The Washington Wizards guard will represent his country, and the home team in the Olympics.
On Sunday, a report from Sportando indicated that the Fédération Française de Basketball, or the French Basketball Federation finalized the roster of its men’s national team for the 2024 Olympics. In the list, Washington Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly was reportedly named to the final roster. This is the first time that Coulibaly has represented Les Bleus at the senior level for international competition.
The French Basketball Federation hasn’t officially said anything as of the time of this posting. But again, if Coulibaly is playing significant minutes against top tier international competition in friendlies, it wouldn’t make sense to play him these kind of minutes and yet cut him at the last minute. Also, other Francophone basketball X accounts are noting that the team has made their last cuts.
❌ Élie Okobo et Théo Maledon sont les deux derniers coupés de l’équipe de France avant les Jeux Olympiques de #Paris2024 !
️ La liste des 12 Bleus ayant leur billet pour les JO est donc connue.
https://t.co/rhASL8pq4v pic.twitter.com/6e0DgWormO
— BeBasket (@Be_BasketFr) July 7, 2024
So Wizards fans, I think we can now say PUTAIN OUAIS* now (that is “F Yeah” in French), right? After all, many of you wanted to see Coulibaly play for Les Bleus in Lille later this month. Now, it’s happening.
*And so you know, I typed the word OUAIS instead of OUI. It’s not a typo. The French and Francophone Belgians don’t often say “WEE WEE WEE” like a little pig going home. They say OUAIS which is pronounced “weh.” Google up a French pop song and you’ll get what I mean.
I’ll admit that I’ve been skeptical about Coulibaly’s chances of making the Olympic team. I will gladly eat crow over that since I’m apparently a Bilal hater to some folks on the internet.
And for the record, JE NE SUIS PAS UN HATER DE MONSIEUR COULIBALY !
Anyway, for those of you who thought that I was going to be een Julie Vanloo liefhebber/un passionné de Julie Vanloo (that means a Julie Vanloo enthusiast in Dutch and French, respectively), a Canadian fanatic for Aaliyah Edwards or an Opals stan for Jade Melbourne, you’re right. I will. This site will be that way at the end of this month. Vanloo, Edwards and Melbourne represent the Washington Mystics and seeing three of their players on Olympic teams will be a highlight of their season.
That said, I was pessimistic about the Wizards having an Olympian after their worst season in franchise history. That’s in part because the French men’s basketball team is one of the best in the world. And for what it’s worth, rookie center Alex Sarr will not be on Les Bleus either way.
But sometimes, there is a God, so the Wizards get someone on an Olympic team. That’s what happened in 2021 when Rui Hachimura led Team Japan in the Tokyo Olympic Games. And that’s what happened today when Coulibaly was selected to represent his country, the home team, in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris (though again, the group stage is in Lille).
FÉLICITATIONS BILAL ! ALLEZ LA FRANCE !
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