The high-flying big man made his EuroLeague debut last season
Bayern bolsters frontline with Wenyen Gabriel
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FC Bayern Munich has strengthened its frontline with the signing of center Wenyen Gabriel, who produced plenty of highlights in his debut EuroLeague season with Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv and Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens. The contract is for two seasons.
Gabriel (2.06 meters, 28 years old) shined as a rim-runner and shot-blocker for the two teams. He started the season with Maccabi, where injuries limited him to just nine games. Gabriel made a mid-season move to the Greens to help cover for the injury of Mathias Lessort and helped the team reach the Final Four.
He had two of his best games of the season at SAP Garden against Bayern. In Round 15 with Maccabi, Gabriel posted 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting and 8 rebounds in a 98-93 loss. A few weeks later, he debuted with Panathinaikos in Munich and tallied 6 points, 8 boards, 2 steals and 5 blocks to lead the Greens to a 69-80 victory over Bayern.
For the season he averaged 6.0 points on 64.1% three-point shooting, 3.9 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in 32 games. He ranked sixth in the league in blocks on a per-minute basis with a prorated average of 2.3 rejections per 40 minutes. Gabriel ranked ninth in offensive rebounds per minute with a prorated average of 4.6 per 40 minutes.
Born in Sudan, Gabriel emigrated to the United States as a child. He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats and then began his professional career in the NBA. Gabriel suited up for the Sacramento Kings, Portland Trail Blazers, New Orleans Pelicans, Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA; the Wisconsin Herd in the G League; and for Vaqueros de Bayamon in Puerto Rico.
As a member of the South Sudan national team, Gabriel was the leading shot-blocker at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup with 2.6 per game and at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris with 2.0 per game. He checked in at fifth place in rebounding at the Olympics with 6.0 per game.