Former Detroit Pistons forward Sekou Doumbouya has blossomed into a star player in the Japanese B.League. The Pistons selected Doumbouya with the No. 15 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, but he didn’t pan out in Detroit. They picked him over Nickeil Alexander-Walker (No. 17), Ty Jerome (No. 24), and Nic Claxton (No. 31).
Doumbouya spent two seasons with the Pistons before they traded him ahead of the 2021-22 season. He was sent to the Brooklyn Nets (alongside Jahlil Okafor) for DeAndre Jordan. Then, just over a month later, the Nets traded him to the Houston Rockets, who waived him one day after the deal went through.
After that, Doumbouya signed with the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2021-22 campaign, but that was his last in the NBA.
Sekou Doumbouya has turned into a star in Japan
Now, just a few years after exiting the NBA after one year with the Lakers, Doumbouya has turned himself into one of the best players in the Japanese B.League.
Doumbouya signed with Koshigaya Alphas for this season, which marks his third playing international ball since leaving the NBA, though it’s his first in Japan.
After his season in LA, Doumbouya, a native of Conakry, Guinea, and of French descent, decided to play in France. He played for Chorale Roanne Basket. Since then, he’s also played in Spain and Lebanon.
But his most impressive season to date has been this year, while he’s been suiting up in Japan. He’s become a superstar in that league.
Doumbouya has appeared in 22 games, starting 20 of them and playing 28.1 minutes per contest. That’s the most minutes of anybody on his team.
In those appearances, Doumbouya is averaging 18.9 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.1 steals while shooting 46.8% from the field and 29.2% from beyond the arc on 5.1 three-point attempts per contest.
His 18.9 points per game are the eighth-most of any team in the Japanese B.League this season. There are three former NBA players putting up more points than him: Jarrett Culver (first, 24.6 points), Stanley Johnson (fourth, 21.3 points), and David Mwaba (fifth, 20.2 points).
While with the Pistons, Doumbouya never amounted to much. He quickly fell out of the rotation in Detroit despite earning relatively significant opportunities during his rookie season.
Unfortunately for Deoumbouya and the Pistons, the forward’s efficiency was never good enough to hang around in the NBA.
However, all these years later, he’s now become one of Japan’s top stars.