DeSagana Diop

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DeSagana Diop
DeSagana Diop Dallas.jpg
Diop in December 2008.
No. 2 – Charlotte Bobcats
Center
Personal information
Born (1982-01-30) January 30, 1982 (age 31)
Dakar, Senegal
Nationality Senegalese
Listed height 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight 280 lb (127 kg)
Career information
High school Oak Hill Academy
(Mouth of Wilson, Virginia)
NBA Draft 2001 / Round: 1 / Pick: 8th overall
Selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers
Pro career 2001–present
League NBA
Career history
2001–2005 Cleveland Cavaliers
2005–2008 Dallas Mavericks
2008 New Jersey Nets
2008–2009 Dallas Mavericks
2009–present Charlotte Bobcats
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

DeSagana N'gagne Diop (/səˈɡɑːnə ˈdʒɒp/ sə-GAH-nə JOP; born January 30, 1982), or simply Gana Diop, is a Senegalese professional basketball center with the Charlotte Bobcats of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Contents

Early life [edit]

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,[1] 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:[2] Arabic, English, French, Wolof and some Spanish.

NBA career [edit]

Diop was drafted directly out of Oak Hill Academy by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the 8th overall pick of the 2001 NBA Draft.[3] He was the fifth high school player, after Kwame Brown, Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry and Ousmane Cisse to declare for the draft.[1] 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.[4] 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 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.[5]

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.[6][7][8]

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."[9]

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 dollars cash and 2008 and 2010 first round draft picks in exchange for Jason Kidd, Malik Allen and Antoine Wright.[10]

On July 9, 2008, Diop signed a six-year, $32 million contract with the Dallas Mavericks.[11]

On January 16, 2009, he was traded to the Charlotte Bobcats for guard Matt Carroll and center Ryan Hollins.[12]

Player profile [edit]

In Game 7 of the 2006 playoff matchup 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 4th quarter and overtime with a broken nose.[13]

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.[14]

NBA career statistics [edit]

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  Bold  Career high

Regular season [edit]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2001–02 Cleveland 18 1 6.1 .414 .000 .200 .9 .3 .1 .6 1.4
2002–03 Cleveland 80 1 11.8 .351 .000 .367 2.7 .5 .4 1.0 1.5
2003–04 Cleveland 56 3 13.0 .388 .000 .600 3.6 .6 .5 .9 2.3
2004–05 Cleveland 39 0 7.8 .290 .000 .000 1.8 .4 .2 .7 1.0
2005–06 Dallas 81 45 18.6 .487 .500 .542 4.6 .3 .5 1.8 2.3
2006–07 Dallas 81 9 18.3 .470 .000 .558 5.4 .4 .5 1.4 2.3
2007–08 Dallas 52 18 17.2 .583 .000 .600 5.2 .5 .4 1.2 3.0
2007–08 New Jersey 27 5 14.9 .415 .000 .467 4.5 .5 .2 .9 2.5
2008–09 Dallas 34 0 13.3 .379 .000 .414 3.5 .4 .3 .7 1.6
2008–09 Charlotte 41 1 14.2 .460 .000 .270 3.8 .5 .4 .8 2.8
2009–10 Charlotte 27 0 9.7 .517 .000 .222 2.4 .2 .2 .5 1.2
2010–11 Charlotte 16 0 11.3 .333 .000 .364 2.5 .4 .2 .9 1.3
2011–12 Charlotte 27 9 12.0 .357 .000 .167 3.1 .9 .2 .5 1.1
2012–13 Charlotte 22 1 10.3 .296 .000 .000 2.3 .6 .2 .7 .7
Career 601 93 14.0 .427 .167 .467 3.7 .4 .4 1.0 2.0

Playoffs [edit]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2006 Dallas 22 18 18.5 .615 .000 .611 5.0 .1 .6 1.3 2.7
2007 Dallas 6 3 23.3 .600 .000 .429 6.8 .3 .5 1.7 3.5
Career 28 21 19.5 .611 .000 .560 5.4 .1 .6 1.4 2.9

Career highs [edit]

  • Points: 10 4 times
  • Rebounds: 16 vs. Denver 11/15/05
  • Assists: 4 3 times
  • Steals: 5 vs. L.A. Clippers 04/19/06
  • Blocks: 6 3 times

Notes [edit]

  1. ^ a b Diop declares for NBA draft
  2. ^ Cavaliers: Cavalier DeSagana Diop Holds a Special Reading Timeout in French with St. Ignatius High School Students
  3. ^ "2001 NBA draft board". USA Today. July 2, 2001. Retrieved May 1, 2010. 
  4. ^ "Mavs Sign Diop". NBA.com. 2009-08-19. Retrieved 2009-02-28. 
  5. ^ ESPN – Denver vs. Dallas Recap, November 15, 2005
  6. ^ ESPN – NBA Statistics and League Leaders – National Basketball Association
  7. ^ ESPN – NBA Statistics and League Leaders – National Basketball Association
  8. ^ ESPN – NBA Statistics and League Leaders – National Basketball Association
  9. ^ [1] Archived May 13, 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ "Nets Acquire Harris". NBA.com. 2008-02-19. Retrieved 2009-07-20. 
  11. ^ "Diop back in the fold". NBA.com. 2008-07-09. Retrieved 2009-02-28. 
  12. ^ "Bobcats Acquire DeSagana Diop from Dallas Mavericks". NBA.com. 2009-01-16. Retrieved 2009-01-16. 
  13. ^ Mavs blow 20-point lead before eliminating Spurs in OT
  14. ^ Mavericks set franchise record with 30th road victory

External links [edit]
First round
Second round
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