FC Bayern Basketball secures its first reinforcement for the upcoming season: The German champions have signed Wenyen Gabriel for the next two years, through 2027, bringing an athletic powerhouse to the center position. The 28-year-old national team player from last year’s Olympic surprise team, South Sudan, moved to Europe last season after six years in the NBA and G-League—first to Maccabi Tel Aviv, and in the second half of the season to then-EuroLeague champion Panathinaikos Athens.
164 games in the NBA
Gabriel has played in a total of 164 NBA games, most of them—68—during the 2022/2023 season with the Los Angeles Lakers (averaging 5.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, at the time alongside LeBron James and Dennis Schröder). He made a name for himself on the South Sudanese national team, particularly as the top shot-blocker of the 2023 World Cup (2.6 blocks per game) and also at the Olympic tournament in Paris (2.0 blocks per game). In Athens, Gabriel effectively filled in for the long-injured starter Mathias Lessort, playing in 23 EuroLeague games (averaging 6.0 points and 3.6 rebounds).
In Munich, Gabriel is aiming to finally establish himself as a top big man at 2.09 meters tall (6’10") in Europe’s top league and to find continuity after numerous moves in the NBA’s business-driven environment. “I’m very confident I’ll be able to complete a full year with Bayern and find a sporting home,” says Gabriel, who is currently on a family vacation in the U.S. (where he also holds citizenship). “I want to bring my passion, energy, and hustle to the team. My clear goals with the team are to make the playoffs and—within the next two years—definitely reach the Final Four.”
Top Shot-Blocker in Manila and Paris
FC Bayern Basketball’s sporting director, Dragan Tarlac, knows Gabriel not only from the Olympic tournament—where Serbia faced South Sudan in the group stage (winning 96–85)—and says:
“Wenyen is a player who has improved his game year by year in recent seasons. That was evident at the World Cup in Manila and also in Paris, as well as during his time with Maccabi and Panathinaikos. His defensive presence is tremendous, and offensively, he will continue to work hard on developing his skills. The fact that he always gives everything on the court will also make him an excellent and respected teammate for us—we’re really looking forward to having him.”
Gabriel, one of six siblings, moved as a small child from his home country to Egypt due to the civil war, and eventually to the United States. After two NCAA seasons at Kentucky and a first professional season in the NBA G-League with the Stockton Kings (10.1 points, 6.6 rebounds per game), he made his NBA debut in the fall of 2019 with the Sacramento Kings. His back-and-forth between the NBA and its developmental league continued; during his two seasons with the LA Lakers, he earned the most trust, averaging around 16 minutes per game.
After a brief final stint in spring 2024 with the Memphis Grizzlies and a short spell in Puerto Rico, Maccabi brought him into the EuroLeague a year ago (where he averaged 5.5 points and 4.8 rebounds).
“Passion, Energy, Hustle”
With the national team, Gabriel qualified for the Olympics for the first time as the best African team at the 2023 World Cup—thanks to three wins in their debut appearance at the tournament, just seven years after South Sudan’s first official international match and twelve years after the country's independence. He was the team’s top rebounder, averaging nine rebounds per game (along with 5.7 points), on a squad made up almost entirely of refugees.
For his next appearance with the “Bright Stars,” Gabriel is first preparing individually in July in his new family base in Dallas, Texas, and then with the team in Madrid—gearing up for the 2025 African Championship in Angola (August 12–24). “Last year, everyone went crazy—we want to make our country happy again,” says Gabriel. “And this time, we want to bring home some hardware—a trophy!”
WENYEN GABRIEL (* 26. März 1997, Khartoum/SDN)
Center/Power Forward – 2,09 m – 103 kg
- 2016 – 2018: University of Kentucky (NCAA)
- 2018 – 2020: Sacramento Kings (NBA), Stockton Kings (NBA G-League)
- 1/2020: Portland Trail Blazers (NBA)
- 11/2020: New Orleans Pelicans (NBA)
- 2021: Wisconsin Herd (NBA G-League)
- 12/2021 – 2/2022: Los Angeles Clippers (NBA), Wisconsin Herd, Brooklyn Nets (NBA)
- 3/2022 – 2023: Los Angeles Lakers
- 2023 – 2024: Wisconsin Herd, Memphis Grizzlies (NBA), Vaquueros de Bayamón (Puerto Rico)
- 2024: Maccabi Tel Aviv (ISR)
- 12/2024 – 2025: Panathinaikos Athens (GRE)
Awards:
- Greek Cup 2025
- Participant Olympic Summer Games Paris 2024