Stéphane Konaté
Konaté in 2022
Personal information
Born (1980-08-23) 23 August 1980
Bouaké, Ivory Coast
NationalityIvory Coast
Listed height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Listed weight79 kg (174 lb)
Career information
High schoolI.N.J.S.
(Abidjan, Ivory Coast)
NBA draft2002: undrafted
Playing career2002–2023
PositionShooting guard
Number15
Career history
2002–2005Africa Sports
2005–2008ABC
2008–2010ASE Essaouira
2010–2011ABC
2011–2012Palencia
2013–2014Gezira
2014–2023ABC / ABC Fighters
2021AS Police
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Ivory Coast
FIBA AfroBasket
Silver medal – second place2009 Libya
Silver medal – second place2021 Kigali

Kinidinnin Stéphane Konaté Sornan (born 23 August 1980) is an Ivorian retired basketball player. He played the majority of his career for the ABC Fighters and for the Ivory Coast national team.[1][2] He is nicknamed "El Jefe" ("The Chef").[3]

Primarily playing as shooting guard, Konaté is a 18-time Ivorian championship winner and was the FIBA Africa Club Champions Cup MVP, following ABC's championship in 2005.

Konaté has represented the Ivory Coast national team in several AfroBasket tournaments, and helped the Elephants finish as runners-ups in 2009 and 2021.

Early life

Konaté was born in Bouaké, a city in the north of Ivory Coast, and started out playing football.[4]

Professional career

Konaté started his professional career with Africa Sports in 2002, while still attending high school. He played with the team for three seasons. In 2005, he signed with Abidjan Basket Club (abbreviated as ABC).

Konaté won the 2015 FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup with ABC. He was also named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

In 2008, Konaté signed in Morocco with ASE Essaouira of the Division Excellence.

In the 2011–12 season, Konaté signed with Spanish side Palencia in the LEB Gold.[5] He averaged 2.6 points in five games, playing 10.4 minutes per game.[6]

In the 2013–14 season, Konaté played with Egyptian side Gezira of the Egyptian Basketball Super League.

In 2014, he returned to ABC, later re-named ABC Fighters.

In October 2021, Konaté was on the roster of Malian club AS Police.[7][8] He had previously received offers from AS Police, but administrative issues prevented making the move.[9] Konaté helped ABC qualify for the 2023 season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL), and played a decisive role in the team's run to the league quarter-finals.

In the fall of 2023, Konaté played in another Road to BAL tournament with ABC. After failing to qualify for the semi-finals, he announced his retirement from basketball at age 43. He cited: ""I am satisfied with the achievements I made playing the game and it gladdens me that people refer to me as an African legend."[10]

National team career

Konaté competed as a member of the Côte d'Ivoire national basketball team for the first time at the FIBA Africa Championship 2003.[11] He has since gone on to compete for the team at the FIBA Africa Championship 2005, FIBA Africa Championship 2007, and FIBA Africa Championship 2009.[12] In his most recent tournament, he averaged 8.7 points per game for the Côte d'Ivoire team that won the silver medal at the 2009 African Championship to qualify for the 2010 FIBA World Championship.[12]

Honours

ABC Fighters[3]
Gezira
Ivory Coast

Individual awards

Personal

Konaté is married to his wife Marine and has two sons with her.[14] He has been holding annual basketball camps in Korhogo since 2021.[4]

BAL career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2023 ABC Fighters 6628.8.385.394.8525.72.31.0.212.7

References

  1. ↑ Profile at basketpedya.com
  2. ↑ Kinidinnin Konate Profile at africabasket.com
  3. 1 2 "Côte d'Ivoire : Konaté Sornan Stéphane, l'un des meilleurs basketteurs ivoiriens - Media Sports" (in French). Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  4. 1 2 "ABC Fighters' Stephane Konate, at 42, is the LeBron of African hoops". ESPN.com. 2023-05-19. Retrieved 2023-07-08.
  5. ↑ "Stephane Konate completa la plantilla de Palencia Baloncesto". Solobasket (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  6. ↑ "Stephane Konate, Basketball Player". Proballers. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  7. ↑ "Basket-ball Africa League : L'AS Police entre en lice aujourd'hui". www.lessormali.com. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  8. ↑ "A.S. Police at the ROAD TO BAL 2022 2021". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  9. ↑ "Konate's successful career can't end without BAL experience". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  10. ↑ "A Legend calls it quits: Stephane Konate retires from basketball". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 2023-11-04.
  11. ↑ Kinidinnin Konate at basketpedya.com
  12. 1 2 Profile at FIBA.com
  13. ↑ "N1 (Hommes et Dames) : voici les meilleurs joueurs de la phase régulière". Le Kpakpato Sportif (in French). 2021-06-04. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
  14. ↑ "Biographie – Stephane Konaté : Basket & Lifestyle" (in French). Retrieved 2023-04-09.
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