Amanda Agnes Sofia Zahui Bazoukou (born 8 September 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for BC Castelnuovo Scrivia of the

Lega Basket Femminile Lega Basket Femminile (LBF) is the premier national league for women's basketball clubs in Italy, founded in 1930. Pool Comense is the competition's most successful club with fifteen championships, followed by AS Vicenza with twelve and Geas Bas ...

. After playing basketball both in Sweden and collegiately with the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college athletics, college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 21 (9 men's, 12 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and com ...

, Zahui 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; ...

with the second overall pick in the 2015 WNBA draft.

Early life

Zahui grew up in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden, where her parents met. Ann-Sofi Zahui Bazoukou grew up in Spain and France before moving to Stockholm, whereas Alex Zahui Bazoukou left his native Ivory Coast to seek work in Europe. The family lived in neighbourhoods heavily populated by African immigrants. Zahui grew up playing

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

, as well as singing in the choir and taking theater lessons. She began playing basketball at age 10. By age 13, she was added to Sweden's 16-and-under national team. She averaged 15 points and eight rebounds for the Swedish national team in the Under-18 European Championships in 2011. Zahui attended Igelstavikens Gymnasium in

Södertälje Södertälje ( , ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Stockholm County, Sweden and seat of Södertälje Municipality. It is also a part of Stockholm urban area, Greater Stockholm Metropolitan Area. As of 2020, it has 73,872 inhabitants. Södert� ...

. She played three seasons in the Damligan for Telge Basket between 2009 and 2012. Upon moving to the United States, she shortened Bazoukou to an initial so it would fit on her jersey and be easier to pronounce.

College career

Zahui joined the

in 2012 but redshirted the 2012–13 season. She played two seasons for the Golden Gophers between 2013 and 2015. She was named Big Ten Player of the Year by the media for the 2014–15 season. In February 2015, she scored a career-high 39 points in a game against

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. 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, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

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

Moses Malone Moses Eugene Malone Sr. (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 ...

in October 1979.

Professional career

WNBA

Zahui was drafted second overall by the

in the 2015 WNBA draft. After one season with Tulsa, she joined the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Confer ...

, where she played five seasons between 2016 and 2020. Zahui joined the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles 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 of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Crypto.co ...

in 2021. She was placed on the full-season suspended list by the Sparks in 2022, meaning she did not get paid and her salary was not on the team's cap sheet, but her rights were retained by the Sparks. It was done due to her overseas commitments potentially keeping her away for a large portion of the season. On 21 January 2023, Zahui was traded 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 of the Western Conference. The team plays its home game ...

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 career During her senior year at Wake Forest, Hamby averaged 20.3 points, the ...

. On 5 February 2023, she was traded again, this time to 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 of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team was ...

in exchange for two second-round picks. She signed with the team two days later. On 4 July 2023, Zahui was traded to the

Indiana Fever The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Fever compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team was founded for ...

in exchange for

Queen Egbo Queen Kamsiyochukwu Egbo (born June 29, 2000) is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. She previously played in the WNBA for the Indiana Fever, Washington Mystics, Connecticut Sun, Los Angeles Sparks and Las Ve ...

Overseas

For the 2015–16 season, Zahui joined Adana ASKİ in Turkey. Zahui joined Russian team

Nadezhda Orenburg PBK Nadezhda Orenburg () is a Russian professional women's basketball club from Orenburg founded in 1994. Nadezhda has been 3rd in the Russian Women's Basketball Premier League, Russian Premier League in 2010 and 2011, and reached the Russian Wo ...

for the 2016–17 season. The "Zahui" name was the cause of many jokes in the

Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...

, which led to her changing her name to Bazoukou in March 2017. She earned the Russian League's best forward award. Zahui played for

USK Praha USK Praha (, University Sports Club Prague), formerly known as Slavia VŠ Praha (), is a Czech Republic, Czech professional basketball Club (organization), club that was founded in 1953 in the city of Prague. USK Praha plays in the National Bas ...

in Czech Republic in 2017–18 and

Sopron Basket Sopron Basket is a Hungary, Hungarian professional women's basketball club from Sopron. Founded in 1921 as the women's section of Soproni Vasutas Sportegylet, Soproni VSE, it has played in the Hungarian national championship for women's, Hungarian ...

in Hungary in 2018–19. She played the majority of the 2019–20 season in China with Shandong Six Stars before having a one-game stint in Turkey with Hatay BB. She returned to Russia for the 2020–21 season, playing for Dynamo Kursk. She returned to Turkey for a third time in 2021–22 with Fenerbahçe and then played for

Beretta Famila Schio Pallacanestro Femminile Schio, also known as Beretta Famila Schio for sponsorship reasons, is an Italian professional women's basketball team based in Schio that competes in Serie A1 (women's basketball), Serie A. Team history Founded in 1973, ...

in Italy in 2022–23. Zahui was set to play for Israeli Division 1 club Maccabi Bnot Ashdod in the 2023–24 season, but she fled the country after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023. In December 2023, Zahui joined the

Townsville Fire The Townsville Fire are an Australian professional basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). The Fire are based in Townsville, Queensland, and play their home games at Townsville Entertainment and Convention Ce ...

of the

Women's National Basketball League The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is a professional women's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Australia composed of eight teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the Women's sports, women's counterpart to the Na ...

(WNBL) in Australia for the rest of the 2023–24 season. During the 2024–25 season, she played from October to November 2024 for

Polkowice Polkowice () is a town in south-western Poland. It is situated in Lower Silesian Voivodeship. The town is the seat of Polkowice County and of Gmina Polkowice. Geography Polkowice is located in historic Lower Silesia, about northwest of Lubin ...

in Poland, and from January 2025 for BC Castelnuovo Scrivia in Italy.

Career statistics

WNBA

Source

Regular season

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

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

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

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

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

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

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

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

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

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

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

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

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

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

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

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

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

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

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

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

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

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

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

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, 30 , , 27 , , 23.8 , , .429 , , .280 , , .767 , , 5.1 , , 1.0 , , 0.6 , , 1.2 , , 1.8 , , 9.2 , - , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

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

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, 12 , , 1 , , 7.8 , , .250 , , .214 , , .750 , , 1.4 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 2.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, 22 , , 0 , , 7.3 , , .261 , , .130 , , .750 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 1.5 , - , align="left" , Career , 8 years, 5 teams , 231 , , 72 , , 14.5 , , .418 , , .300 , , .743 , , 3.5 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 0.7 , , 1.2 , , 5.6

Playoffs

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

, 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;",

, 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;",

, 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

College

Source

Personal life

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

Pride Month Pride Month, sometimes specified as LGBTQ Pride Month, is a List of month-long observances, month-long observance dedicated to the celebration of LGBTQ pride, commemorating the contributions of lesbian, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender a ...

. Zahui described herself as having a "personal journey of finding myself", and publicly came out as a

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

. 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 stated that she has a family who has "always been accepting and supportive" regarding her sexuality. As of January 2024, Zahui's partner is English footballer, Shameeka Fishley.

References

External links

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