The Sabally Sisters Excited To Share WNBA Court For The First Time

New York Liberty forward Nyara Sabally cannot remember the last time she and her older sister Satou played against each other.

“I think it was like in a school tournament,” Nyara told media members on a video call Friday ahead of the Liberty hosting Satou and the Dallas Wings at Barclays Sunday afternoon.

“I feel like that’s something we’ve been looking forward to for a long time,” she added.

Wings second leading scorer Satou agreed, “Yeah, and I add on to that just how special it is to actually have two sisters competing in the best league in the world. And I mean, we are not from here. So I feel like that just makes it even more special that we show how great European basketball is and how good Berlin, Berlin pride can be as well.

“I think we’re making a lot of people proud at home and we’re inspiring a lot of girls to play basketball to cross borders internationally.”

Spoken like Satou, always with the bigger picture in mind.

Since coming to the WNBA – before even – being more than an athlete has always been a driving force for Satou Sabally. Unfortunately, her ability to take center stage as a player has been impacted by injuries.

However, a healthy Satou Sabally is averaging 21.8 points per game this season, second only to 2021 All-Star MVP Arike Ogunbowale (22.8 PPG). Finally, it seems the Wings and the WNBA are getting a glimpse into the true promise of the 2020 second overall draft pick. And we might have Nyara to thank for it.

“It’s hard to rehab and when I had to go through it, I was always like thinking of my sister and how she’s overcoming such severe injuries and that was for me always like a mental note, like, ‘I can do this. I can do this.’ So she definitely inspired me just to keep going and whenever I had tough days in the past years with my injuries,” Satou shared.

The sister both played for the University of Oregon, but never at the same time. Nyara Sabally dealt with knee injuries in her first two seasons, Satou’s junior and senior years. By the time Nyara was healthy and ready to return in 2020, the Oregon Ducks and every other athletic department were notified the remainder of the NCAA season had been cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

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“One of the biggest disappointments of my coaching career is that you two never got to play together while you were here,” said Ducks head coach Kelly Graves during a surprise visit to the video chat.

Nyara was set to make her return to practice the day the program was shut down. She would go on to play two seasons for Oregon where she tallied 12 double-doubles and scored in double figures in all but nine of her 47 career games.

Delayed But Not Denied

The Sabally Sisters never questioned if they would play together in the WNBA, it was always a matter of when. Though, Satou and Nyara both admitted Sunday will look differently than they envisioned.

“For me, it was always with one another. I never imagined playing against her,” Satou said. “But obviously, once you knew where we’re going, it’s more like, ‘Oh, I’ll see you soon.’ But I knew for sure when we didn’t play together in college that we would play with each other in a league one day.”

“Yeah, I would say the same. I mean, it was like more so of like when it will happen or if it will happen type of thing. Just because I mean, I’m pretty confident in both of our abilities and I know that we are able to play on the biggest stage. So it was just a matter of like when little finally happen,” Nyara added.

It won’t just be her sister she’s facing. Satou will also be reunited with several former teammates, including her good friend from Oregon, Sabrina Ionescu. The Ducks trio that never was have all faced adversity by way of injuries in the last three years. For Satou and Sabrina, that has come with several critiques and criticisms along the way.

Are they overrated? Were they a “bust” as the first and second overall picks in the 202o WNBA Draft? Can they lead their respective teams to a WNBA title? And in the case of Satou, will she or her sister be the “better” Sabally in the WNBA?

Regardless how one may feel about the validity of the questions, or whether they have been – or can be – definitively answered, what we can say is they are a part of the job. So too, at least in the WNBA, is the inevitability of sister taking on sister.

It’s A Family Affair

The Sabally’s are the only active sibling rivalry in the league, but are far from the only one. Overall, seven families have watched their daughters drafted into the WNBA. None have had the longevity of the Ogumike sisters.

Nneka is a two-time WNBA champion and the acting president of the WNBPA this year marks her 12th WNBA season, all with the Los Angeles Sparks. Chiney is the 2014 Rookie of the Year and a two-time WNBA All-Star playing in her seventh WNBA season.

“We’re happy to be I mean, at least I’m happy to be on the same list as the Ogwumike’s because they’re amazing people, smart sisters also played in the Pac 12. I feel like that unites us as well. So I think we’re in great company and it’s just always great to make history,” Satou said.

The New York Liberty will host the Dallas Wings Sunday at 1:00 pm ET on ABC.