Usman Garuba

Usman Garuba, born in Madrid, Spain, originally grew up most passionate about playing soccer, though his body had different plans. Standing at 6-foot-2 as a 12-year-old, Garuba idolized Kareem Abdul-Jabbar early on. The forward joined Real Madrid in 2013, winning the Minicopa Endesa on the u14 team. The very next season, Garuba won the Minicopa title again and was named the MVP of the competition. Garuba averaged 22.8 rebounds per game during the tournament and secured 32 rebounds in the final. In 2018, he played in the Adidas Next Generation Tournament (ANGT). On the u18 team, he made the All-Tournament team and was named the MVP as well. In October of 2018, Garuba made his debut on the Real Madrid top-flight team as the youngest center in the history of the academy (16 years, 7 months). The Houston Rockets selected Garuba with the 23rd pick of the 2021 NBA draft. The rookie forward was overseas playing for the Spanish national team in Tokyo for the 2020 Olympics, where he heard the draft news. In August, Garuba signed his rookie contract with the Rockets.