Billy Yakuba Ouattara (born January 24, 1992, in

Tepa, Ghana Tepa is a small town and is the capital of Ahafo Ano North, a district in the Ashanti Region of Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atla ...

) is a Ghanaian-French 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 for

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Fre ...

of the

LNB Pro A The LNB Pro A, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Betclic Élite, is the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France. The competition has existed since 1921. Since 1987, the Ligue Nationale de Basket has governed the league. ...

and EuroLeague.

Professional career

Ouattara first began his professional career out in France with the

Élan Chalon Élan Sportif Chalonnais, commonly known as Élan Chalon, is a French professional basketball club that is based in Chalon-sur-Saône, France. The team's main colors are red and white, and their mascot is a moose. The team's home arena is called ...

of the

in 2012 as a 20-year-old. He played with that team for two seasons before signing a one-year deal with the

ASC Denain-Voltaire PH Denain Voltaire Basket is a French professional basketball club that was founded in 1947, and is based in Denain, France. The club plays in the LNB Pro B, which is the second-tier level pro competition in France. History The small club of the Vo ...

, who were a part of the

LNB Pro B The LNB Pro B, commonly known as Pro B, is the French basketball league system, 2nd-tier level men's professional basketball league in France. It is the second division of the Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB), which has organized the league since t ...

at that time. During that year, he helped the team make it to the LNB Pro B Finals before ultimately losing the series to

Hyères-Toulon Var Basket Hyères-Toulon Var Basket, also referred to as simply Hyères-Toulon or HTV, is a basketball club based in Hyères and Toulon, France. Created by the merger of Omni Sport Hyerois and Club Sportif Toulonnais, the club shares its home games between ...

. On July 24, 2015, Ouattara signed with the

AS Monaco Basket Association Sportive de Monaco Basketball Club, commonly referred to as A.S. Monaco Basket, is a French-registered Monaco-based professional basketball club. They are a part of the Monaco-based multi-sports club of A.S. Monaco, which was foun ...

out in

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

, returning to the Pro A that year. During his second season at Monaco, Ouattara was named a French Pro A All-Star and helped Monaco win the

Leaders Cup The LNB Pro A Leaders Cup, or French Basketball League Cup, is the annual national league cup competition for teams from the top-tier level of French professional basketball, the LNB Pro A. It was created in its current form in 2003 (after origi ...

Championship over the

ASVEL Basket ASVEL Basket, commonly known as ASVEL or sometimes as ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne, and also known as LDLC ASVEL for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional basketball team that is located in the city of Villeurbanne, which is a suburb of Lyon ...

in 2017. Ouattara signed a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...

with the

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The t ...

of the NBA on July 21, 2017, becoming the first foreign born player to sign a two-way deal with an NBA team. Under the terms of the deal, he would have planned to split time between the Brooklyn Nets and their G League affiliate, the

Long Island Nets The Long Island Nets are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Uniondale, New York, and are affiliated with the Brooklyn Nets. The team plays its home games at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Nassau County ...

, with a majority of his time being spent with the Long Island affiliate team. However, due to injury problems throughout the year, he would never get a chance to play with the Brooklyn Nets squad, having only played in one G League game with the Long Island Nets during that time. On December 17, 2017, Ouattara was waived by the Nets. On January 17, 2018, Ouattara was reacquired by the

. On March 30, 2018, Ouattara signed for the remainder of the 2017–18 season with Monaco. On July 17, 2020, he signed with Coosur Real Betis 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 ...

. On July 20, 2021, he signed with

of the French

also plays in the EuroLeague

National team career

Because of the unavailability of a Ghanaian national team, he has been a member of the French national team.Causeur forfait, Ouattara incertain
FFBB.com, 26 May 2016. Accessed 30 Oct 2016.

References

External links

NBADraft.net profile

Eurobasket.com profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ouattara, Yakuba 1992 births Living people AS Monaco Basket players Black French sportspeople Denain Voltaire Basket players Élan Chalon players Expatriate basketball people in Monaco Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Ghanaian men's basketball players French expatriate basketball people in the United States French expatriate sportspeople in Monaco French men's basketball players French sportspeople of Ghanaian descent Liga ACB players Long Island Nets players People from Tepa, Ghana Real Betis Baloncesto players Shooting guards 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup players