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Awak Kuier

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Awak Kuier
Awak Kuier with the Dallas Wings in 2021.
No. 34 – Reyer Venezia
PositionForward
LeagueLega Basket Femminile
EuroLeague Women
Personal information
Born (2001-08-19) 19 August 2001 (age 23)
Cairo, Egypt
NationalityFinnish / South Sudanese
Listed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Career information
High schoolHelsinki Basketball Academy
(Helsinki, Finland)
WNBA draft2021: 1st round, 2nd overall pick
Selected by the Dallas Wings
Career history
2016–2017Peli-Karhut [fi]
2017–2020HBA-Märsky
2020–2022Virtus Eirene Ragusa [it]
2021–2023Dallas Wings
2022–presentReyer Venezia
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Medals
Basketball
Representing  Finland
FIBA Under-18 European Division B Championship
Gold medal – first place 2019 North Macedonia Team
FIBA Under-20 European Division B Championship
Silver medal – second place 2019 Kosovo Team

Awak Sabit Bior Kuier (born 19 August 2001)[1][2] is a Finnish professional basketball player who competes for Reyer Venezia in the Italian Lega Basket Femminile and in the EuroLeague Women, and for the Dallas Wings of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).[3][4][5][6] She competes internationally for the Finnish national team. Selected by the Wings with the second overall pick in the 2021 WNBA draft, she was the second Finnish player in the history of the league after Taru Tuukkanen to be drafted, and she became the first Finnish player to play in the WNBA in May 2021.[7]

Career

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Growing up in the city of Kotka, Kuier was discovered for basketball by a neighbour at age 10, when she stood already 180 cm tall. The man contacted Mikko Kokkola, who was coaching basketball at the local Peli-Karhut [fi], and Kokkola invited her to practice.[8] Kuier joined the club. She was named the U16-league Player of the Season in 2015–16. She debuted in top-tier Naisten Korisliiga with PeKa first team in the 2016–17 season.[9] At the age of 14, a video of her dunking went viral online.

In 2017, at the age of 16, she joined the Helsinki Basketball Academy team HBA-Märsky.[10] Kuier played in Naisten Korisliiga with HBA team, and was named the Most Improved Player in the league in 2019. She was also named the league's Player of the Month in January 2020.[11]

She then later declined offers from American universities to sign a professional contract with Lega Basket Femminile (LBF) team Virtus Eirene Ragusa [it] (Passalacqua Ragusa) in 2020.[12]

Selected 2nd overall in the 2021 WNBA draft by the Dallas Wings, she was the first non-American player since Australia's Liz Cambage in 2011 to be selected in the first five picks of the draft.[13] After missing the first few games of the 2021 season, she made her debut for the Wings on 27 May 2021, scoring a point, a rebound, and an assist in seven minutes of game time in a 101–95 loss to the Atlanta Dream.[14] In addition to her speed and resilience, Kuier's features also include an exceptionally large wingspan of about seven feet.[15] On June 10, 2022, in a game against the Seattle Storm, Kuier became the 8th woman in WNBA history to dunk a basketball.

Since June 2022, Reyer has also played for Italian team Reyer Venezia during winter seasons in Europe, competing in Lega Basket Femminile and EuroCup.

On January 22, 2024, Kuier announced that she will skip the 2024 WNBA season.[3] This is due to overlapping seasons between Italy and the United States, and the strict change in WNBA rules concerning absences related to playing in Europe.[16][17] Kuier has stated that her dream is to compete in the EuroLeague Women.

In May 2024, Kuier helped Reyer Venezia to win the Italian championship title. She was also named the Finals MVP with her 24-point performance in the decisive third final match.[18] The team also advanced to the semi-finals of the EuroCup. In July 2024, Kuier extended her contract with Venezia.[19][20][21] In September, she was named the Best Foreign Player in the Italian league.[22]

On 10 October 2024, Kuier made her debut in the EuroLeague for Venezia, recording 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocks in a 80–59 win over Hungarian UNI Győr.[23][24]

International career

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She represented Finland at the 2019 U18 B FIBA Women's European Championship tournament, winning the championship and being named tournament MVP. She was then named to the All-Star Five at the 2019 U20 B FIBA Women's European Championship, helping Finland to a second-place finish. Since 2019, she has represented Finland senior national team.[25]

WNBA career statistics

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Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2021 Dallas 16 0 8.9 .308 .167 .786 2.4 0.6 0.3 0.8 1.0 2.4
2022 Dallas 33 0 12.6 .395 .190 .613 2.5 0.9 0.4 0.9 0.6 2.8
2023 Dallas 37 4 10.8 .396 .087 .778 2.5 0.5 0.2 0.6 0.6 2.6
Career 3 years, 1 team 86 4 11.1 .380 .145 .708 2.5 0.7 0.3 0.8 0.7 2.6

Postseason

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2021 Dallas 1 0 8.0 .000 — — 3.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0
2022 Dallas 3 0 5.0 .000 .000 — 1.7 0.0 0.0 0.7 0.0 0.0
2023 Dallas 5 0 10.4 .643 .286 .000 1.4 0.2 0.6 0.8 0.8 4.0
Career 3 years, 1 team 9 0 8.3 .500 .200 .000 1.7 0.1 0.3 0.7 0.6 2.2

Career statistics

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EuroLeague

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2024–25 Umana Reyer Venezia 2 30.1 .522 .273 .333 5.0 2.5 1.5 1.5 2.5 14.0

EuroCup

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2022–23 Umana Reyer Venezia 14 27.4 .508 .333 .605 5.1 1.9 1.1 1.5 2.4 12.4
2023–24 Umana Reyer Venezia 12 21.5 .400 .222 .737 4.4 1.7 .8 1.5 1.5 8.7

Personal life

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She was born in Cairo, Egypt and is of South Sudanese origin.[2] She moved to Finland as a refugee with her family when she was two years old,[26] first settling in the city of Kotka.[27] Today, her family has settled in the coastal town of Uusikaupunki and she holds dual Finnish and Egyptian citizenship.[28][29] She speaks Italian, Arabic, Finnish, and English.[30] Kuier has four older brothers and her parents are Jehovah's Witnesses.[31][2] Kuier and her family are close friends with Federiko Federiko and his family, who share a similar background.[32][33]

References

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  1. ^ Kuier Awak Sabit Bior, legabasketfemminile.it
  2. ^ a b c Kemppainen, Jouni K. (25 September 2022). "Aina päätä pidempi". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Dallas Wings forward Awak Kuier will forgo 2024 WNBA season". dallasnews.com. The Dallas Morning News. 22 January 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  4. ^ "WNBA mock draft 2021, version 2.0: Texas' Collier projected to go No. 1". ESPN.com. 21 February 2021.
  5. ^ "International prospects for the 2021 WNBA draft". FIBA.basketball.
  6. ^ Awak Kuier teki sopimuksen uuteen italialaisseuraan: "Halusin kovempaan liigaan", Yle, Ossi Saarinen, 12 June 2022
  7. ^ "Awak Kuier set for historic basketball debut". Yle Uutiset.
  8. ^ "Kuier celebrates with cake after historic WNBA pick". YLE. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  9. ^ Awak Kuier, basketi.fi
  10. ^ Hurd, Sean (13 April 2021). "'The sky's the limit': The promising WNBA future of Awak Kuier".
  11. ^ HBA-Märskyn Awak Kuier on Naisten Korisliigan tammikuun pelaaja, basket.fi, 5 February 2020
  12. ^ "How Wings' draft pick Awak Kuier, a teenager from Finland, grew into a one-of-kind prospect". Dallas News. 23 April 2021.
  13. ^ "Kuier celebrates with cake after historic WNBA pick". Yle Uutiset.
  14. ^ "Wings defense crumples in loss to Dream as rookie Awak Kuier fulfills her dream in WNBA debut". Dallas News. 28 May 2021.
  15. ^ YLE: Awak Kuierin poikkeuksellinen ominaisuus herättää ihastusta amerikkalaislapsissa – suomalaista ylistetään Dallasissa, vaikka kausi on ollut haastava (in Finnish)
  16. ^ Awak Kuier voi joutua tekemään pian kovan ratkaisun WNBA:sta – Suomen uusi päävalmentaja näkee tilanteessa hyvääkin, Yle, 6 November 2023
  17. ^ Mitä tapahtui kohutun ja hehkutetun Awak Kuierin WNBA-unelmalle? – ”Läpilyönnin tekeminen Amerikassa vaikeaa jatkossakin”, Apu, apu.fi, 6 May 2024
  18. ^ Ilmiömäinen Awak Kuier johdatti Venezian koripallomestaruuteen – suomalaistähti palkittiin finaalisarjan parhaana, Yle, 22 May 2024
  19. ^ Awak Kuier jatkosopimukseen mestariseuran kanssa, Yle, 4 July 2024
  20. ^ KUIER RINNOVA IL CONTRATTO CON L’UMANA REYER, reyer.it, 3 July 2024
  21. ^ Italian finaalien MVP Awak Kuier jatkosopimukseen Reyer Venezian kanssa, basket.fi, 3 July 2024
  22. ^ Awak Kuierille merkittävä kunnianosoitus, mtvuutiset.fi, MTV Oy, 16 September 2024
  23. ^ Awak Kuier häikäisi Euroliiga-debyytissään, basket.fi, 11 October 2024
  24. ^ Awak Kuier ja Reyer Venezia jatkavat voittojen tiellä Euroliigassa, basket.fi, 18 October 2024
  25. ^ Awak Kuier profile, FIBA
  26. ^ Knuuttila, Mikko (5 December 2019). "Suomen koripallon superlupaus on syntynyt Kairossa – "Itsenäisyyspäivä tuo ihmiset yhteen"". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  27. ^ Kotkalaislähtöinen Awak Kuier varattiin WNBA:han historiallisesti toisella varausvuorolla – Tie vie nyt Dallasiin – Kymen Sanomat (in Finnish)
  28. ^ YLE: Sudanilaislähtöinen Kuierin perhe teki kaikkensa tyttären koripallouran eteen – varaus huippusarjaan herkisti ylpeät vanhemmat ja pyyhki vaikeat ajat mielestä (in Finnish)
  29. ^ "Five Things to Know About Awak Kuier". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA.
  30. ^ Pickman, Ben. "Awak Kuier Is Ready to Soar in the WNBA". Sports Illustrated.
  31. ^ Saarikoski, Saska (2019). "Tässä lepää tähti". Helsingin Sanomien Kuukausiliite (in Finnish) (6). Helsingin Sanomat: 22–29.
  32. ^ Painajainen vaatekaupan myyjälle – Federiko Federikon kehossa on piirre, joka on todellinen harvinaisuus, Iltalehti, 4 August 2023
  33. ^ ”Äiti pakotti lopettamaan jalkapallon” – Susijengissä kasvaa uusi tähtipelaaja, Helsingin Sanomat, 22 May 2023
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