Bilal Coulibaly hopes to play in Olympics: 'I'll have to win my spot' / News - Basketnews.com

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There is so much hype - all of it deserved - around Victor Wembanyama that it's easy to look past some of the other up-and-coming talents in French basketball, yet rest assured, national team coach Vincent Collet is clued in!

Bilal Coulibaly

MIN:27.23PTS:8.44 (49.73%)REB:4.06As:1.75ST:0.9BL:0.76TO:1.38GM:63ProfileNBA2023/2024

One player he's acutely aware of is teenage sensation Bilal Coulibaly, who just completed his rookie season in the NBA with the Washington Wizards. And Coulibaly wants Collet to know something.

"I want to play in the Olympics," he said to L'Equipe.

Coulibaly, one of Collet's former players at Metropolitans 92, appears to have a great shot of making the Olympic team.

He averaged 8.4 points and 4.1 rebounds for the Wizards. His rookie campaign came to a halt in the middle of March. He scored 15 points and grabbed 8 rebounds against Chicago but fractured his right wrist and missed the last 14 games. He did not have surgery.

Overall, Coulibaly, 19, played to very good reviews. Washington traded up to make him the No. 7 pick in the draft, and they have no regrets.

Would he be a good fit with France and Wembanyama?

The 2.03m (6'8") swingman and Wembanyama, now 20, were teammates when Metropolitans 92 made it to the French top flight Finals in the 2022-23 season before falling to Monaco in three games.

Bilal CoulibalyCredit Getty Images via AFP/Scanpix

Collet may be thinking about reuniting his former Metropolitans 92 players on the Olympic stage. Could the coach even be so bold as to have them in the starting lineup, especially as a 3&D talent like Coulibaly could be a perfect complement to Wembanyama?

Coulibaly was on his country's team that came in fifth at the 2022 U18 European Championship and has obviously developed a lot since. Unlike Wembanyama, he has yet to feature for the senior team.

He is nevertheless desperate to play at the Summer Games.

When asked about the Olympics, hetold First Team: "I think about it every day. I'm so looking forward to healing, recovering, and practicing again so I can be really ready for the training camp and win my position on the roster."

Collet has kept his cards close to his chest.

"I spoke with Vincent Collet during the NBA season when I was in San Antonio," Coulibaly said. "He made the trip there to see the players, and when I played against Victor, we talked. He told me he was happy with the way I was playing, but he did not really tell me more."

Collet wants to see Coulibaly at the training camp, as will three very important veteran French national team players.

"I talked with Rudy (Gobert), Nico (Batum), Evan (Fournier), after the (NBA) games, we had the opportunity to talk also," he said. "They said I was doing good things this season and that they were impatient to see me this summer at training camp."

As for a reunion with Wembanyama, it's what Coulibaly craves.

"Playing with Victor again would be amazing," he said. "It would feel awesome. It would be very cool. We talked a lot, we are close. We lived the same kind of situation with a lot of defeats."

San Antonio finished second bottom of the Western Conference but had 22 wins, seven more than Washington.

Coulibaly appreciates that an Olympic roster spot is not something that will simply be given to him.

"I want to do everything to show that I belong on this team," hesaid to L'Equipe. "I want to play in the Olympics. I'm going to have to prove it, win my spot on the national team."

The French National Federation will announce the Men's roster for this summer on May 16.

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