Stéphane Konaté Explained

Stéphane Konaté
Number:15
Position:Shooting guard
League:Ivorian Basketball Championship
Birth Date:1980 8, df=y
Birth Place:Bouaké, Ivory Coast
Nationality:Ivory Coast
Height M:1.91
Weight Kg:79
Draft Year:2002
Career Start:2002
Years1:2002–2005
Team1:Africa Sports
Years2:2005–2008
Team2:ABC
Years3:2008–2010
Team3:ASE Essaouira
Years4:2010–2011
Team4:ABC
Years5:2011–2012
Team5:Palencia
Years6:2013–2014
Team6:Gezira
Years7:2014–2023
Team7:ABC / ABC Fighters
Years8:2021
Team8:AS Police
Highlights:
High School:I.N.J.S.
(Abidjan, Ivory Coast)
Career End:2023

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").

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.[3]

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.[4] He averaged 2.6 points in five games, playing 10.4 minutes per game.[5]

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.[6] [7] He had previously received offers from AS Police, but administrative issues prevented making the move.[8] 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."[9]

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.[10] 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.[11] 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.[11]

Honours

ABC Fighters[12]

(2015)

Gezira

(2014)

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.

BAL career statistics

|-| style="text-align:left;"|2023| style="text-align:left;"|ABC Fighters| 6 || 6 || 28.8 || .385 || .394 || .852 || 5.7 || 2.3 || 1.0 || .2 || 12.7

Notes and References

  1. http://www.basketpedya.com/player/Kinidinnin-Stephane-Konate-Sornan/35518 Profile
  2. http://www.africabasket.com/player.asp?Cntry=IVO&PlayerID=31465 Kinidinnin Konate Profile
  3. Web site: 2023-05-19 . ABC Fighters' Stephane Konate, at 42, is the LeBron of African hoops . 2023-07-08 . ESPN.com . en.
  4. News: Stephane Konate completa la plantilla de Palencia Baloncesto . 22 June 2021 . Solobasket . es.
  5. News: Stephane Konate, Basketball Player . 22 June 2021 . Proballers . en.
  6. News: Basket-ball Africa League : L’AS Police entre en lice aujourd’hui . 30 October 2021 . www.lessormali.com . en.
  7. Web site: A.S. Police at the ROAD TO BAL 2022 2021 . FIBA.basketball . 29 October 2021 . en.
  8. News: Konate's successful career can't end without BAL experience . 23 November 2021 . FIBA.basketball . en.
  9. Web site: A Legend calls it quits: Stephane Konate retires from basketball . 2023-11-04 . FIBA.basketball . en.
  10. http://www.basketpedya.com/player/Kinidinnin-Stephane-Konate-Sornan/35518 Kinidinnin Konate
  11. https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20120801181326/http://libya2009.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/09/fafcm/player/p/eid/4047/pid/50357/sid/6599/tid/267/profile.html Profile
  12. Web site: Côte d'Ivoire : Konaté Sornan Stéphane, l'un des meilleurs basketteurs ivoiriens - Media Sports . 22 June 2021 . fr-FR.
  13. Web site: 2021-06-04 . N1 (Hommes et Dames) : voici les meilleurs joueurs de la phase régulière . 2022-09-10 . Le Kpakpato Sportif . fr-FR.
  14. Web site: Biographie – Stephane Konaté : Basket & Lifestyle . 2023-04-09 . fr-FR.