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Nyara Sabally
	Sabally with the New York Liberty in 2024
No. 8 – New York Liberty
Position	Forward
League	WNBA
Personal information
Born	26 February 2000 (age 24); Bandon, Oregon
Listed height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight	204 lb (93 kg)
Career information
College	Oregon (2018–2022)
WNBA draft	2022: 1st round, 5th overall pick
	Selected by the New York Liberty
Coaching career	2022–present
Career history
As player:
2023–present	New York Liberty
2023–2024	USK Prague
As coach:
2022–2023	Sacramento State (asst.)
Career highlights and awards
	WNBA champion (2024); WNBA Commissioner's Cup Champion (2023); 2× All-Pac-12 (2021, 2022); Pac-12 All-Tournament Team (2022);
	Stats at Basketball Reference
Women's basketball
Representing Germany
FIBA U-18 European Championship

Nyara Sabally (born 26 February 2000) is a German professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She also served as an assistant coach for Sacramento State. She played college basketball at Oregon. She represented Germany at the 2018 FIBA U18 Women's European Championship and won a gold medal. She also represented Germany at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Playing career

College

On 7 November 2017, Sabally signed with Oregon.^[2] During the 2018–19 season in her freshman year, she sat out the season after suffering a torn ACL during the championship game of the 2018 FIBA U18 Women's European Championship in August 2018.^[3] During the 2019–20 season in her redshirt freshman year, she re-tore her ACL in the summer of 2019 and missed a second consecutive season.^[4]

During the 2020–21 season in her redshirt sophomore year, she played in 23 of Oregon's 24 games, making 21 starts. She led Oregon in scoring (12.9), rebounding (7.3), field goals (122), double-doubles (4) and double-figure scoring games (19). She ranked third in the Pac-12 in field-goal percentage (54.7), third in offensive rebounding (2.7), fourth in rebounding and tenth in scoring.^[3] Following the season she was named to the All-Pac-12 team.^[5]

During the 2021–22 season in her redshirt junior year, she led the team in scoring and rebounding and finished sixth in the conference in scoring (15.4) and third in rebounding (7.8). She recorded eight double-doubles, and reached double figures in scoring in 19 of the 24 games. She became the first Pac-12 player since Chiney Ogwumike in 2013 to average at least 15 points, seven rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 steals and blocks over the course of a season.^[3] Following the season she was again named to the All-Pac-12 team.^[6]

On 28 March 2022, Sabally declared for the 2022 WNBA draft. She finished her career at Oregon with 666 points, 354 rebounds and 87 assists in two seasons.^[7]

WNBA

On 11 April 2022, Sabally was drafted fifth overall by the New York Liberty in the 2022 WNBA draft.^[8] On 15 April 2022, Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb announced Sabally would miss the 2022 WNBA season due to injury, after she aggravated her right knee, which has twice required surgery for a torn ACL.^[9]

On 28 February 2023, Sabally signed a rookie scale contract with the Liberty.^[10] She missed the first half of the 2024 WNBA season recovering from a back injury before the Olympics break, where Sabally joined her Liberty teammate Leonie Fiebich on the German national basketball team.^[11] During game 5 of the 2024 WNBA Finals against the Minnesota Lynx, she scored 13 points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench to help the Liberty win their first WNBA championship in franchise history.^[12] During the third quarter she scored seven consecutive points for the Liberty, helping them gain their first lead of the game. During overtime she recorded a steal and a layup to extend the Liberty's lead to five points. She also recorded a defensive rebound with 13 seconds remaining in overtime to help secure the win.^[13]^[14]^[15] The Liberty's star player Breanna Stewart said in the post game press conference that Sabally was "The X Factor" for contributing to the team's championship win.^[16]

Career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
TO	Turnovers per game	FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
Bold	Career best	°	League leader

†	Denotes season(s) in which Sabally won a WNBA championship

WNBA

Regular season

Stats current through end of 2024 season

WNBA regular season statistics^[17]
Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2022	Did not play due to injury
2023	New York	33	0	7.9	.424	.222	.750	2.1	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.5	2.3
2024^†	New York	26	0	13.5	.575	.000	.700	4.0	0.6	0.9	0.7	0.5	4.9
Career	2 years, 1 team	59	0	10.4	.514	.182	.722	3.0	0.4	0.5	0.4	0.5	3.5

Playoffs

WNBA playoff statistics
Year	Team	GP	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2023	New York	4	1.3	—	—	—	0.0	0.3	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0
2024^†	New York	9	10.1	.542	—	.875	3.4	0.0	0.7	0.7	1.7	4.4
Career	2 years, 1 team	13	7.4	.542	—	.875	2.4	0.1	0.5	0.5	1.2	3.1

College

Ratios
YEAR	Team	GP	GS	MP	FG%	3P%	FT%	RBG	APG	BPG	SPG	PPG
2019–20	Oregon	1	0	0.0	—	—	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
2020–21	Oregon	23	21	24.5	.547	.571	.616	7.3	1.8	1.2	1.0	12.9
2021–22	Oregon	24	20	26.6	.527	.534	.725	7.8	1.9	1.4	1.4	15.4
	Career	48	41	25.0	.536	.480	.684	7.4	1.8	1.2	1.3	13.9

Totals
YEAR	Team	GP	GS	MP	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	REB	A	BK	ST	PTS
2019–20	Oregon	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2020–21	Oregon	23	21	563	122	223	8	14	45	73	167	42	22	27	297
2021–22	Oregon	24	20	639	139	264	4	11	87	120	187	45	33	34	369
	Career	48	41	1202	261	487	12	25	132	193	354	87	60	56	666

Source^[18]

National team career

Sabally made her international debut for Germany at the 2015 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship for Women, where she averaged nine points, 13.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. She represented Germany at the 2018 FIBA U18 Women's European Championship, where she averaged 17.3 points, 12.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, and won a gold medal, and was named tournament MVP.^[19]

On 15 July 2024, Sabally was named to Germany women's national basketball team to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics.^[20] On 29 July 2024, in Germany's first group stage game against Belgium, she suffered an injury when teammate Leonie Fiebich inadvertently hit her in the chin with her shoulder while passing her on a handoff in the final minute of the third quarter. Prior to her injury, she was tied with Fiebich as the team's second-leading scorer with 16 points, behind only her sister Satou Sabally.^[21] Germany defeated Belgium 83–69, its first ever win in Olympic competition.^[22]

Coaching career

On 12 July 2022, Sabally was named an assistant coach for Sacramento State.^[23] During her first season, she helped lead the Hornet to a 25–8 record, the Big Sky Conference regular season championship, 2023 Big Sky tournament championship, and their first ever appearance in the 2023 NCAA tournament.^[24]

Personal life

Nyara's older sister Satou, who played for Oregon in both seasons that Nyara missed due to injury, is a professional basketball player for the Dallas Wings of the WNBA.^[25]