Yannick Nzosa

Nzosa was born and raised in the suburbs of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.[1] He grew up playing association football as a goalkeeper. At age 12, Nzosa was discovered by a friend of a coach of local club New Generation Basketball, with whom he started his basketball career. One year later, he tried to enroll at Canterbury Academy in Las Palmas, Spain, with the help of former player Anicet Lavodrama, but was denied a visa.[2]

In 2017, Nzosa began playing for Italian club Stella Azzurra Roma.[1] Teammates Paul Eboua and Jordan Bayehe helped him learn to speak Italian.[3] In February 2019, Nzosa played for Stella Azzurra's under-18 team at the Kaunas Tournament, a qualifier for the Adidas Next Generation Tournament (ANGT), and was named to the all-tournament team.[4] For the 2019–20 season, he was loaned to his club's affiliated team, Roseto Sharks of the Serie A2 Basket.[5]

On 6 September 2019, Nzosa was picked up from his hotel by his mentor, Joe Lolonga, prior to a Roseto Sharks preseason training session, without the knowledge of his club to travel to Málaga and join Spanish club Unicaja Málaga.[1] After Stella Azzurra filed a police report for child abduction, Nzosa announced on social media that he was moving to Unicaja.[6] He trained with Unicaja Andalucía, the reserve team of Unicaja competing in the Liga EBA, but was not allowed to play in professional matches due to a dispute between Unicaja and Stella Azzurra over his rights.[7][8] In December 2019, he represented the club's under-18 team at the ANGT Valencia Tournament, earning all-tournament team honors.[9][10]

On 31 March 2020, Nzosa signed a five-year contract with Unicaja of the Liga ACB after FIBA Europe ruled in favor of the club in its dispute with Stella Azzurra.[11][12] The deal included a clause of about €1 million to allow him to leave for the National Basketball Association and the EuroLeague.[12] Stella Azzurra received €25,000 in compensation for his transfer.[13] On 27 September, at 16 years and 10 months of age, Nzosa made his senior team debut in the ACB. In 18 minutes, he recorded 10 points, shooting 5-of-5 from the field, three rebounds and two blocks in an 81–78 win over Andorra. He joined Ricky Rubio and Luka Dončić as the only 16 year olds in league history to score at least 10 points in a game, while becoming the second-youngest debutant in team history behind Pablo Sánchez.[14] Two days later, Nzosa made his EuroCup debut, going scoreless in nine minutes in a 96–88 win over Metropolitans 92.[15] On 3 October, he scored 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting in a 90–86 loss to Manresa, becoming the first under-18 player to score 10 or more points in their first two ACB games.[16] On 11 October, Nzosa recorded four rebounds, four blocks, three assists, three steals and two points in a 71–66 victory over Valencia. He surpassed Kristaps Porziņģis as the youngest player in league history with least four blocks in a game.[17]

Nzosa's father works in China, while his mother lives in a village in the Democratic Republic of the Congo without electricity.[1] He has four sisters and one brother.[3] His legal guardian is Joe Lolonga, a family friend and technical director of the Democratic Republic of Congo Basketball Federation. Lolonga facilitated Nzosa's move to Stella Azzurra in 2017 and has acted as his mentor.[18]

• Liga ACB profile