While Wembanyama suffers, Coulibaly enjoys. The young Frenchman, who is entering his second NBA season, blazed with 27 points, his record, to help the Washington Wizards dominate the Atlanta Hawks (133-120) on Wednesday in the American capital. Coulibaly (20 years old) almost eclipsed the “duel” between his two compatriots heroes of the 2024 draft, Zaccharie Risacher (19 years old, No. 1, Atlanta) and Alexandre Sarr (19 years old, No. 2, Washington).
The three tricolors were the starters at kick-off, with Washington fielding the youngest major five in its history (under 21 years old on average). In great shape at the start of the season, Coulibaly charged forward in the first quarter, which ended with 11 points, including a two-handed alley-oop dunk and a long shot.
Victor Wembanyama’s former teammate at the Metropolitans 92, drafted in 7th position last year, then insisted with a new dunk and incessant activity, bringing him to 27 points (11 out of 14 shooting, 3 out of 5 from distance) , 9 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block and 1 assist.
A contract extension last week
“On defense, I tried to play with my size, to contest every shot. In attack, I tried to make the right choices, my teammates and my coach believed in me,” commented the Frenchman, responsible at times for leading his team’s play.
Olympic silver medalist with the Blues this summer, Coulibaly thus beat his points record in the North American league which dated from Saturday (23 points against Cleveland), the day after the extension of his contract decided by his franchise for a 3rd season.
Behind the Coulibaly show, the two French rookies also highlighted themselves. Alexandre Sarr compiled 11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 blocks in 23 minutes, showing great things in defense and in transition in particular.
Zaccharie Risacher showed the quality of his footwork in a direct duel against Sarr (lay-up at the start of the match) and his athletic qualities with an aerial dunk and a block, for a total of 17 points (his NBA record , 7 of 15 shooting), 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks in 34 minutes. Between them, the French, efficient in defense, succeeded in all 7 blocks of the game.
