Gabriel Ifeanyi "Iffe" Lundberg (born 4 December 1994) is a Danish professional basketball who plays for Partizan Belgrade of the EuroLeague, ABA League and the Basketball League of Serbia.[1] He also represents the Denmark national team. Standing at 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in), he can play at both guard positions.[2] According to numerous Danish outlets, Lundberg is Denmark's best basketball player.[3][4]
![]() Lundberg with Denmark in 2016 | |
No. 1 – Partizan Belgrade | |
---|---|
Position | Shooting guard / point guard |
League | EuroLeague ABA League Basketball League of Serbia |
Personal information | |
Born | Copenhagen, Denmark | 4 December 1994
Listed height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) |
Listed weight | 92 kg (203 lb) |
Career information | |
NBA draft | 2016: undrafted |
Playing career | 2013–present |
Career history | |
2013–2014 | Falcon |
2014–2015 | BMS Herlev Wolfpack |
2015–2017 | Horsens |
2017–2019 | Manresa |
2019–2020 | Canarias |
2020–2021 | Zielona Góra |
2021–2022 | CSKA Moscow |
2022 | Phoenix Suns |
2022–2024 | Virtus Bologna |
2024–present | Partizan |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Stats at NBA.com | |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Professional career
editEarly career (2013–2019)
editLundberg started his professional basketball career in the Danish Basketligaen playing for Falcon (2013–14), BMS Herlev Wolfpack (2014–15) and Horsens (2015–2017),[5] before moving to Spanish LEB Oro team Manresa. He helped Manresa return to the Liga ACB in his first season.
Canarias (2019–2020)
editIn July 2019, Lundberg signed with CB 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.[2]
Zielona Góra (2020–2021)
editOn 13 July 2020, Lundberg signed with Stelmet Zielona Góra of the Polish League.[6] 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.[7]
CSKA Moscow (2021–2022)
editOn February 15, 2021, he left Zielona Gora and signed with CSKA Moscow for the rest of the season.[8] 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.[9][10][11] The team accused him of violating his contract.[10][12]
Phoenix Suns (2022)
editOn March 12, 2022, the Phoenix Suns signed Lundberg to a two-way contract for the rest of the 2021–22 season.[13] 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.[14] 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.[15]
Virtus Bologna (2022–2024)
editOn July 21, 2022, Lundberg signed a two-year deal with Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague.[16] 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.[17] However, despite good premises Virtus ended the EuroLeague season at the 14th place, thus it did not qualify for the playoffs.[18] 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.[19][20]
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.[21]
Partizan (2024–present)
editOn June 20, 2024, Lundberg signed a two-year deal with Partizan of the ABA League and the EuroLeague.
National team
editLundberg has been a member of the Denmark men's national basketball team.[2] 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[22] which was named arguably the greatest victory in Danish basketball history.[23] Against the Czech team, he scored 38 points, knocking down 7-of-9 from three-point range.[24]
Personal life
editLundberg is a native of Copenhagen.[3] 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.[25]
Career statistics
editGP | 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
editYear | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021–22 | Phoenix | 4 | 0 | 11.0 | .263 | .375 | — | 1.8 | 2.8 | .8 | .0 | 3.3 |
Career | 4 | 0 | 11.0 | .263 | .375 | — | 1.8 | 2.8 | .8 | .0 | 3.3 |
EuroLeague
editYear | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020–21 | CSKA Moscow | 15 | 2 | 20.1 | .564 | .436 | .583 | 2.5 | 2.2 | .9 | — | 11.3 | 11.6 |
2021–22 | 24 | 16 | 21.1 | .446 | .338 | .833 | 2.4 | 2.0 | .9 | .0 | 9.1 | 8.0 | |
2022–23 | Virtus Bologna | 29 | 22 | 20.6 | .433 | .297 | .860 | 2.2 | 2.0 | .7 | — | 11.4 | 10.2 |
2023–24 | 35 | 1 | 19.3 | .447 | .336 | .729 | 2.1 | 2.0 | .6 | .0 | 9.4 | 8.5 | |
Career | 103 | 41 | 20.2 | .461 | .342 | .767 | 2.2 | 2.0 | .7 | .0 | 9.2 | 8.8 |
References
edit- ^ "Iz crno-bele Bolonje u crno-beli Beograd: Ife Lundberg je novi košarkaš Partizana Mozzart Bet" (in Serbian). Retrieved June 20, 2024.
- ^ a b c Gabriel Lundberg cambia Manresa por Tenerife para seguir en la ACB Marca.com, 9 July 2019. Accessed 13 July 2020. (in Spanish)
- ^ a b Gigantisk dansk triumf: Slår Barcelona Jonas Ryefelt (Ekstra Bladet), 26 June 2020. Accessed 13 July 2020. (in Danish)
- ^ "Danmarks bedste basketballspiller tror stadig på NBA". TV 2 (in Danish). December 21, 2021. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
- ^ Gabriel Iffe Lundberg
- ^ "Stelmet Enea inks Gabriel Lundberg". Eurobasket.com. July 13, 2020. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ "Iffe Lundberg is the first Dane in CSKA!". CSKA Moscow Basketball. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
- ^ "Cska Moscow announces Iffe Lundberg". Sportando. February 15, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
- ^ "Tornike Shengelia leaves CSKA Moscow: I can't play for the Russian army club". MARCA. February 26, 2022.
- ^ a b "5 CSKA Moscow players leave team for war between Russia, Ukraine". www.aa.com.tr.
- ^ Amico, Sam (March 1, 2022). "FIBA Suspends All Russian Teams, Officials From Competition".
- ^ "CSKA confirms departures of Shengelia, Voigtmann, Grigonis and Lundberg". Eurohoops. February 27, 2022. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
- ^ Askounis, Johnny (March 12, 2022). "Lundberg inks deal with Suns". Eurohoops.net. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
- ^ https://www.12news.com/article/sports/nba/suns/suns-guard-becomes-first-danish-player-nba/75-1263f8ee-19ec-4080-b4de-7b0b1fedd885 [bare URL]
- ^ https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/202204100PHO.html [bare URL]
- ^ "Gabriel Lundberg è un nuovo giocatore di Virtus Segafredo Bologna!". virtus.it. July 21, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
- ^ "Supercoppa, trionfa la Virtus Bologna! Canestro decisivo di Mickey, Sassari cede 72-69". Gazzetta dello Sport. September 29, 2022.
- ^ Virtus, il punto a fine EuroLega. BolognaBasket
- ^ Basket, Milano batte Bologna nella decisiva gara 7 e vince il suo 30esimo scudetto. Gli highlights. la Repubblica
- ^ Basket, Milano batte Bologna 67-55 nella finalissima e si conferma campione per la trentesima volta. Rai News
- ^ Una Virtus esagerata stravince la Supercoppa. la Repubblica
- ^ Ghoula, Benjamin (November 27, 2020). "Danmark tager sensationel sejr over Litauen | Fullcourt.dk". Fullcourt (in Danish). Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- ^ Hald, Benjamin Nielsen (November 27, 2020). "Danmark var historisks store underdogs | Fullcourt.dk". Fullcourt (in Danish). Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- ^ Bonde, Sebastian Würtz (November 29, 2020). "Danmark besejrer sensationelt Tjekkiet i sand gyser | Fullcourt.dk". Fullcourt (in Danish). Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- ^ Madsen, N.M. (March 16, 2022). "Da legenden pludselig skrev hans navn, blev en usandsynlig rejse til virkelighed". TV2. Retrieved April 10, 2022.