Awak Kuier
Awak Kuier with the Dallas Wings in 2021.
No. 28 – Dallas Wings
PositionForward
LeagueWNBA
Personal information
Born (2001-08-19) 19 August 2001
Cairo, Egypt
NationalityFinnish
Listed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Career information
WNBA draft2021: 1st round, 2nd overall pick
Selected by the Dallas Wings
Career history
2020–presentPassalacqua Ragusa
2021–presentDallas Wings
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Basketball
Representing  Finland
FIBA Under-18 European Division B Championship
Gold medal – first place2019 North Macedonia Team

Awak Hiba Kuier (born 19 August 2001)[1] is a Finnish basketball player with the Dallas Wings and the Finnish national team.[2][3] 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.[4]

Career

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 club who invited her to practice.[5] Kuier joined the club. At the age of 14, a video of her dunking went viral online. At the age of 16, she joined the Helsinki Basketball Academy.[6]

She then later declined offers from American universities to sign a professional contract with Passalacqua Ragusa in Italy.[7]

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.[8] 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.[9] In addition to her speed and resilience, Kuier's features also include an exceptionally large wingspan of about seven feet.[10] On June 10, 2022, in a game against the Seattle Storm, Kuier became the 8th woman in WNBA history to dunk a basketball.

International career

She represented Finland at the 2019 U18B FIBA Women's European Championship, winning the championship and being named tournament MVP. She was then named to the All-Star Five at the 2019 U20B FIBA Women's European Championship, helping Finland to a second-place finish.

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2021 Dallas 1608.9.308.167.7862.40.60.30.81.02.4
2022 Dallas 33012.6.395.190.6132.50.90.40.90.62.8
Career 2 years, 1 team 49011.4.368.179.6672.50.80.40.80.72.6

Postseason

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2021 Dallas 108.0.000.000.0003.00.00.00.01.00.0
2022 Dallas 305.0.000.000.0001.70.00.00.70.00.0
Career 2 years, 1 team 405.8.000.000.0002.00.00.00.50.30.0

Personal life

She was born in Cairo, Egypt and is of South Sudanese origin.[1] She moved to Finland as a refugee with her family when she was two years old,[11] first settling in the city of Kotka.[12] Today, her family has settled in the coastal town of Uusikaupunki and she holds dual Finnish and Egyptian citizenship.[13][14] She speaks Italian, Arabic, Finnish, and English.[15] Kuier has four older brothers and her parents are Jehovah's Witnesses.[16][1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kemppainen, Jouni K. (25 September 2022). "Aina päätä pidempi". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  2. ↑ "WNBA mock draft 2021, version 2.0: Texas' Collier projected to go No. 1". ESPN.com. 21 February 2021.
  3. ↑ "International prospects for the 2021 WNBA draft". FIBA.basketball.
  4. ↑ "Awak Kuier set for historic basketball debut". Yle Uutiset.
  5. ↑ "Kuier celebrates with cake after historic WNBA pick". YLE. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  6. ↑ Hurd, Sean (13 April 2021). "'The sky's the limit': The promising WNBA future of Awak Kuier".
  7. ↑ "How Wings' draft pick Awak Kuier, a teenager from Finland, grew into a one-of-kind prospect". Dallas News. 23 April 2021.
  8. ↑ "Kuier celebrates with cake after historic WNBA pick". Yle Uutiset.
  9. ↑ "Wings defense crumples in loss to Dream as rookie Awak Kuier fulfills her dream in WNBA debut". Dallas News. 28 May 2021.
  10. ↑ YLE: Awak Kuierin poikkeuksellinen ominaisuus herättää ihastusta amerikkalaislapsissa – suomalaista ylistetään Dallasissa, vaikka kausi on ollut haastava (in Finnish)
  11. ↑ Knuuttila, Mikko (5 December 2019). "Suomen koripallon superlupaus on syntynyt Kairossa – "Itsenäisyyspäivä tuo ihmiset yhteen"". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  12. ↑ Kotkalaislähtöinen Awak Kuier varattiin WNBA:han historiallisesti toisella varausvuorolla – Tie vie nyt Dallasiin – Kymen Sanomat (in Finnish)
  13. ↑ YLE: Sudanilaislähtöinen Kuierin perhe teki kaikkensa tyttären koripallouran eteen – varaus huippusarjaan herkisti ylpeät vanhemmat ja pyyhki vaikeat ajat mielestä (in Finnish)
  14. ↑ "Five Things to Know About Awak Kuier". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA.
  15. ↑ Pickman, Ben. "Awak Kuier Is Ready to Soar in the WNBA". Sports Illustrated.
  16. ↑ Saarikoski, Saska (2019). "Tässä lepää tähti". Helsingin Sanomien Kuukausiliite (in Finnish). Helsingin Sanomat (6): 22–29.
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