The injury bug has bitten Washington Wizards wing Bilal Coulibaly for the second straight year. The 20-year-old strained his right hamstring in the first quarter of Monday’s 119-104 loss to the Toronto Raptors and will be out for four to six weeks, likely ending his season.
Coulibaly took a step forward in his second campaign, averaging 12.3 points, five rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.3 steals after posting 8.4, 4.1, 1.7, and 0.9 as a rookie, respectively. The French international also routinely guarded the opposing team’s best player and held stars such as Trae Young and Jayson Tatum in check.
Coulibaly isn’t expected to get surgery, but the Wizards (13-51) will approach his rehab cautiously. The 2023 No.7 overall pick is a centerpiece of their rebuild, so they won’t rush him back and risk a setback.
Coulibaly was the first draft pick made by the team’s regime, and his absence will allow even bigger roles for Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington, and Kyshawn George, who it drafted in the first round this past summer. No. 23 overall pick A.J. Johnson, who Washington acquired at the trade deadline, could also get more playing time.
Coulibaly lost balance and fell violently after a dunk in the Raptors game.
Scary fall for Bilal Coulibaly.
Luckily he got up and walked it off. Appears to be okay. pic.twitter.com/8CALYvLSQ0
— Greg Finberg (@GregFinberg) March 11, 2025
The dunk was his 72nd of the season, an improvement on the 51 slams he had as a rookie. The 6-foot-8-inch, 195-pounder played 63 games before fracturing his wrist last season and 59 this year.
Coulibaly’s main trait that he must work on in the offseason is his shooting. The dynamic slasher’s field goal percentage went down to 42.1 percent this year after posting a 43.5 percent clip as a rookie. His three-point percentage went down from 34.6 to 28.1.
More to come
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