Bilal Coulibaly earns ‘night and day’ tease from Wizards teammate

“Oh, man. I think for me personally, it’s night and day, from when I got here in January to now,” Bagley said. “His confidence level is way higher in my opinion. He’s more confident in what he’s doing, more aggressive in what he’s doing. He’s just playing, he’s just playing free.”

The Wizards acquired Bagley, Isaiah Livers, and two second-round picks from the Detroit Pistons in January for Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala. Coulibaly was in the midst of his rookie year at the time, and Bagley’s seen improvements in his game since then.

“It’s something you just love to see. It’s year two, so whatever he did in the summertime, you can tell that the work is paying off,” Bagley continued. “It’s a good thing to see as his teammate and just being able to play alongside him, so I definitely see growth.”

Coulibaly missed Monday’s game with a left finger sprain, but he was impactful on both ends of the floor in the three preceding contests. The French international scored 13 points on 3-of-5 shooting with four rebounds, two assists, three steals and one block against the Toronto Raptors and corralled nine boards despite shooting just 1-of-9 against the New York Knicks.

Bilal Coulibaly wants to help Wizards in multiple ways

Coulibaly’s grown both physically and mentally, adding about an inch of height and 1o pounds of muscle since last season. Additionally, he’s now more intentional about what he wants to do on both ends of the floor, via ABC 7 News’ Scott Abraham.

“Just defensively, first of all, just being more involved,” Coulibaly said. “Being a leader on that hand, being able to talk to everybody through it. Yeah, I know I can help them…Offensively, just being able to handle the ball way more, push the ball in transition, and just being able to set the pace and everything.”

Coulibaly’s defensive impact wasn’t a one-time thing this preseason, as he also registered two steals and two blocks in the first game against the Raptors. The 20-year-old also made a highlight-reel block on 2024 All-Star Scottie Barnes in the second matchup.

“I feel like having a stop on the best player on the team that you were playing against is a great feeling,” Coulibaly admitted. “Probably better than scoring on them.”

Coulibaly is uniquely advantaged compared to most 20-year-olds in the NBA. Not only does he have a full season under his belt, but he also won the silver medal with the French national team in the Paris Olympics this past summer, giving him more development on the world stage.

“Yeah, I learned a lot,” Coulibaly told ABC 7 News’ Sports Director, Scott Abraham. “Staying ready, because there’s some games you’re going to play, some games you’re probably not going to play, so you never know, just stay ready, being locked in all the time.”

While the 2023 first-round pick may have been a small piece of France’s rotation, that won’t be the case in Washington. The Wizards will rely heavily on Coulibaly in the coming years, and if he keeps shooting efficiently and making impact plays on defense, the franchise will be in good hands.