The Stockton Kings star, Skal Labissiere, is anything but your average NBA player. Labissiere wasn’t always a basketball fan. On the contrary, he found joy in playing soccer. It wasn’t until he grew astonishingly to six-foot-five at just 12 years old that his parents questioned whether Skal might be too tall to play soccer. So, they urged their son to focus on a sport that would suit his big frame, basketball. But, he still wasn’t fully committed to the sport, he needed something more to inspire him to hoop more often.

So, what or who inspired Labissiere? Well, it was none other than the NBA’s global superstar, the late Kobe Bryant himself! “My brother and I drew a three-point line with some chalk around the basketball hoop in the courtyard and started trying out all the moves we had seen Kobe do on TV,” Labissiere recalls. Since then, he hasn’t looked back, in fact, he’s etched his name in history. But, this success hasn’t come without adversities.

Where is Skal Labissiere from? What’s the Kings star’s nationality?

Hailing from the beautiful island of Haiti, Port-au-Prince, Skal Labissiere is a walking wonder. Why you ask? While most players in the league sacrifice a lot to make their dreams come true, few have a story as good as Labissiere. When Skal Labissiere was just thirteen, a catastrophic earthquake struck Haiti in 2010, trapping him and his family. Official estimates report that the disaster killed nearly 222,570 people and injured over 300,000.

Labissiere and his family were at their home when suddenly their entire home collapsed, with him, his brother Elliot, and his mother Ema inside. “When he [his dad] dropped me off that was when the earthquake started. I was able to get to my mom, my brother did the same, and when I got to her that’s when everything collapsed so here I was at 13 years old buried alive, those are the things you see in the news, in the movies, things like that.” Skal stated.

Following this traumatic calamity, Labissiere unfortunately lost his ability to walk for some time, let alone hoop. But, with medical attention, help from his family, and his sheer will, he was able to make a miraculous comeback to basketball. After his miraculous recovery, Labissiere’s parents knew that Haiti could no longer hold the weight of his basketball dreams. So, Skal left his beloved home behind for a shot at achieving what he’d seen Kobe do on television.

Which school and college did Skal Labissiere attend? Who compared him to Anthony Davis?

Skal Labissiere arrived in the United States, after taking his initial steps in hooping back in Haiti. In Haiti, he played for College Canado-Haitian, a junior-senior high school in his hometown. In the USA, Labissiere joined Evangelical Christian School in Memphis and represented their basketball program as an eighth-grader. The transition from Haiti to the States wasn’t all smooth for the young Hooper.

Initially. Labissiere couldn’t speak English. He required an interpreter to help him with his classes, but being the resilient guy he is, Labissiere quickly learned the language in just four to five months. Soon, he transferred to Lausanne Collegiate School, also in the city of Memphis, but his eligibility was affected as per TSSAA rules. Instead, the youngster suited up for Hamilton’s Reach Your Dream Prep Academy, where he displayed his true ceiling averaging a stellar, 26 points, 12 rebounds, and 4.5 blocks per game.

Following these impressive performances, the scouts took notice of the Haitian forward, and rated him as a five-star recruit. Naturally, as you’d expect, many colleges started to offer the big man scholarships. However, the one opportunity that caught Labissiere’s eye was from the University of Kentucky. Their head coach, John Calipari, was quick to react and inked the youngsters’ commitment while he also compared him to superstar Anthony Davis. Scouts tipped him not just as a first-round pick but as the potential first overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.

Has Skal Labissiere played in the NBA before? When was he drafted into the NBA?

A testament to Skal Labissiere’s skills is the fact that he was a one-and-done for the Kentucky Wildcats. The big man suited up for Kentucky for a single season, posting great numbers, and decided to let go of his remaining college eligibility, declaring for the 2016 NBA Draft. Sure enough, he reached unprecedented heights by becoming the highest-drafted Haitian player since Samuel Dalembert.

Phoenix Suns selected him 28th overall in the 2016 NBA Draft, and immediately traded his rights to the Sacramento Kings. Labissiere inked a rookie-level contract with Sacramento and mostly found himself playing in the NBA Developmental League for the Reno Bighorns. Following this, the Kings traded him to Portland. Here he suited up to play for the final game of the season for the Trail Blazers and was on the move once again.

In 2020, Skal Labissiere landed in Atlanta but never touched the court. Stints in New York and San Antonio followed, only to end in waivers. In 2023, the Kings took a chance on the journeyman, signing him to their G League affiliate, the Stockton Kings. Now, the towering center fights to reclaim his place in the NBA, one game at a time.

From a young boy drawing chalk lines to mimic Kobe’s moves to a man clawing his way back to the NBA, Skal Labissiere embodies perseverance. His story is not merely one of survival but of a relentless pursuit of greatness.