Throughout the history of basketball, there are always various stories. Success, failure, hope, hope, progress. There are countless comparisons, almost always with the NBA as the backdrop: “The next Michael Jordan”, “the next Kobe Bryant”, “the new LeBron James”.
But the fact is, objectively speaking, very few players have reached Olympus. However, there are also some stories that excite a region or even an entire country. In this article, we discuss a case that raised many expectations, but it did not end as expected – or rather, did not progress.
Expectations, pressure and character, Molotov cocktails
It’s easy to judge a good athlete by their appearance. This happens because all surrounding factors are not taken into account. The pressure is high from a young age; the fear of failure is present; adaptability is a key element.The list may become longer, and in this case Sekou Doumbouya (2’06/22 years) Several factors came into play.
Doumbouya’s story is unique. He entered the elite class quite early: At only 14/15 years old he entered INSEP (National Institute of Sports), some people dare to say that he was the player with the strongest shooting power at the time. But within a year, the first setback of his career came when behavioral problems deceived him. Some bad behavior in school led to his expulsion.
But that didn’t stop him from continuing to excel in France’s ProB (Second Division) with Poitiers and Limoges.His physical attributes and athleticism make it easier for him The Guinean-born player was selected No. 15 in the 2019 draft. Despite his personality, he seems to have carved a niche for himself in the NBA.
Fall into hell
Once he reached the top, his adaptation didn’t go as well as expected. He combined the NBA with the G League and a team associated with the Detroit Pistons, the team that selected him in the draft. Soon his coach, Dwayne Casey, was openly criticizing: “I’m worried about Sekou, his attitude and behavior. I don’t know if it’s a cultural barrier, but he’s got to keep playing hard. Young players are bound to make mistakes, but a lack of intensity shouldn’t be one of them.“.
In this case, the coronavirus pandemic and the suspension/cancellation of the NBA regular season. He traveled to France before agreeing to a deal with Detroit. In addition, relations between him and his representative bodies have broken down. After the epidemic, he went through transfers again and again until he joined the 76ers of the Development League, waiting for the last train to the NBA. Although they finally won the championship, Doumbouya only averages 9 minutes per game.
And so we came to our day. He took part in pre-season with Monaco but ended up signing a contract with MarousiIt is a newly promoted Greek polo team that is only 22 years old. The player who was compared to Pascal Siakam now wants to make amends for everything that happened in his short professional playing career. We’ll wait and see what his future holds.