Ebi was raised in Nigeria before moving to Houston, Texas, as a teenager to attend high school. He holds both British and Nigerian citizenship.
Professional career
Ebi was the first first-round pick in three years for the Wolves; the team had forfeited five first-round picks after the team owner illegally made a deal with forwardJoe Smith (the penalty was later reduced to three picks). After Ebi appeared in 19 games over the course of two seasons, Minnesota attempted to get an exception from the NBA so they could send him to the NBA Development League. Ebi was technically ineligible as the 2005–06 NBA season was his third year, and the D-League only accepted players who had been in the NBA for less than two years. Minnesota wanted to guide Ebi in, and they tacitly argued that Ebi was hardly a two-year veteran in the figurative sense, given his limited playing time. The league rejected Minnesota's request regarding Ebi, and to make room for Ronald Dupree, Minnesota released Ebi on 31 October 2005.[citation needed]
That two seasons with the Timberwolves ended up being Ebi's only playing time in the NBA, as his final game was on 20 April 2005, in a 95–73 win over the San Antonio Spurs. In his final game, Ebi recorded 18 points and 8 rebounds.[citation needed]
Ebi signed a free agent contract over the summer of 2006 with the Dallas Mavericks. After playing five pre-season games, averaging 5.2 points per game (ppg), Ebi was waived by the Mavericks on 26 October 2006.[citation needed]
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