Ezi Magbegor

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Ezi Magbegor
No. 13 – Seattle Storm
PositionCenter
LeagueWNBA
Personal information
Born (1999-08-13) 13 August 1999 (age 25)
Wellington, New Zealand
NationalityAustralian
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight181 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High schoolLake Ginninderra College
(Canberra, ACT)
WNBA draft2019: 1st round, 12th overall pick
Selected by the Seattle Storm
Playing career2017–present
Career history
2017–2018Canberra Capitals
2018–2020Melbourne Boomers
2020–presentSeattle Storm
2022–2023Sopron Basket
2023–presentUSK Prague
Career highlights and awards
Stats at WNBA.com
Medals
Women's basketball
Representing  Australia
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Paris Team
FIBA World Cup
Silver medal – second place 2018 Spain
Bronze medal – third place 2024 France
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Australia
FIBA Asia Cup
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Bangalore
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2018 Gold Coast Team

Eziyoda Magbegor (born 13 August 1999) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and USK Prague of the EuroLeague Women and the Czech Women's Basketball League. Magbegor was a member of the Australian Women's basketball team (Opals) at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Opals were eliminated after losing to the USA in the quarterfinals.[1] She was part of the Australian team that won bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Professional career

WNBL

After beginning her career in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) with Basketball Australia's development team, the Centre of Excellence, Magbegor did not take long to gain attention from professional leagues. In July 2017, Magbegor was signed by the Canberra Capitals for the 2017–18 WNBL season.[2]

In March 2018, it was announced that Magbegor had signed a three-year deal with the Melbourne Boomers.[3] Magbegor first suited up for the Boomers in the 2018–19 WNBL season, choosing to stay home in Australia working alongside the likes of Jenna O'Hea, Lauren Jackson and Guy Molloy despite several offers from US colleges.

In February 2020, Magbegor was named the Betty Watson Australian Youth Player of the Year (formerly the WNBL Rookie of the Year award) at the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) Awards, scoring 38 votes from a possible tally of 42 votes.[4]

In April 2022, Magbegor was part of the Melbourne Boomers championship team before moving to play basketball next season in Hungary [5]

National team career

Youth level

Magbegor made her international debut at the 2015 FIBA Under-19 World Championship in Russia, with the U19 Gems as a 16 year old. She then represented the U17 Sapphires at the 2015 Oceania Championships. Dominating the tournament, averaging 18 points per game and helping Australia take home Gold. Magbegor then lead the Sapphires to their inaugural World Championship title in Spain. After snapping team USA's 28-game win streak at U17 level, Australia went on to take home Gold. Alongside two of her teammates, Magbegor was named to the All-Tournament Team. In addition to this, she received the Most Valuable Player award.[6]

Senior level

In December 2017, Magbegor was named to her first Opals squad, earning her a place in the first camp as preparations for this years upcoming tournaments got underway.[7] After taking part in the team camp in February, Magbegor was then named to the final roster for the 2018 Commonwealth Games where she would make her Opals debut.[8] Magbegor starred for the Opals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, having a standout game in Australia's win against the US in a pre-tournament friendly with 17 points, equal most in the game with Breanna Stewart. Magbegor then top scored for Australia during the Olympic tournament with 20 points and eight rebounds in the game against Belgium (her Olympic debut), and 15 points against China.[9]

Magbegor, like all the other members of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Opals women's basketball team, had a difficult tournament. The Opals lost their first two group stage matches. They looked flat against Belgium and then lost to China in heartbreaking circumstances. In their last group match the Opals needed to beat Puerto Rico by 25 or more in their final match to progress. This they did by 27 in a very exciting match. However, they lost to the United States in their quarterfinal 79 to 55.[10]

Magbegor returned to the spotlight at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. The Opals won the bronze medal with a win over Belgium. Magbegor starred in that match, scoring 30 points on 71 percent shooting, while also contributing 13 rebounds, three blocks, three assists and two steals. Her performance won her credit for both her offensive and defensive achievement.[11]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader
† Denotes season(s) in which Magbegor won a WNBA championship

WNBA

Regular season

Stats current through end of 2024 season

Ezi Magbegor WNBA Regular Season Statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2019 Did not appear in league
2020† Seattle 22 0 13.3 .569 .333 .704 2.5 0.3 0.5 0.7 0.4 6.5
2021 Seattle 30 3 15.2 .506 .556 .846 3.9 0.8 0.6 1.0 0.9 6.7
2022 Seattle 33 23 24.8 .550 .345 .736 5.6 1.4 0.9 1.8 1.4 9.5
2023 Seattle 40 40 32.6 .513 .385 .699 8.1 2.6 1.1 1.9 2.4 13.8
2024 Seattle 37 37 30.7 .512 .245 .874 8.0 2.0 1.1 2.2 1.4 11.7
Career 5 years, 1 team 162 103 24.7 .524 .343 .769 6.0 1.6 0.9 1.6 1.4 10.1
All-Star 1 0 12.1 .250 .000 — 4.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 2.0

Playoffs

Ezi Magbegor WNBA Playoff Statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2020† Seattle 6 0 5.8 .222 .000 1.000 1.2 0.3 0.0 0.2 0.0 1.0
2021 Seattle 1 1 31.0 .444 1.000 — 9.0 2.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 9.0
2022 Seattle 6 0 31.0 .583 — .667 2.7 1.0 0.7 1.0 0.2 5.0
2024 Seattle 1 1 28.0 .600 .667 .000 7.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 14.0
Career 4 years, 1 team 14 2 13.4 .500 .500 .571 2.8 0.9 0.3 0.6 0.1 4.2

Personal life

Born in Wellington, New Zealand to Nigerian parents, Magbegor moved to Australia with her family at age six. One of Australian basketball's most promising talents, she has already been said to be the next Lauren Jackson.[12][13] As of 2021, Magbegor is currently studying a Bachelor of Psychology at Deakin University;[14] she had initially been studying a Bachelor of Commerce in 2019.[15] She was inspired by Kobe Bryant to change degrees as she wanted to attain his "Mamba Mentality". In 2021, Magbegor was named as Deakin University's Female Sportsperson of the Year.[16]

References

  1. ^ "Basketball MAGBEGOR Ezi - Tokyo 2020 Olympics". olympics.com. Archived from the original on 30 September 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  2. ^ Sod (5 July 2017). "UC CAPITALS NAME EZI MAGBEGOR WITH ONE-YEAR DEAL". WNBL. wnbl.com.au. Archived from the original on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  3. ^ "EZI MAGBEGOR JOINS DEAKIN MELBOURNE BOOMERS FOR 3 YEARS". wnbl.com.au. 27 March 2018.
  4. ^ "Congratulations Ezi Magbegor on your WNBL Award!". Deakin Life. Deakin University. Archived from the original on 20 February 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  5. ^ "Ezi Magbegor and Lindsay Allen moving to Europe next season". 14 May 2022.
  6. ^ "Magbegor named MVP of 2016 FIBA U17 Women's World Championship, headlines All-Star Five". fiba.com. Archived from the original on 5 July 2016.
  7. ^ "OPALS ANNOUNCED FOR FIRST CAMP AHEAD OF COMMONWEALTH GAMES". basketball.net.au. Archived from the original on 14 August 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  8. ^ "OPALS TEAM ANNOUNCED FOR 2018 GOLD COAST COMMONWEALTH GAMES". WNBL. wnbl.com.au. 7 March 2018.
  9. ^ "Opals' reveal full extent of Liz Cambage trauma after Olympics disaster". news.com.au.
  10. ^ "Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo 2021". The Roar. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  11. ^ "Australia's Opals hit Paris Olympics podium with victory in tense bronze-medal against Belgium". ABC News. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  12. ^ Helmers, Caden (1 December 2017). Canberra Capitals Nat Hurst and Eziyoda Magbegor named in Australian Opals squad. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  13. ^ Helmers, Caden (21 October 2017). Canberra Capitals young gun Eziyoda Magbegor forging her own legacy. The Canberra Times. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  14. ^ "Go Ezi and team! Meet the Deakin students representing Australia at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games". Deakin Life. Deakin University. 7 July 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  15. ^ "Deakin student and Boomers star Ezi headed for the WNBA". Deakin Life. Deakin University. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  16. ^ "2021 Deakin Sport Awards: Congratulations to our Sportsperson of the Year winners!". Deakin Life. Deakin University. 9 December 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2021.

External links

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