Basketball talent Nyara Sabally: Hey, sister

Enlarge image

Nyara Sabally currently plays at the University of Oregan like her sister Satou before

Photo: 

Elsa / Getty Images

These three letters have a tremendous meaning in basketball: MVP.

Nyara Sabally has already won the title of Most Valuable Player in a Tournament.

It was only a European Championship and it was only for the U18 women, but three years ago in the summer, experts agreed: "After the European Championships, many in Nyara saw one of the great players of the next few years" , remembers Stefan Mienack in an interview with SPIEGEL.

In the summer of 2018, the 40-year-old coached the German junior team that won the European Championship in Udine, Italy.

And thus won the first gold medal from the German Basketball Federation (DBB) at an international youth championship.

Nyara Sabally was the outstanding player of the tournament.

Enlarge image

Nyara Sabally (left): »Your changeability is incredible.«

Photo: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images

She scored, got a lot of rebounds and defended excellently.

She blocked, moved to the basket and took outside throws.

"Their variability is incredible," says Luisa Geiselsöder, who won the European Championship together with Nyara Sabally.

Last year Geiselsöder was drafted by the Dallas Wings for the American professional league WNBA, currently she plays in France.

She is where Nyara Sabally wants to be.

Many even considered her more talented than her older sister, Satou Sabally.

And she's already a little star in the United States today.

Nyara's two-year-older sister was the highest German draft pick of all time in spring 2020.

Her college coach believed early on that she could become one of the best players in the world.

In the WNBA she has so far fully met expectations.

In summer she plays for the Dallas Wings WNBA team and in winter for Fenerbahce Istanbul.

She has become an advertising figure and has been heavily involved in the Black Lives Matter movement.

(Read more about Satou Sabally here)

But three years ago, Nyara Sabally was considered even better.

She was more versatile than her sister.

The then 18-year-old brought more physique, her game was a little more dynamic than Satou Sabally's.

Nyara scored from the outside, but could also play under the baskets, even as a point guard she knew how to please.

Three years in college without basketball

Nyara Sabally is now 21 years old and has been suffering for almost three years.

In the final of this U18 European Championship, she twisted her knee so badly that her cruciate ligament tore.

She had already secured a scholarship at the University of Oregon - at that college in the US city of Eugene where her sister Satou had caused a sensation since 2017.

However, basketball was out of the question for Nyara Sabally in 2019.

Enlarge image

Nyara Sabally after beating Oregon in the Women's Basketball Championship in March

Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty Images

Sabally lived in Eugene for a year, watching her sister get better with every game.

The rehab was tough.

Then the shock.

With the resumption of ball training, the next serious injury.

This time it hit the cruciate ligament on the other knee.

"Mentally it was the harder time," says Nyara Sabally in an interview with SPIEGEL.

Again it took a year before Nyara Sabally was allowed to play again.

But then the pandemic thwarted her last spring.

The season was canceled.

She says, "I was in college for three years but I hadn't really played yet."

“She's incredibly versatile.

I think there are hardly any limits to their development. "

Nyra Sabally's college trainer Kelly Graves

It was only this year that the 1.95 meter tall woman experienced her first real college season. With over twelve points and seven rebounds on average, Nyara Sabally led her team into the round of 16 of the national championship and was elected to the Allstar team. "It was great to finally see her healthy this season," says college coach Kelly Graves. “We got an impression of what kind of player she can become. She is incredibly versatile. I think there are hardly any limits to their development. «Many believe that Nyara Sabally will venture into the WNBA next spring - and thus succeed her sister.

"Satou is definitely the more extroverted of the two of us," says Nyara Sabally, but at some point she too would like to be more than a basketball player.

»I would also like to make more use of my platform to get involved politically.

We got that from our mother. "

The national coach comes from the WNBA

Like her sister, Nyara Sabally grew up on several continents.

Because the mother used to model, the family got around a lot.

Satou was born in New York, Nyara in Bandon Ore, Oregon.

The family and seven children spent part of their childhood in Gambia, their father's homeland.

Then they moved to Berlin.

Here a scout spotted the sisters on the playground.

“We were just a lot taller than any other girl our age.

At first, I didn't enjoy the sport, ”says Nyara Sabally.

She stuck with it anyway, because she wanted to do the same as her sister - and the fun grew with every success.

Enlarge image

Satou (back left) and Nyara Sabally (right) were teammates at the University of Oregon

Photo: Chris Pietsch / AP

The German Basketball Association (DBB) is happy about it.

The German female basketball players have not reached the European Championship finals for ten years.

The Sabally siblings, however, are now part of a remarkably talented generation: Leonie Fiebich, Luisa Geiselsöder, Satou Sabally, Marie Gülich: There have never been more Germans in the WNBA.

They stir up hope for successful times.

Without Satou Sabally and Gülich, the national team failed in the European Championship qualification this year as well.

Next time both should be there.

And then also Nyara Sabally.

Together they would be the most talented German national team of all time.

But maybe there is an earlier chance to celebrate successes together.

The street version of 3x3 basketball will be Olympic for the first time at the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer.

Qualification is due at the end of May.

And the Sabally sisters will be there.