Amanda Zahui Bazoukou (born September 8, 1993), known professionally as Amanda Zahui B., is a Swedish

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference ...

of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

(WNBA). After playing basketball both in Sweden and collegiately with the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Te ...

, Bazoukou was drafted by the

Tulsa Shock The Tulsa Shock were a professional basketball team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded in Detroit, Michigan before the 1998 WNBA season began; t ...

with the second overall pick in the

2015 WNBA draft The 2015 WNBA draft was the league's draft for the 2015 WNBA season. The Seattle Storm picked first. This year's draft was unusual in that two players with remaining college eligibility declared for the draft—Jewell Loyd of Notre Dame, who ...

Early life

Zahui Bazoukou began playing basketball when she was 10. By 13, Sweden had added her to its 16-and-under national team where she averaged double-doubles in the European Championships. Her surname is pronounced ZAH-wee B. She shortened Bazoukou to an initial so it would fit on her jersey and be easier for Americans to pronounce. Her mother is

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

- French and her father is from the Ivory Coast.

College

Zahui B played three seasons for the

. In February 2015, Zahui B recorded a career-high 39 points in a game against

Iowa Hawkeye The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 22 sports, 8 for men and 14 for women; a 15th women's sport will be added in 2023. The teams partici ...

basketball team. She also recorded 29 rebounds in that game, the most ever by a player in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. The last NBA player to record at least 39 points and 29 rebounds in a game was

Moses Malone Moses Eugene Malone (March 23, 1955 – September 13, 2015) was an American professional basketball player who played in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1974 through 1995. A cen ...

in October 1979.

Minnesota statistics

Source

Professional career

WNBA

Zahui B was drafted second overall by the

when she was only a sophomore. She was 21 years old. On January 21, 2023, Zahui B was traded from the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

to the

Las Vegas Aces The Las Vegas Aces are an American professional basketball team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Aces compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team play ...

in exchange for

Dearica Hamby Dearica Marie Hamby (born November 6, 1993) is an American basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). College During her senior year Hamby averaged 20.3 points, the highest scoring average ...

. Zahui B was once again traded for the second in the offseason prior to the 2023 season. On February 5, 2023, she was dealt to the

in exchange for two second-round picks.

European League

In 2016, she was transferred to the Russian

Nadezhda Orenburg PBK Nadezhda Orenburg (russian: ПБК «Надежда») is a Russian women's basketball club from Orenburg founded in 1994. Nadezhda has been 3rd in the Russian Premier League in 2010 and 2011, and reached the Russian Cup's final from 2011� ...

where she became the highest scoring player. Her name Zahui caused some stir due to its similarity with an obscene word in

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

. In 2017 the team decided to use the name Bazoukou instead.

Career statistics

WNBA

Source

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015 , style="text-align:left;",

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

, 31 , , 0 , , 9.7 , , .361 , , .333 , , .750 , , 2.4 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 0.6 , , 0.6 , , 3.4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

, style="text-align:left;", New York , 33 , , 1 , , 11.3 , , .449 , , .118 , , .787 , , 3.2 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 0.7 , , 1.1 , , 5.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

, style="text-align:left;", New York , 29 , , 0 , , 5.3 , , .400 , , .250 , , .750 , , 1.1 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 0.5 , , 2.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

, style="text-align:left;", New York , 29 , , 0 , , 15.9 , , .500 , , .344 , , .605 , , 3.0 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 1.6 , , 7.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, style="text-align:left;", New York , 24 , , 23 , , 23.3 , , .468 , , .319 , , .852 , , 6.3 , , 0.9 , , 1.1 , , 1.4 , , 1.3 , , 8.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, style="text-align:left;", New York , 21 , , 20 , , 25.3 , , .353 , , .340 , , .694 , , 8.5 , , 1.9 , , 0.9 , , 1.2 , , 2.6 , , 9.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, style="text-align:left;",

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, 30 , , 27 , , 23.8 , , .429 , , .280 , , .767 , , 5.1 , , 1.0 , , 0.6 , , 1.2 , , 1.8 , , 9.2 , - , align="left" , Career , 7 years, 3 teams , 197 , , 71 , , 15.7 , , .428 , , .312 , , .743 , , 4.0 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 0.8 , , 1.3 , , 6.2

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015 , style="text-align:left;",

, 2 , , 0 , , 6.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , – , , 1.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", New York , 1 , , 0 , , 6.0 , , 1.000 , , – , , – , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 2.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", New York , 1 , , 0 , , 1.0 , , – , , – , , – , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - , align="left" , Career , 3 years, 2 teams , 4 , , 0 , , 4.8 , , .250 , , .000 , , – , , 1.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.5

Personal

On June 7, 2021, WNBA.com published an op-ed written by Zahui B., titled "What Does Pride Mean to Me?", in commemoration of

Pride Month LGBT Pride Month is a month, typically in June, dedicated to celebration and commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) pride. Pride Month began after the Stonewall riots, a series of gay liberation protests in 1969, and ha ...

. Zahui B. described herself as having a "personal journey of finding myself", and publicly came out as a lesbian. She wrote, "I celebrate my body, my mind and my sexuality. I am confident and open to the fact that I was made to love women. I was created to celebrate the beautiful women on this earth. To love the most powerful creature on this earth, the woman." Zahui B. stated that she has a family who has "always been accepting and supportive" regarding her sexuality.

References

External links

* *
Day in The Life: Amanda Zahui B.'s WNBA Draft Day
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zahui B, Amanda 1993 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players Centers (basketball) Fenerbahçe women's basketball players Lesbian sportswomen LGBT basketball players Swedish LGBT sportspeople Los Angeles Sparks players Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball players New York Liberty players Sportspeople from Stockholm Swedish expatriate basketball people in the United States Swedish people of French descent Swedish people of Ivorian descent Swedish people of Spanish descent Swedish women's basketball players Tulsa Shock draft picks Tulsa Shock players 21st-century LGBT people