Amar Sylla (born 1 October 2001) is a Senegalese professional

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 (appr ...

player who plays for

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

of the

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

. He also plays for the Senegalese national under-18 team.

Early life and career

Sylla was born in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

, Senegal. Growing up, he preferred

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

but began playing basketball at the SEED Academy in

Thiès Thiès (; ar, ثيس, Ṯyass; Noon: ''Chess'') is the third largest city in Senegal with a population officially estimated at 320,000 in 2005. It lies east of Dakar on the N2 road and at the junction of railway lines to Dakar, Bamako and St-L ...

because of his height. In 2015, after taking part in a basketball camp in

Kébémer Kébémer is a town with commune status in Louga Region in north-west Senegal, lying midway between Thiès and Saint-Louis, Senegal, Saint-Louis. It is the chief settlement, with a population of nearly 20,000 in 2013, of the department of the Kéb ...

organized by

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

player

Gorgui Dieng Gorgui Sy Dieng (; ; born January 18, 1990) is a Senegalese professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals. Dieng was selected as ...

, Sylla moved to Spain to pursue the sport. At

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

qualifiers for the 2019 Adidas Next Generation Tournament, Sylla averaged 14.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, and three blocks per game. He led the event in blocked shots and was named to the All-Tournament Team. In four games at the final tournament in

Vitoria-Gasteiz es, vitoriano, vitoriana, , population_density_km2 = auto , blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s) , blank_info_sec1 = Spanish, Basque , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Spain, Sylla averaged 10.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 3.3 blocks per game. He helped the Real Madrid junior team win the championship.

Professional career

On 15 July 2019, Sylla signed with

Filou Oostende Basketball Club Oostende, for sponsorship reasons Filou Oostende, is a Belgian professional basketball team. The club is based in Ostend and was founded in 1970. The club competes domestically in the BNXT League and internationally in the Baske ...

of the Belgian

Pro Basketball League The Pro Basketball League (PBL), was the highest tier level professional basketball league in Belgium for clubs. In 2021, the league was succeeded by the Belgian-Dutch BNXT League. Through 2014, for sponsorship reasons, the league was previously ...

(PBL) and European competition

Basketball Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL) is an annual professional basketball competition for European clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the top-level competition organised by FIBA Europe, therefore the champion participates in the FIBA Intercontin ...

(BCL). He signed a three-year contract with an

opt-out clause. He played for the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

in the 2021 NBA Summer League. In August 2021, Sylla signed with Lithuanian club

Nevėžis The Nevėžis () is the sixth longest river in Lithuania and one of the main tributaries of the Nemunas. Its length is , and it flows only within the geographical confines of Lithuania.2022 NBA Summer League The 2022 NBA Summer League, also branded as the NBA 2K23 Summer League 2022, was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) primarily at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the campus ...

with the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

. On 4 August 2022, he signed a one-year contract with

of the Spanish

National team career

Sylla played for the Senegalese national under-18 team at the 2018 FIBA Under-18 African Championship in

Bamako Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on t ...

, Mali, including in the qualifiers. In seven games, he averaged 13.4 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game, leading Senegal to second place. In February 2022, Sylla was selected for the Senegal national team to play in the qualifiers of the

2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup will be the 19th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams. The tournament will be the second to feature 32 teams. For the first time in its history, the World Cup will be ...

References

External links

Real Madrid profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sylla, Amar 2001 births Living people Basketball players from Dakar BC Nevėžis players BC Oostende players Real Betis Baloncesto players Centers (basketball) Liga ACB players Power forwards (basketball) Senegalese expatriate basketball people in Belgium Senegalese expatriate basketball people in Spain Senegalese men's basketball players