DeSagana N'gagne Diop ( ; born January 30, 1982) is a Senegalese former professional basketball player who is head coach for the Westchester Knicks of the NBA G League.
Early life
Diop played soccer while growing up in Senegal. He began practicing basketball at the age of 15 and moved to the U.S. to play for Oak Hill Academy, where he succeeded in averaging 14.6 points, 13.2 rebounds, and 8.1 blocks during his senior year. He earned the USA Today Virginia Player of the Year title and led 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
Cleveland Cavaliers (2001–2005) 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. As a reserve center, he played 193 games in four seasons with the Cavaliers, averaging 1.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 10.8 minutes per contest.
On November 23, 2002, Diop dropped a career-high 10 points in a 97–84 loss to the New Orleans Hornets.
The Cavaliers struggled heavily in Diop's first few years with the team. The franchise eventually began to improve with the addition of an 18-year-old LeBron James in the 2003 NBA draft. In the 2004–05 season, the Cavaliers had posted their best record since the 1997–98 season, going 42–40. However, they still missed the playoffs and this was Diop's final year with the team.
Dallas Mavericks (2005–2008) Diop signed a three-year contract with the Dallas Mavericks as a free agent on August 19, 2005. Diop, a defensive player who specialized in shot blocking and rebounding, shared the center position with Erick Dampier. He had joined a winning team, and the 2005–06 season was Diop's most successful season regarding playoff success as the Mavericks went 60–22, made a deep playoff push and reached the 2006 Finals. The Mavericks ended up losing the finals in six games to the Miami Heat.
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.
On November 15, 2005, Diop recorded a career-high 16 rebounds in an 83–80 win over the Denver Nuggets. In that same game, Diop also recorded a career-high 6 blocks—including a denial of Carmelo Anthony's potentially game-winning field goal attempt.
On January 14, 2006, he became a full-time starter for the Mavericks for the rest of the regular season and into the playoffs, assisting in the Mavericks qualifying for the 2006 NBA Finals as representatives of the Western Conference.
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."
For the 2005–06 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, playing with a broken nose, grabbed three offensive rebounds (four total), and blocked two of Tim Duncan's shots in the second and fourth quarters and overtime.
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.