From some game sequences scraped anonymously in Betclic Elite against Gravelines, Pau and Blois to the strong compliments of Giannis Antetokounmpo very quickly. Such is the life of Bilal Coulibaly : in November 2022, he had just accumulated the first 14 minutes (and 2 points) of his professional career in the Mets 92 jersey. Only one year later, the young French winger is one of the current revelations in the NBA, where he goes on to have amazing performances with the Washington Wizards (8.5 points on 52% shooting and 4 rebounds in 26 minutes on average).
Monday evening, after another strong match on his part (12 points) despite the defeat (129-142) against the Milwaukee Bucks of the “Greek Freak”, the two-time MVP said about him : “He wasn’t afraid to defend Damian Lillard. He has the right mentality: he doesn’t want to be flashy but to play extremely hard and help his teammates. Sky is the limit “. But how did this well-hidden 19-year-old phenomenon, a long-time friend of Victor Wembanyama, with whom he played from the U13 selection of Hauts-de-Seine then last season at Boulogne-Levallois, experience such a trajectory? dizzying?
“He stayed in his place, super respectful”
Because nothing predestined the native of Saint-Cloud to such a brutal exposure in Betclic Elite. And therefore even less in the same year to a seventh NBA Draft choice. His former teammate at the Mets 92, inside Steve Ho You Fat, perfectly remembers his first meeting with Bilal Coulibaly, at the start of the 2021-2022 season.
It only took me one practice to see the kid’s potential. He was thin, he jumped high, and above all he was impressive in his accuracy. At that moment, he seemed to be impressed to be around the pros. He doubted a little and he didn’t dare show all his qualities. It’s just that with his remarkable education, he stayed in his place, hyper respectful. I told him at the end of this training: “Bilal, do you know that you are really good? You know how to do everything well, you have to realize that.” He laughed about it and from then on, I didn’t let him go. »
Thanks in particular to a growth peak which allowed him to gain 18 cm in two years during the Covid-19 period, Bilal Coulibaly (2.03 m now) is showing himself more and more, at 17 years old, in the Espoirs category. (11.8 points on average). So much so that in the wake of some nice performances with the Bleuets during the Euro U18 in Turkey, he signed his first professional contract with the Mets 92 in 2022. While especially heading towards a full season in the Espoirs championship (U21 ), and not in Betclic Elite, very far from the crazy fervor around Victor Wembanyama.
NBA scouts followed Coulibaly and “Wemby” matches
He still made the famous trip to Las Vegas, in October 2022, and he briefly appeared on the field against Scoot Henderson’s Ignite team (2 points). “In Vegas, there was still a very important moment, and obviously done on purpose,” confides Steeve Ho You Fat. In training, Vincent Collet took Bilal and Armel Traoré (20 years old) aside to make them work in front of a crowd of NBA scouts who had come to see Victor. I think it allowed Bilal to leave good impressions on the scouts. » Director of the Boulogne-Levallois training center, Philippe Sudre confirms US curiosity about him from the end of 2022: “The NBA scouts obviously came to see Victor as a priority, but they took advantage of their visit to France to witness to Bilal’s opening match with the Espoirs.
The destiny of Bilal Coulibaly’s season/career will be disrupted by a series of injuries involving three of his partners, namely Armel Traoré, Aaron Henry and Hugo Besson. “In the locker room, we pushed for Bilal to really enter the Betclic Elite rotation,” explains Steeve Ho You Fat. It became obvious that we had to rely on him more than on medical freelancers. » He therefore appears for mainly defensive missions in order to limit the best opposing attacker, as he now does (and well) in the Wizards jersey against superstars like Luka Doncic and Damian Lillard.
Two monumental cards to close the Hopes chapter
Bilal Coulibaly’s real takeoff in the professional world took place when he scored 34 and 37 points in January 2023 with the Espoirs des Mets 92 against Dijon and Fos-sur-Mer. During this second meeting, he will obtain on the same day, for the first time, a lot of playing time in a tight match (82-83) with the group of Vincent Collet (5 points at 2/2 on shots in 22 minutes). “I knew that from then on, he would never play with us again in Espoirs,” slips Philippe Sudre.
“We had already faced him the previous season and I didn’t remember a very influential player,” confides Jean-Philippe Besson, then coach of the Espoirs de Fos-sur-Mer. But there, he had exceptional skill (14/20), incredible ease and elegance. And when we then see him in the Betclic Elite match, we have the impression that he has always played there, he seems so calm. For Wembanyama, the path had been paved a long time ago. But for Bilal Coulibaly, it’s a fairy tale to see him in the NBA. I had never seen such a rocket.”
It must be said that no one in French basketball had anticipated such a supersonic outbreak, not even the leaders of the Mets 92, “who wanted to launch Armel Traoré more than Bilal”, as Steeve Ho You Fat assures.
“The absolute UFO” already sets a record like LeBron James
A recital of 14 points at 100% on shots in February against Dijon, then 16 units to eliminate Asvel (69-71) in the semi-final of the play-offs on June 4, and history is on its way for good . “For the first time in my life, I received calls from American scouts asking me if Bilal was ready for the NBA,” laughs Steeve Ho You Fat. I wasn’t going to say no as I think this kid is huge. » Enormous, the number 0 is already often so during the first month of competition of his new life, like his personal best in scoring in pros (20 points), November 12 in Brooklyn.
The fascinating stats factory that is the NBA immediately takes off: Bilal Coulibaly becomes that evening the youngest player since… LeBron James to combine at least 20 points, 4 steals and 4 three-pointers scored in the same game . There hype climbs for the last finalist of Betclic Elite, whom Jacques Monclar describes as an “absolute UFO”. The NBA consultant on beIN SPORTS is under the spell, despite the collective struggle for the Wizards with 2 wins and 11 defeats, in the wake of an irritating Jordan Poole.
It’s monumental to see in one year the delta that there can be between the kid who played in the Espoirs with Boulogne-Levallois and the one who is in Washington. He reaches physical maturity quite late and will continue to expand. He has a very developed basketball IQ and impressive mental serenity, which contrasts with the general attitude of Jordan Poole. He is a valuable player, who does the job that others don’t do and who is not judged solely on statistics. »
“Context is even more important than talent”
So many qualities which already make him a potential successor to Nicolas Batum in the French team, right? The Wizards rookie in any case evokes the Paris 2024 Olympics as “an important objective” of his season. Coach Vincent Collet, who trained him at the Mets 92 last season, showed that he was on the same wavelength, Monday on beIN SPORTS: “I am very happy with his NBA debut, despite his very weak team. I had already imagined taking him to the French team last summer.”
A question still arises: would he have experienced such a crazy destiny if he had signed the same performances elsewhere in France, and not alongside “Wemby” in Boulogne-Levallois, without the slightest European Cup? “Without Victor, it is certain that he would have had much less exposure, when we see that all our matches were broadcast on the NBA website,” recalls Philippe Sudre. But it was he alone who had the merit of opening all the doors. »
Now in Pro B in Fos-sur-Mer, Steeve Ho You Fat has an even clearer opinion on the question: “Honestly, I think we wouldn’t have talked about Bilal for this NBA Draft if he hadn’t not played with Victor. There are so many young people who have had to prove their potential in Eurocup and Euroleague matches, but not Bilal. He was the first to not believe it when this Draft prospect suddenly arrived on the table. I’ve never seen a guy come out of the shadows so quickly, with such a perfect alignment of the planets. Context is even more important than talent. » “Sky is the limit”, as friend Giannis reminds us.