KIGALI, Rwanda, July 6, 2022/ — The Phoenix Suns today announced the team has re-signed free agent center Bismack Biyombo.
Biyombo (6-8, 255 pounds) first signed with the Suns on Jan. 1 last season and played in 36 games, averaging 5.8 rebounds on 59.3% shooting plus 4.6 rebounds in 14.1 minutes. He recorded 6 double-doubles and 10 games scoring in double figures, including a season-high 21 points to go with 13 rebounds and 5 assists on Jan. 22 vs. Indiana. Biyombo also appeared in nine playoff games this past postseason.
An 11-year NBA veteran, Biyombo has played in 738 career games, making 310 starts, with Charlotte, Toronto, Orlando and the Suns, holding career averages of 5.2 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks. Biyombo has also appeared in 32 career playoff games, averaging 4.9 points on 59.3% shooting plus 6.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks; he played in all 20 postseason games on the Raptors’ run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2016.
The 29-year-old was originally the seventh overall selection in the 2011 NBA Draft by Sacramento before being traded to Charlotte on draft night. A native of Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Biyombo played two seasons professionally in Spain before entering the NBA. At the 2011 Nike Hoops Summit, he recorded the first triple-double in the event’s history while playing for the World Select Team.
The winner of the NBA Cares Community Assist Award for March 2022, Biyombo received the honor for his dedication to bettering the conditions and overall livelihoods of individuals and communities in his native Democratic Republic of the Congo. After experiencing the loss of his father in August 2021, Biyombo dedicated the 2021-22 season to him, choosing to wear no. 18 in honor of his father’s birthday. As part of his intention to honor his father, Biyombo announced in March that he would contribute his entire salary from the 2021-22 season to establish and construct a new hospital in his native country that will improve access to better health care for generations. Last month, Biyombo took a trip to St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis to discuss humanitarian efforts benefitting Congolese people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
