Siriman Kanouté (born 25 September 2001) is a Malian 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. He has starred for the Malian national junior teams on several occasions and trains with French club

SLUC Nancy Basket Stade Lorrain Université Club Nancy Basket, commonly referred to as SLUC Nancy Basket, is a French professional basketball club based in Nancy. The club currently competes in the LNB Pro A, the top league in France, and holds two league titles. S ...

Early life and career

Kanouté grew up playing both

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 ...

and basketball. He learned how to play basketball from his father, a former player, and soon began playing the sport for the club

AS Real Bamako Association Sportive du Real Bamako, commonly referred to as Real Bamako is a Malian football club based in Bamako. They play in the Malian Première Division the top division in Malian football. Their home stadium is Stade Modibo Keïta. Among ...

. In 2018, Kanouté signed a four-year contract with

in France.

Professional career

On 23 April 2021, Kanouté made his professional debut for

SLUC Nancy Stade Lorrain Université Club Nancy Basket, commonly referred to as SLUC Nancy Basket, is a French professional basketball club based in Nancy. The club currently competes in the LNB Pro A, the top league in France, and holds two league titles. S ...

, as he recorded 2 minutes in a

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 ...

game against

Saint-Chamond Basket Saint-Chamond Basket is a professional basketball club based in Saint-Chamond, France. The team currently plays in the Pro B, the second highest professional division in France. The team plays its home games at the Halle André Boulloche, which ha ...

. Over the 2020–21 season, he played in a total of 33 minutes in which he had 9 points and 8 assists.

National team career

Junior teams

Kanouté made his national team debut with the Malian under-16 team at the 2017 FIBA Under-16 African Championship in

Vacoas-Phoenix Vacoas-Phoenix () also known as French: ''Villes Jumelles'' (Twin Cities), is a town in Mauritius, located in the Plaines Wilhems District, the eastern part also lies in the Moka District. The town is administered by the Municipal Council of Vaco ...

, Mauritius. On 15 July 2017, he recorded a career-high 50 points and 11 steals in a 165–23 victory over Mauritius. Kanouté averaged a tournament-high 24.8 points, 4.5 steals, and 4.2 assists per game, leading Mali to their first gold medal at the tournament and earning

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

(MVP) honors. He joined Mali at the 2018 FIBA Under-17 World Cup in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. On 30 June 2018, Kanouté recorded 37 points, tied for fourth-most in a game in tournament history, six rebounds, and five assists in an 89–77 loss to

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

. He averaged a tournament-high 24.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.9 steals per game. Kanouté played for the Malian national under-18 team at the

2018 FIBA Under-18 African Championship The 2018 FIBA U18 African Championship was the 19th edition, played under the rules of FIBA, the world governing body for basketball, and the FIBA Africa thereof. The tournament was hosted by Mali from 24 August to 2 September 2018 in Bamako. Th ...

in Bamako. He averaged a team-high 14.3 points, 5.4 assists, and 4.4 rebounds per game, leading his team to its first gold medal at the tournament. Kanouté posted 10 points, six rebounds, and five assists against

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

in the finals and was named tournament MVP. He later took part in the 2019 FIBA Under-19 World Cup in

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban A ...

, Greece. In seven games, Kanouté averaged 15.4 points, 5.1 assists, and 2.4 steals per game, helping Mali capture an unlikely silver medal, the best performance by an African team at the tournament. He was named to the All-Star Five with teammate Oumar Ballo.

Senior team

Kanouté was selected for the Mali senior team at age 19 to play at

AfroBasket 2021 FIBA AfroBasket 2021 was the 30th edition of the FIBA AfroBasket, a men's basketball continental championship of Africa. The tournament was hosted by Rwanda for the first time. It was originally scheduled to take place between 17 and 29 August 2 ...

. There, Kanouté led his country both in scoring and assists, with 14 points and 3.7 assists per game.

Personal life

Kanouté's father Séga Kanouté played basketball for AS Real Bamako and the Malian senior national team. Séga is a board member on the Mali Basketball Federation and coaches both the AS Real women's basketball team and Malian men's national junior teams.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanouté, Siriman 2001 births Living people Malian expatriate basketball people in France Malian men's basketball players Point guards 21st-century Malian people