Former Teammate of Wizards Bilal Coulibaly Makes History

The Washington Wizards drafted Bilal Coulibaly out of France, and former teammate Victor Wembanyama is doing big things for the San Antonio Spurs.

In all walks of life, people get connected with each other for various reasons, for example, guard Jordan Poole and forward Kyle Kuzma are going to be connected in Washington Wizards history no matter what comes of their individual futures.

As teammates, even if the two were to split from the Wizards someday - or even just one of them while the other remains - they'll always have a direct connection that nobody can take away. 

Washington Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly (L) and San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (R) swap jerseys after their game at Capital One Arena / Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

In that same vein, Washington rookie guard Bilal Coulibaly and San Antonio Spurs rookie center Victor Wembanyama are forever linked as well. 

While Coulibaly has been a bright spot on the Wizards' otherwise lackluster 2023-24 NBA Season, Wembanyama has been doing his thing for the Spurs and even joined an exclusive club on Friday in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

“He doesn’t have a ceiling,” Lakers forward LeBron James said. “He can do whatever he wants to do in his career. It seems like he enjoys the game. It seems like he puts the work in, just from the outside looking in. … I said a long time ago how special he was, and it’s really that simple.”

In the game, a 123-118 loss for San Antonio, Wembanyama scored 27 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, dished eight assists, and recorded five steals and five blocks in 31 minutes on the floor. 

According to the NBA, it was just the 22nd '5x5' stat line in the history of the association.

While Wembanyama is doing that kind of thing for the Spurs, Coulibaly is trying to keep his own development no track as the Wizards continue to sink to the bottom of the Eastern Conference. 

Coulibaly is already just 35 minutes from ranking in the top 25 of playtime for a Washington rookie in franchise history and currently ranks 22nd all-time with 8.3 points per game. 

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His .9 steals per game thus far is 20th in franchise history for rookies as well, matching guard Bradley Beal's rookie season in 2012.

Wembanyama was the first overall pick in 2023, a spot the Wizards currently hold the third-best odds of landing in 2024 as of February 10th.

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