Ron Mvouika with Steph Curry

Injuries is always something that pro athletes dread. It is something that could lead a career in the wrong direction or even end it. In the case of Congo forward Ron Mvouika (196-G/F-1991, college: St.John’s) it actually did end the season for him, but at the same time it was the start of something very lovely in his career. In January 2018, I witnessed the second to last pro B game of Isaac Bonga against the Bayer Giants Leverkusen and Ron Mvouika who exploded for 30 points and Pro B career high carrying the Fraport Skyliners Juniors to the easy 81-65 win. Bonga was on his way to being drafted by the NBA the following summer and was getting extra experience playing games for the farm team that season in the Pro B. Bonga was very much on my radar that season so at times it was difficult to notice other basketball stories, but I was fully aware of another young player named Ron Mvouika who popped up on my radar having played for NBA hall of famer Chris Mullin with St Johns only a few years earlier. Mvouika had had experience in France and UK before coming to Germany. 8,5 years later he remembers this game and Bonga as if it was yesterday for a very special reason. “We had our first interview after that game. I remember being told that Bonga had NBA talent. At first it was hard for me to believe it, because I had battled guys like Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson only a few years earlier in the NCAA. But when I found out that he was 17, I could believe it. He did a bit of everything. He was never in a rush and I saw he had the chance to be really special. He got my ultimate respect after that game. That was also the game where I hurt my shoulder and was injured. That kept me in Germany for the next 6 months and started my love story with Germany”, remembered Ron Mvouika.

Miles Schmidt-Scheuber and Ron Mvouika at BCM in Frankfurt in 2018

Some years had past, but I saw Mvouika again in 2022 when he played in the Pro B for the RheinStars Cologne and again in 2023 when he was a spectator at the Pro B final in Cologne when the RheinStars played against the Dragons Rhondorf. I had had him on my radar for years, but the past memories came out of nowhere again recently when I read the press release by the Art Giants Dusseldorf announcing his arrival back in the Pro B after 4 years away from the pro game. Why did he venture into semi retirement in 2022? “I took some time off to be more with my family. My second child was on the way in 2022 when I was with the RheinStars. I had had the same situation in 2019 when my first child was born. I had a great offer in the UK and took it. That messed me up and then came Covid. I didn´t want to go through that again a second time. That is why I stopped playing and stayed with my family”, said Ron Mvouika. In the last 4 years, he remained in Germany in Cologne and I thought he was a kind of diplomat for the country Congo on account of seeing that Lotola Otshumbe who is a basketball workaholic in Cologne had him listed in his phone contacts as president Cologne Congo, but boy was I wrong. “A good skill of mine has always been networking. I have always been good with connecting with people. I took a kind of spiritual route and did many different things. I had some businesses, helped send kids to basketball academies and also had a music label. I followed visuals and my dreams and tried different things. However I was also still connected to basketball. I had a small venture playing in China, but it was never documented. The money was good, but I was far from my kids. I never stopped training and was always ready for the next opportunity. I never lost a beat”, warned Ron Mvouika.

Ron Mvouika and Chris Mullin

He had played 6 seasons in countries like France, UK, Germany, Austria and Luxemburg and 4 years later suddenly was back again ready to battle in Germany with the Art Giants Duesseldorf. Was the itch to play again so big that he couldn´t refuse that offer? “I had offers last season, but I didn´t want to leave my kids and wife. I have to give a big shout out to Stephan Baeck who let me use the RheinStars practice facility whenever I wanted to. I was in the gym every day and helped train guys during the summer. If It wouldn´t have been for the opportunity and grace of Baeck, it would have been a different story. I had the privilege to use their gym and it helped me a lot to stay in a professional setting”, stressed Ron Mvouika. There were two distinct reasons with his family and head coach Robert Shepherd why he signed with the Art Giants Duesseldorf. “I had always had in mind for my family and kids see me play. I have seen it all in my career from great gyms in the NCAA and flying around in private jets. Many don´t understand that basketball is a business. I came overseas and always had to prove myself. I was burned out in 2022. Now coming back, my motivation was different and that had to do with Robert Shepherd. We had many similiarities and similar backrounds. We both had new opportunities. It was an easy marriage for me. I still have a lot of gas in my tank. I didn´t do it for the money, but the opportunity to help push this program forward”, commented Ron Mvouika. It also helps that he has been in Germany for a long time. Is it like a second home for him now? “It is my main home now, but Paris is home. I really appreciate Cologne, because it is big and small at the same time. Germany has always had a reputation of being cold, but for me Cologne is warm. I never traveled much in Germany and only really know the NRW area. I like the food in Germany and the simplicity of all. Paris feels like your going 100,000 miles an hour. Paris is mentally different. In cologne I can go to the park and listen to music”, laughed Ron Mvouika. It will be interesting to watch how the relationship of Mvouika and head coach Shepherd will grow with time. “He is my man. We already have a strong relationship now. I don´t think that I have ever had a coach where I was able to lock in with so well. We have constant contact. He will call me in Paris to check in. I will be a bridge between him and rest of team. We have a good open relationship. He gave me this opportunity and I will ride and die for him”, warned Ron Mvouika.

Ron Mvouika and Carmelo Anthony

He will turn 35 in November, so how good will he still be able to be now having been away from the game since 2022? “I almost signed in Paris last season. I´m old school. I started to play when I was 5 and have been playing almost 30 years. Training has always been a lifestyle. I´m a master of my craft and am always sharpening it. I have played basketball in three continents and have picked up so much from many coaches. My IQ is really high. I slow down the game now and play with my head instead of only running around and wasting movement”, stated Ron Mvouika. He compares his game to Paul George and does his game reflect that of a Swiss army knife? “That was my nickname so often in my career. I know how to adapt to giving a team what it needs most. I score with heart, but I love to pass and create. I never have had a big ego and just give a team what it needs most to win”, added Ron Mvouika. He may not have the quickness on defense that he had 10 years ago, but will be able to shine in other ways. “Key is having a good IQ at both ends and playing defense with my mouth. I scout on the court. Playing defense is like a boxing match. I try to do everything to put the opponent in tough situations”, explained Ron Mvouika. So on what areas of his game did he work on most this summer, so he will be best prepared in the Pro B in 2026-2027? “I worked most playing 5-5 and getting back into the flow of passing the ball. I have worked so much on individual skills in my career. Now I focus a lot on the mental part. I make mind work challenging and try to beat you mentally. I also worked on my shot. I have always been a shot maker. My shot is my breakfast”, warned Ron Mvouika. He is also really motivated to help the young players with his veteran leadership. “I think that at the end of the day what matters the most is giving knowledge. I need to inspire. If I can help anyone get better, then that is my job. People won´t remember stats, but remember if you were a good man. I will give my wisdom on an doff the court”, said Ron Mvouika.

Ron Mvouika and Klay Thompson

He will be playing for his third organization in Germany and still has fond memories of his early days with the Bayer Giants Leverkusen and being teammates with fellow versatile player CJ Oldham. “I watched him play a lot the last years when I was inactive. He mastered that flat shot. He is a great player, but even more a better human being. He was never in trouble. I actually saw him a few months ago”, said Ron Mvouika. He was very fortunate to have played for American basketball legend Chris Mullin who gave him so much vital advice like learning a specific role and treated him like a pro from day one. “I will never forget when he told me that guys in the NBA who have the longest careers are the role players. Do you think that a guy that averaged 20 points in college will do the same for the Timberwolves beside Anthony Edwards? It isn´t about how good one is, but how much money you make. He taught me that you have to be good at every position. I remember running the point at St Johns against Villanova and Jalen Brunson. The next game, I would play the 3 and the next game the 4. He would throw me into the water at any position. You need to be great at what you do. If you can play multiple positions well, then it will be hard for a coach not to play you”, stated Ron Mvouika. Does he still have contact to Chris Mullin today? “I mean there are some guys that you have in your phone that you won´t just call, but I know that if I really needed to get a hold of him I could. I have a really good relationship to Greg St Jean an assistant for the Lakers. I´m sure that he will be a head coach soon in the NBA. I have that feeling and had the same kind of feeling about Jacques Schneider when he was an assistant in Leverkusen. I always knew that he was special and become big one day”, warned Ron Mvouika. His toughest cover in the NCAA was Kris Dunn, but Fred Van Vleet also was one that he never forgot. “Fred was never in a rush and was always under control. He wasn´t the most athletic or the quickest, but always knew what to do. He had a high IQ, hit shots and just made the right play. He was able to do it all without speaking. He could become slick and give a quick reply and mention that you couldn´t guard him”, smiled Ron Mvouika. As a Bostonian and Celtics fan, I had to ask him if he could give me some assuring words that Paul George will be able to replace Jaylen Brown in Boston despite his age and help me block out all the negativity in Boston about this trade. “If you ask anyone in his generation, kids will say he is their favorite player. If he is healthy, there is nothing that Brown can do that George can´t do. George is a killer. He has no weakness on offense. He is a 3 level scorer. I´m excited what he will do in Boston”, warned Ron Mvouika. So when will Ron Mvouika see CJ Oldham again? Oldham has played 9 seasons in the Pro B and perhaps the 2 will meet again this season. When they do, both will have a special 1-1 topic to talk about. “CJ knows exactly who will win a 1-1 match between him and I. I would have won in 2018 and would smoke him in 2026”, laughed Ron Mvouika. I´m sure CJ Oldham will be fired up for a 1-1 duel in 2026 with Ron Mvouika.