Bilal Coulibaly

About

Bilal Coulibaly ( bee-LAHL KOO-lih-BAH-lee; French: [bilal kulibali]; born 26 July 2004) is a French professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played for the Metropolitans 92 of LNB Pro A prior to being selected seventh overall by the Indiana Pacers in the 2023 NBA draft. Coulibaly has also played for the French national team, winning silver at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Coulibaly was born on 26 July 2004 in Saint-Cloud, France, a commune of Paris. He grew up in nearby Courbevoie and began playing basketball for Courbevoie Sport Basket at age eight. He began playing for the youth team of Levallois Sporting Club Basket in 2017. He is of Malian descent.

Coulibaly began playing professionally for Metropolitans 92 in LNB Espoirs, the French under-21 league, in 2021. He began the 2022–23 season playing for the Metropolitans 92 under-21 team. He was promoted to the senior team after averaging 21.9 points, 2.6 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game in the LNB Espoirs competition. He played alongside future NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama.