Stéphane Konaté

Kinidinnin Stéphane Konaté Sornan (born 23 August 1980) is an Ivorian retired basketball player. He played the majority of his career for the ABC Fighters and for the Ivory Coast national team. He is nicknamed "El Jefe" ("The Chef").

Primarily playing as shooting guard, Konaté is a 18-time Ivorian championship winner and was the FIBA Africa Club Champions Cup MVP, following ABC's championship in 2005.

Konaté has represented the Ivory Coast national team in several AfroBasket tournaments, and helped the Elephants finish as runners-ups in 2009 and 2021.

Early life
Konaté was born in Bouaké, a city in the north of Ivory Coast, and started out playing football.

Professional career
Konaté started his professional career with Africa Sports in 2002, while still attending high school. He played with the team for three seasons. In 2005, he signed with Abidjan Basket Club (abbreviated as ABC).

Konaté won the 2015 FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup with ABC. He was also named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

In 2008, Konaté signed in Morocco with ASE Essaouira of the Division Excellence.

In the 2011–12 season, Konaté signed with Spanish side Palencia in the LEB Gold. He averaged 2.6 points in five games, playing 10.4 minutes per game.

In the 2013–14 season, Konaté played with Egyptian side Gezira of the Egyptian Basketball Super League.

In 2014, he returned to ABC, later re-named ABC Fighters.

In October 2021, Konaté was on the roster of Malian club AS Police. He had previously received offers from AS Police, but administrative issues prevented making the move. Konaté helped ABC qualify for the 2023 season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL), and played a decisive role in the team's run to the league quarter-finals.

In the fall of 2023, Konaté played in another Road to BAL tournament with ABC. After failing to qualify for the semi-finals, he announced his retirement from basketball at age 43. He cited: ""I am satisfied with the achievements I made playing the game and it gladdens me that people refer to me as an African legend."

National team career
Konaté competed as a member of the Côte d'Ivoire national basketball team for the first time at the FIBA Africa Championship 2003. He has since gone on to compete for the team at the FIBA Africa Championship 2005, FIBA Africa Championship 2007, and FIBA Africa Championship 2009. In his most recent tournament, he averaged 8.7 points per game for the Côte d'Ivoire team that won the silver medal at the 2009 African Championship to qualify for the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

Honours

 * ABC Fighters


 * 16× Ivorian National Championship: (2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2022)


 * FIBA Africa Club Champions Cup: (2015)
 * Gezira
 * Egyptian Basketball Super League: (2014)
 * Ivory Coast
 * 🥈 Runners-up AfroBasket 2009
 * 🥈 Runners-up AfroBasket 2021

Individual awards

 * FIBA Africa Club Champions Cup MVP: (2015)
 * All-FIBA Africa Club Champions Cup Team: (2005)


 * Ivorian National Championship Regular Season MVP: (2021)

Personal
Konaté is married to his wife Marine and has two sons with her. He has been holding annual basketball camps in Korhogo since 2021.

BAL career statistics

 * style="text-align:left;"|2023
 * style="text-align:left;"|ABC Fighters
 * 6 || 6 || 28.8 || .385 || .394 || .852 || 5.7 || 2.3 || 1.0 || .2 || 12.7
 * 6 || 6 || 28.8 || .385 || .394 || .852 || 5.7 || 2.3 || 1.0 || .2 || 12.7