Basketball: who is Satou Sabally, the Gambian-German star lighting up the WNBA?
Her name may mean little to basketball fans, especially across Africa, but Satou Sabally is a WNBA star.
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Born on 25 April 1998 to a Gambian father and a German mother, Satou Sabally (1m93, 79 kg) lived in The Gambia until she was two before moving to her mother's country. It was natural, then, that the forward started school in Germany, and she also picked up the basics of basketball there at 9. After starting out in Germany, Sabally moved on to the American college league, the NCAA, joining the Oregon Ducks . In the 2017-2018 season she was named the championship's "Best Forward", going on to win the Cheryl Miller Award, which goes to the top player in that position.
Drafted in 2020 by the Dallas Wings in the WNBA, Sabally later joined Fenerbaçhe in Turkey. After a spell on the banks of the Bosphorus, she was signed by the Dallas Wings again. Sabally received a call from WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert telling her she had been named a starter for the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game, scheduled for 16 July. "It's something I always look forward to," she said happily.
Since being drafted in 2020, her career has been plagued by injuries, and she played only 33 of a possible 52 games over her first two seasons. "I worked hard, really hard in the offseason, and once you've done that, once you've put in the work, you can have confidence in yourself and in your abilities," Sabally reflected.
19.1 points and 10.4 rebounds per game
With her health problems behind her, Sabally is averaging a double-double every game, with 19.1 points and 10.4 rebounds. Her form so far has not surprised her new head coach Latecia Trammell, even back when she was an assistant coach in Los Angeles. She knew what Sabally was capable of. "What I like is that she took time before the season," said Trammell. "She had never done that before. She took a mental, physical, emotional and spiritual reset, rehabilitated and made sure her body felt good so she could compete at a high level," the coach added.
Now, after wins at Phoenix and Washington this week, the Wings are second in the WNBA's Western Conference with 10 wins and 9 defeats. And with Sabally at her best, the Wings could well challenge for top spot, currently held by the Las Vegas Aces.
Jim CEESAY