Ismael Bako joins Zenit!
Zenit Basketball Club has reached an agreement with center Ismael Bako. The contract with the 30-year-old big man — who becomes the first Belgian player in Zenit history — runs through the end of the 2025/26 season.
Ismael Bako was born on October 10, 1995, in the Leuven, Belgium, where he began his professional career. From 2012 to 2017, the center played for the Leuven Bears. In his final season with the team, Bako was named the Belgian League’s Best Young Player.
In 2017, Ismael joined the Antwerp Giants, where he spent two full seasons. Together with the team, Bako became a two-time silver medalist of the Belgian Championship, won the national Cup — earning MVP honors — and also captured bronze medals in the FIBA Champions League.
In the summer of 2019, the he joined the roster of French club ASVEL. The Lyon's team finished the 2020/21 season by winning both the French League and the French Cup. With the ASVEL, Ismael made his EuroLeague debut. He later played for Manresa, reaching the Champions League final with the Spanish side, and for Virtus Bologna, where the center won the Italian Supercup and earned silver medals in both the national championship and the Italian Cup.
Russian fans are familiar with Bako from his time with UNICS. Ismael represented Kazan from 2023 to 2025, winning silver and bronze medals in the VTB United League, as well as a silver medal in the Supercup. In his final season with UNICS, he played 52 regular season and playoff games (46 in the starting lineup), averaging 9.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks in 24 minutes per match.
The center’s most recent team was Paris Basketball. In the current 2025/26 season, Ismael appeared in 10 French League games (4.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 0.5 blocks), 9 EuroLeague games (2.6 points, 1.9 rebounds, 0.6 blocks), and two national Cup matches.
Since 2017, Bako has been called up to the Belgian national team. He took part in EuroBasket 2017, 2022, and 2025.
The Blue-White-Sky Blues welcome Ismael Bako to St. Petersburg and wish him new heights together with Zenit!
