Sekou Doumbouya

Sekou Doumbouya is a power forward/small forward who experienced a rapid rise to high-level basketball. Discovered by Benoist Burguet in Fleury-les-Aubrais when he wasn't even playing basketball yet, the young player from Loiret quickly made his mark in the basketball world.

Blessed with incredible potential, he joined the France National Training Center in the mid-2010s. Averaging 10.6 points and 3.3 rebounds in Nationale 1 during his U16 season in 2015-2016, he had to leave the INSEP-based institution the following season due to behavioral issues. Sekou Doumbouya then joined Poitiers Basket 86.

Selected for the French U18 team two years ahead of his age group, he made the All-Tournament Team at the 2016 U18 EuroBasket, which France won in Turkey. Impressed by his profile, NBA scouts continuously followed him until his drafting as the 15th pick in 2019. In between, Sekou Doumbouya established himself in Pro B with Poitiers before joining Limoges to play in Jeep ELITE (now Betclic ELITE) in 2018-2019 before making the jump to the United States.

In the NBA, Sekou Doumbouya had a solid rookie season (6.4 points on 39% shooting and 3.1 rebounds in 19 minutes) before stagnating in his second year with Detroit. Worse, a lack of discipline cost him his place in the Pistons' roster and exhausted his agency Comsport's patience. This led to a long period of challenges until his return to competitive basketball in March 2024.

Traded to Brooklyn then Houston at the start of the 2021-2022 season, Sekou Doumbouya wasn't retained by the Rockets. Signed by the Lakers, he suffered foot injuries that limited him to 11 G-League games with the South Bay Lakers. He continued in G-League in 2022-2023 with the Delaware Blue Coats. Although his team won the championship during playoffs, his role was very limited due to limited physical condition.

On his path to redemption, Sekou Doumbouya attempted to join AS Monaco, participating in part of the 2023-2024 preseason preparation, then Maroussi Athens. However, he didn't play in either case. Finally, after several weeks of training in Dallas, where Bouna Ndiaye (one of the Comsport agents he returned to) resides, he returned to competition in early March 2024 with Chorale de Roanne. An interesting individual return at only 23 years old.

While unable to keep Chorale in Betclic ELITE, he showed promising individual performances. This attracted Andorra, returning to Liga Endesa. There too, without putting up exceptional numbers, he gradually distinguished himself in the Spanish championship, notably scoring 19 points on February 9 in Andorra's victory at Gran Canaria.