DeSagana Diop

Early life

After he began practicing basketball at the age of 15, Diop succeeded in averaging 14.6 points, 13.2 rebounds, and 8.1 blocks during his senior high school season, earning the USA Today Virginia Player of the Year title and leading Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia, to a #1 nation ranking (33 wins, 0 losses).

Diop speaks five languages: Arabic, English, French, Wolof and some Spanish.

Professional career

Diop was drafted directly out of Oak Hill Academy by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the 8th overall pick of the 2001 NBA draft. He was the fifth high school player, after Kwame Brown, Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry and Ousmane Cisse to declare for the draft. He played 193 games in four seasons with the Cavaliers, as a rarely looked at backup, averaging 1.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 10.8 minutes per contest. Diop signed a three-year contract with the Dallas Mavericks as a free agent on August 19, 2005. Diop quickly established himself as a defensive stalwart and potent shot blocker and rebounder, providing relief for Erick Dampier as a center. After December 31, 2005, he started most of the games for the Mavericks, assisting in their improvement and strong drive that resulted in the team qualifying to play in the NBA finals as representatives of the Western Conference.

Against the New York Knicks in a pre-season game, Diop hit the game-winning tip-in off of a missed shot by Keith Van Horn. Against the Denver Nuggets in November 2005, he registered 16 rebounds with a career-high 6 blocks—including a denial of Carmelo Anthony's potentially game-winning field goal attempt.

Diop's defense was applauded around the league; for the 05–06 season, he ranked 11th in total blocks, 14th in blocks per game, and 4th in blocks per 48 minutes. In Game 7 of the 2006 Western Conference Semifinals between San Antonio and Dallas, Diop was called the "unsung hero" of the game after grabbing two crucial offensive rebounds, disrupting a number of opponents' shots and playing very solid defense on Tim Duncan in the fourth quarter and overtime with a broken nose.

In March 2006, two Mavericks fans produced a version of the hip-hop song "Jump" by Kris Kross. In their version, the refrain "Jump! Jump!" was turned into "Diop! Diop!", and the video praises Diop's shotblocking ability. It became so popular that the Mavs started to play the video at their home games. Diop said, "I remember the first time they played the video during a timeout and I was trying to pay attention to what coach [Johnson] was trying to say but I was sneaking looks at the video."

On April 11, 2007, Diop recorded his first double-double with season highs of 10 points and 15 rebounds in the Mavs' franchise-high 30th road victory, a 105–88 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

On February 19, 2008, Diop was traded to the New Jersey Nets along with signed and traded Keith Van Horn, Devin Harris, Trenton Hassell, Maurice Ager, and roughly $3 million cash and 2008 and 2010 first round draft picks in exchange for Jason Kidd, Malik Allen and Antoine Wright.

On July 9, 2008, Diop signed a six-year, $32 million contract with the Dallas Mavericks.

On January 16, 2009, he was traded to the Charlotte Bobcats for guard Matt Carroll and center Ryan Hollins.

On September 30, 2013, he signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, he was waived on October 25.

Coaching career

On November 11, 2014, Diop joined the coaching staff of the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League as a player development coach. On October 19, 2015, he was promoted to assistant coach.

On October 3, 2016, Diop was hired by the Utah Jazz as a coaching associate.