Yankuba Sima

Yankuba Sima Fatty (born 28 July 1996), is a Gambian-Spanish professional basketball player for Valencia Basket of the Liga ACB and EuroLeague. He has also represented the Spanish national team internationally. Standing at 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m), Sima plays in the center position.

Yankuba Sima

Sima with Manresa in 2021
Valencia Basket
Position	Center
League	Liga ACB EuroLeague
Personal information
Born	(1996-07-28) 28 July 1996 (age 29) Girona, Spain
Nationality	Spanish / Gambian
Listed height	2.11 m (6 ft 11 in)
Listed weight	102 kg (225 lb)
Career information
High school	Arlington Country (Jacksonville, Florida)
College	St. John's (2015–2017) Oklahoma State (2017–2018)
NBA draft	2018: undrafted
Playing career	2018–present
Career history
2018	Breogán
2018–2022	Manresa
2020	→Ourense
2022–2023	Reyer Venezia
2023–2025	Unicaja
2025–present	Valencia
Career highlights
FIBA Intercontinental Cup champion (2024) 2× FIBA Champions League champion (2024, 2025) 2× Copa del Rey winner (2023, 2025) Spanish Supercup winner (2024)
Medals Men's basketball Representing  Spain U20 European Championship 2015 Italy 2016 Finland

Early life and youth career

Born in Girona, Catalonia to Gambian parents, Sima started playing basketball at age 7 in local club CE Santa Eugènia de Ter. He later joined the academy of CB Sant Josep. Sima would also join the Canarias Basketball Academy before moving to the United States to continue his studies and further develop his career.^[1]

Sima attended and played high school basketball for Arlington Country Day School and Elev8 Institute in Delray, Florida.^[2]

College career

Sima played his freshman year of college for St. John's of the Big East Conference. In the 2025-16 season he averaged 7.3 points per game and led the team in rebounds per game with 5.7. He achieved the second highest number of blocks in the conference with 60.^[3]

In the 2016-17 season, he transferred to Oklahoma State midseason after playing 10 games for St. John's. In the 2017-18 season, Sima led the team in blocks with 1.1 per game.^[2]

Professional career

Bàsquet Manresa (2018–2022)

Sima returned to Spain in 2018 to pursue professional basketball. He initially joined CB Breogán on a trial period at the start of the 2018-19 season, but he never made his debut for the Galician team.^[4] Sima later signed with Bàsquet Manresa of the Liga ACB in December 2018.^[5] He made his professional debut on December 24, 2018, in a Liga ACB game against Obradoiro.^[6] In March of 2019, Manresa extended Sima's contract until 2022.^[7] After seeing little playtime during the 2019-20 season Sima joined Club Ourense Baloncesto on loan in January 2020, playing the rest of the season in the LEB Oro.^[8]

Sima spent two more seasons in Manresa, recording his best numbers in the 2021-22 season. He averaged 7.4 points and 4 rebounds per game in a total of 36 games played.^[9] Sima also reached the 2022 Basketball Champions League Final Four with Manresa, losing the final to Lenovo Tenerife.^[10]

Reyer Venezia (2022–2023)

Sima joined Reyer Venezia in July 2022, competing in the LBA and the EuroCup.^[11] Seeing little playtime, Sima would leave the Italian side in January 2023.^[12]

Unicaja Málaga (2023–2025)

Sima joined Unicaja Málaga of the Liga ACB and Basketball Champions League in January 12, 2023.^[13] Unicaja would win the 2023 Copa del Rey in Sima's first season, but he missed the competition due to injury.^[14] Owing to his good performances with the Andalusians, Sima's contract was extended for another season in June 2023.^[15] In his second season with Málaga, Sima would win the 2023-24 Basketball Champions League.^[16] Sima's contract was extended with two additional years in July 2024.^[17]

The 2024-25 season would be Sima's most successful yet, winning the Intercontinental Cup, the Spanish Supercup and the Copa del Rey. Sima recorded his best numbers with Unicaja in the Copa del Rey semifinal against La Laguna Tenerife, scoring 21 points.^[18]

Valencia Basket (2025–present)

On July 4, 2025, Sima signed a three season contract with Valencia Basket of the Liga ACB and EuroLeague. Valencia paid the release clause of the contract that bound Sima to Unicaja.^[19]

National team career

Sima represented the Spanish U20 team in the 2015 and 2016 U20 European Championship, winning the latter.^[20]

He made his debut for the Spanish national team in November 2021, in a win over North Macedonia during the 2023 World Cup qualifiers. Sima was Spain's top scorer with 17 points.^[21]

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	PIR	Performance index rating
Bold	Career high

Domestic leagues

Year	Team	League	GP	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2018–19	Manresa	ACB	21	8.4	.476	-	.350	2.0	.1	.3	.3	2.2
2019–20	Manresa	ACB	1	11.1	.750	-	-	7.0	1.0	-	-	6.0
2019–20	Ourense	LEB Oro	7	18.1	.575	-	.600	4.3	.6	.4	.3	8.7
2020–21	Manresa	ACB	34	9.4	.596	-	.526	2.3	.5	.3	.1	5.9
2021–22	Manresa	ACB	36	17.3	.533	-	.585	4.0	.9	.6	.6	7.4
2022–23	Venezia	LBA	6	7.5	.400	-	-	2.0	.8	.2	.3	1.3
2022–23	Málaga	ACB	25	15.1	.592	.000	.429	3.6	1.1	.4	.4	5.4
2023–24	Málaga	ACB	37	15.3	.553	.000	.591	3.3	.9	.4	.4	5.3

College

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2015–16	St. John's	25	18	23.4	.487	.500	.386	5.7	1.2	.6	2.4	7.3
2016–17	St. John's	10	8	17.8	.447	-	.720	3.5	.6	.4	.5	6.0
2017–18	Oklahoma State	27	8	14.6	.500	.000	.425	3.1	.3	.5	1.1	3.7
Career[22]		62	34	18.7	.484	.333	.459	4.2	.7	.5	1.5	5.5

Personal life

Sima speaks Catalan, Spanish and English. He has four brothers and two sisters. One of his brothers, Ousman Sima [es], plays basketball professionally for Albacete Basket.^[1]