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Amanda Zahui B.

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Amanda Agnes Sofia Zahui Bazoukou (born 8 September 1993),[1] known professionally as Amanda Zahui B., is a Swedish basketball player who last played for the Townsville Fire of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). After playing basketball both in Sweden and collegiately with the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Zahui was drafted by the Tulsa Shock with the second overall pick in the 2015 WNBA draft.

Amanda Zahui B.
Zahui with the Washington Mystics in 2023
Free agent
PositionCenter
Personal information
Born (1993-09-08) 8 September 1993 (age 31)
Stockholm, Sweden
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight184 lb (83 kg)
Career information
High schoolIgelstavikens Gymnasium
(Södertälje, Sweden)
CollegeMinnesota (2013–2015)
WNBA draft2015: 1st round, 2nd overall pick
Selected by the Tulsa Shock
Playing career2009–present
Career history
2009–2012Telge Basket
2015Tulsa Shock
2015–2016Adana ASKİ
2016–2020New York Liberty
2016–2017Nadezhda Orenburg
2017–2018USK Praha
2018–2019Sopron Basket
2019–2020Shandong Six Stars
2020Hatay BB
2020–2021Dynamo Kursk
2021–2022Los Angeles Sparks
2021–2022Fenerbahçe
2022–2023Beretta Famila Schio
2023Washington Mystics
2023Indiana Fever
2023–2024Townsville Fire
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball Reference

Early life

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Zahui grew up in Stockholm, 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.[2] The family lived in neighbourhoods heavily populated by African immigrants.[3]

Zahui grew up playing soccer and tennis, as well as singing in the choir and taking theater lessons.[2] She began playing basketball at age 10. By age 13, she was added to Sweden's 16-and-under national team.[2] She averaged 15 points and eight rebounds for the Swedish national team in the Under-18 European Championships in 2011.[4]

Zahui attended Igelstavikens Gymnasium in Södertälje.[5] She played three seasons in the Damligan for Telge Basket between 2009 and 2012.[6]

Upon moving to the United States, she shortened Bazoukou to an initial so it would fit on her jersey and be easier to pronounce.[4]

College career

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Zahui joined the Minnesota Golden Gophers in 2012[4] but redshirted the 2012–13 season.[5] She played two seasons for the Golden Gophers between 2013 and 2015.[5] She was named Big Ten Player of the Year by the media for the 2014–15 season.[5]

In February 2015, she scored a career-high 39 points in a game against Iowa. She also recorded 29 rebounds in that game, the most ever by a player in the Big Ten Conference. The last NBA player to record at least 39 points and 29 rebounds in a game was Moses Malone in October 1979.[7]

Professional career

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WNBA

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Zahui was drafted second overall by the Tulsa Shock in the 2015 WNBA draft.[8][9] After one season with Tulsa, she joined the New York Liberty, where she played five seasons between 2016 and 2020.[6]

Zahui joined the Los Angeles Sparks in 2021.[10] 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.[11]

On 21 January 2023, Zahui was traded to the Las Vegas Aces in exchange for Dearica Hamby.[12] On 5 February 2023, she was traded again, this time to the Washington Mystics in exchange for two second-round picks.[13] She signed with the team two days later.[14]

On 4 July 2023, Zahui was traded to the Indiana Fever in exchange for Queen Egbo.[15]

Overseas

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For the 2015–16 season, Zahui joined Adana ASKİ in Turkey.[6]

Zahui joined Russian team Nadezhda Orenburg for the 2016–17 season.[16] The "Zahui" name was the cause of many jokes in the Russian language, which led to her changing her name to Bazoukou in March 2017.[17][18] She earned the Russian League's best forward award.[19]

Zahui played for USK Praha in Czech Republic in 2017–18 and Sopron Basket in Hungary in 2018–19.[6] 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.[6] She returned to Russia for the 2020–21 season, playing for Dynamo Kursk.[6] She returned to Turkey for a third time in 2021–22 with Fenerbahçe and then played for Beretta Famila Schio in Italy in 2022–23.[6]

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.[20]

In December 2023, Zahui joined the Townsville Fire of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) in Australia for the rest of the 2023–24 season.[21]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader

WNBA

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Source[22]

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2015 Tulsa 31 0 9.7 .361 .333 .750 2.4 0.3 0.2 0.6 0.6 3.4
2016 New York 33 1 11.3 .449 .118 .787 3.2 0.4 0.3 0.7 1.1 5.0
2017 New York 29 0 5.3 .400 .250 .750 1.1 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.5 2.2
2018 New York 29 0 15.9 .500 .344 .605 3.0 0.7 0.4 0.4 1.6 7.7
2019 New York 24 23 23.3 .468 .319 .852 6.3 0.9 1.1 1.4 1.3 8.6
2020 New York 21 20 25.3 .353 .340 .694 8.5 1.9 0.9 1.2 2.6 9.0
2021 Los Angeles 30 27 23.8 .429 .280 .767 5.1 1.0 0.6 1.2 1.8 9.2
2023 Washington 12 1 7.8 .250 .214 .750 1.4 0.3 0.3 0.6 0.4 2.0
Indiana 22 0 7.3 .261 .130 .750 1.0 0.3 0.1 0.5 0.5 1.5
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

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2015 Tulsa 2 0 6.0 .000 .000 – 1.5 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0
2016 New York 1 0 6.0 1.000 – – 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0
2017 New York 1 0 1.0 – – – 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Career 3 years, 2 teams 4 0 4.8 .250 .000 – 1.5 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.5

College

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Source[23]

Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2013-14 Minnesota 34 514 54.3% 33.3% 65.4% 11.6 1.4 0.7 3.1 15.1
2014-15 Minnesota 33 621 55.5% 26.1% 78.3% 12.9 1.1 1.4 4.1 18.8
Career 67 1135 54.9% 26.9% 72.8% 12.2 1.3 1.0 3.6 16.9

Personal life

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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. Zahui 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 stated that she has a family who has "always been accepting and supportive" regarding her sexuality.[24]

As of January 2024, Zahui's partner is English footballer, Shameeka Fishley.[20]

References

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  1. ^ "Amanda Agnes Sofia Zahui Bazoukou". tbf.org.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Amanda Zahui B.: U women's basketball's marvelous mystery". Star Tribune. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  3. ^ "She found her voice in a WNBA locker room, then used it in Sweden". Orlando Sentinel. 13 July 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "Gophers women's basketball adds 6-5 Swedish center Amanda Zahui B." Twin Cities. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  5. ^ a b c d "Amanda Zahui B." gophersports.com. Archived from the original on 26 September 2016.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g "Amanda Zahui". australiabasket.com. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  7. ^ "Watch Minnesota's Amanda Zahui B.'s record-setting night in win over Iowa". btn.com. 18 February 2015.
  8. ^ Berkman, Seth (17 April 2015). "Jewell Loyd and Amanda Zahui B. Are Top Two Picks in W.N.B.A Draft - The New York Times". The New York Times.
  9. ^ "Tulsa Introduces No. 2 pick Zahui B. - WNBA". www.wnba.com. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  10. ^ "Sparks Sign Former No. 2 Overall Pick Amanda Zahui B. - WNBA". www.wnba.com. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  11. ^ Swanson, Mirjam (5 May 2022). "Sparks' roster crunch means Amanda Zahui B. won't play this year". The Orange County Register. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  12. ^ "Aces Acquire 6-5 Center Amanda Zahui B From Los Angeles In Exchange For Dearica Hamby And Swap Of 2024 Draft Picks". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  13. ^ "Aces Acquire Pair Of Second Round Picks From Washington". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  14. ^ "Mystics Sign Amanda Zahui B." Washington Mystics. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  15. ^ "Fever Acquire Amanda Zahui B in Trade with Washington".
  16. ^ Amanda Zahui will pull Nadezhda up Archived 2017-03-16 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
  17. ^ The Nadezhda's basketball player changes family Archived 2017-05-09 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
  18. ^ The family of the Russian Basketball rising star was changed (in Russian)
  19. ^ "Drömdebut för Amanda Zahui i Tjeckien – poängbäst av alla spelare i premiären". LT.se (in Swedish). 26 September 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  20. ^ a b Hustwaite, Megan (3 January 2024). "Zahui B stabilising emotions after experience in Israel". ESPN.com.au. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  21. ^ Townsville (4 December 2023). "TOWNSVILLE FIRE PLAYER ANNOUNCEMENT". wnbl.basketball/townsville. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  22. ^ "Amanda Zahui B. WNBA Stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  23. ^ "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  24. ^ Zahui B., Amanda (7 June 2021). "What Does Pride Mean To Me? Written By Amanda Zahui B." WNBA. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
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