Wizards' Bilal Coulibaly Reportedly Could Miss Start of NBA Season with Thumb Injury

The Washington Wizards will reportedly be without guard Bilal Coulibaly to start the 2025-26 season.

ESPN's Shams Charania reported Coulibaly suffered a ligament tear in his right thumb while playing for the French national team in FIBA EuroBasket and underwent surgery Friday to repair it.

According to Charania, he "is likely to miss time into the regular season."

Coulibaly entered the NBA with plenty of expectations as the No. 7 overall pick of the 2023 NBA draft, although he is yet to fully live up to them.

He was a secondary contributor as a rookie but took a leap in his second season in 2024-25 when he averaged 12.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 42.1 percent from the field and 28.1 percent from deep.

Washington will surely want him to improve his overall efficiency from the outside, which could help him unlock another level of his game in his third season.

Yet that unlocking will have to wait after he suffered this thumb injury playing for France. France advanced out of the group stage into the round of 16, although it lost to Georgia in that contest.

Washington can still rely on the combination of Khris Middleton, Corey Kispert and Kyshawn George in the forward rotation at the start of the season while Coulibaly is sidelined, although its depth will still be something of a concern.

The Wizards are coming off an 18-64 season, so they will be looking for a quick start to put the 2024-25 campaign in the rearview mirror.

But they will have to do so without Coulibaly after he suffered the thumb injury.