“I feel like I’m not a very chippy player; that’s more Satou. I’m usually the calm one,” Nyara tells me, while Satou describes herself as a “social butterfly” and Nyara as more of a homebody.
“Nyara, she’ll play the piano at home. I’m the one dragging her out the house,” Satou says. “But one thing we do have in common is our love for food and traveling.” And clothes. And Burberry’s Goddess perfume.
It’s clear both players cherish their relationship and channel that energy when building camaraderie with their work sisters. “Even if you tease your sibling, you can’t do that all the time. There is a trust and a foundation that needs to be built in order to be able to do that,” Satou says. The same goes for the locker room.
“You go to war with them and you have to build trust. You have to learn how to communicate and really go through these family dynamics even in the locker room,” she explains, advising that conflicts should be handled internally and not taken to the media—at least, until after the season. “You still have to suit up and you still have to trust each other on the court.”
Still, Satou says, “once it comes to organizations, then I do think that the public power can be used to your strength.”
Since she studied social sciences and law in college, it was no surprise Satou jumped at the chance to join the league’s Social Justice Council organization during her first year in 2020. Satou is unafraid—no, she thrives on speaking truth to power, whether she’s discussing menstruation education, sustainability in the fashion industry, or mental health resources, all topics that came up naturally within our hour-long call.
Earlier this summer, the elder Sabally sister experienced significant online pushback for critiquing the league’s packed schedule after playing four games in six days—including two back-to-back games in separate states. “It’s like they don’t care about player safety,” Satou said at the time, fully aware that men would throw her CBA demands back in her face—and they did.