. BolognaBasket
  17. Basket, Milano batte Bologna nella decisiva gara 7 e vince il suo 30esimo scudetto. Gli highlights. la Repubblica
  18. Basket, Milano batte Bologna 67-55 nella finalissima e si conferma campione per la trentesima volta. Rai News
  19. Una Virtus esagerata stravince la Supercoppa. la Repubblica
  20. Ghoula, Benjamin (2020-11-27). "Danmark tager sensationel sejr over Litauen | Fullcourt.dk". Fullcourt (in Danish). Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  21. Hald, Benjamin Nielsen (2020-11-27). "Danmark var historisks store underdogs | Fullcourt.dk". Fullcourt (in Danish). Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  22. Bonde, Sebastian Würtz (2020-11-29). "Danmark besejrer sensationelt Tjekkiet i sand gyser | Fullcourt.dk". Fullcourt (in Danish). Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  23. Madsen, N.M. (16 March 2022). "Da legenden pludselig skrev hans navn, blev en usandsynlig rejse til virkelighed". TV2. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
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