CHICAGO (Feb. 15, 2021) — Chicago Sky General Manager James Wade announced today that center Astou Ndour will sit out the upcoming 2022 WNBA season to take time off and rest.
“We completely understand and support Astou’s decision to take a break this summer – she has played year-round for seven consecutive years now without stop,” Wade said. “This was a great opportunity for her to take a much-needed rest, and we look forward and hope to be seeing her back in 2023, ready to go.”
A native of Dakar, Senegal, the 2021 WNBA season was Ndour’s sixth in the league and third with the Chicago Sky. She was originally selected by the San Antonio Stars – now the Las Vegas Aces ¬– with the 16th pick in the 2014 WNBA Draft from Gran Canaria, Spain. Ndour began her decorated professional career at the age of 16 when she joined the Spanish national youth basketball team, leading them to medals in the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship (bronze, 2011), FIBA Under-19 World Championship (silver, 2011), and two FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship (gold, 2013; silver, 2014).
A decorated Olympic medalist (silver, Rio 2016 Summer Olympics), Ndour has competed with 11 teams across five countries since being drafted, spending her WNBA offseasons playing internationally across Spain (2011-14, 2015-16), Turkey (2014-15, 2018-19), Russia (2019-20), and Italy (2016-18, 2021-22).