Offensive Game
Developing offensive player who finishes with authority above the rim. Still building his face-up game and post scoring, but athleticism creates opportunities in the short roll and transition.
Career Journey
Toronto Raptors
2022-2023
Atlanta Hawks
2023-present
Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year (2022)
Swept Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved honors as a junior at Arizona, with 2.8 blocks per game.
Drafted 33rd by Toronto (2022)
The Raptors selected the Cameroonian center early in the second round.
Return from career-threatening blood clots
Missed the better part of two seasons after a blood-clot diagnosis; returned to game action in 2025-26 after surgery and league clearance, on two-way deals with the Lakers and then Atlanta.
| Season | GP | PPG | RPG | APG | FG% | 3P% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 27 | 2.7 | 3 | 0.7 | 41.9% | 11.1% |
Koloko's story is less about numbers than about resilience. The Cameroonian center broke out at Arizona, sweeping Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved honors on the strength of genuine rim protection, before Toronto took him early in the second round in 2022. Then blood clots derailed everything, costing him the better part of two seasons and, at one point, threatening his career. Corrective surgery and clearance from the league's Fitness-to-Play Panel brought him back. In 2025-26 he rebuilt his footing on two-way deals, opening with the Lakers before landing with Atlanta in January. His appeal is unchanged: length, verticality at the rim, and switchable size. Health, not talent, remains the variable that decides how far this goes.
Offensive Game
Developing offensive player who finishes with authority above the rim. Still building his face-up game and post scoring, but athleticism creates opportunities in the short roll and transition.
Defensive Game
Elite rim protector with a 7-foot-4 wingspan that alters shots without leaving his feet. His positioning, timing, and athleticism make him a genuine deterrent in the paint.
Intangibles
Growing rapidly in NBA defensive systems. His African basketball and Arizona training gave him strong foundational concepts applied consistently.
Personal Life & Family
Status
Single
Parents & Siblings
Off the Court
Cameroonian youth basketball development
NBA Academy Africa ambassador
Did You Know?
Born in Douala, Cameroon — the same city that produced Joel Embiid — Koloko followed a similar path through NBA Academy Africa before reaching the NBA through Arizona.
His 7-foot-4 wingspan on a 6-foot-11 frame gives him one of the most favorable defensive measurements in the league — a physical gift he maximizes with elite timing.
He was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year in just his second college season — confirming his ceiling as a rim-protection specialist at the professional level.
The Hawks acquired Koloko as a bet on defensive upside — a center who can protect the rim and alter shots at a level that creates advantages for everyone around him.
Career Honors
Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year (2022)
All-Pac-12 First Team (2022)
NBA Academy Africa graduate
Official Jerseys
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79.99
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