All the hard work that Herbalife Gran Canaria teenager Khalifa Diop has been putting in behind the scenes is paying off with the big man becoming part of the team's rotation this season.
Spotlight on Khalifa Diop, Herbalife Gran Canaria
Player Spotlight
5 mins read
When looking for career-changing moments for Khalifa Diop, it's not that hard to find one of the biggest ones so far. The Herbalife Gran Canaria youngster was a tender 17 years old when he made his Turkish Airlines EuroLeague debut. That day showed him that hard work pays off and he has been living by that adage ever since.
Diop remembers well March 28, 2019, when Gran Canaria head coach Pedro Martinez called his name to enter the EuroLeague home game against Maccabi Tel Aviv.
"I suddenly got a chill when I heard my name and got up because the whole arena was standing up and giving me an ovation. I felt alive," said Diop, who ended up playing 7:20 minutes and scoring 3 points to go with 4 rebounds and 1 steal. "I was very happy because I took a big step. But I haven't achieved anything yet."
"I learn a lot during practice every day with such great players."
But the message was clear: "All the hours you invest in the arena and gym every week make sense because of moments like that."
That ended up being the only EuroLeague game he played that season, and the 2.08-meter big man did not play much with Gran Canaria’s senior team last season, but the Senegalese native has shown in 2020-21 that the club can count on him. He is averaging 3.2 points and 2.1 rebounds in 9:53 minutes thus far in the EuroCup with his top performance coming in Round 8 when he collected 14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks in 21 minutes against Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana.
"I played well, but I wanted to do even better. Still, the main thing is all the work I put in place before that game and how it means nothing if I don't keep improving my game and body," Diop said.
A big help in that improvement is him facing the best competition day in and day out in the Spanish League, whether in games and in practice.
"With my age, I learn a lot during practice every day with such great players. I gained confidence after playing in the Spanish League and learned to play tougher. When I played in the [third division] LEB Silver, I saw the great difference between both competitions and that helped me a lot," said Diop, who averaged 9.8 points, 7.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 2019-20 playing in the third division.
Another major learning ground for Diop has been playing for his country at international youth competitions, where Senegal also has been successful. In December 2020, Senegal reached the final of the FIBA U18 African Championship and Diop was one of the team’s leaders with 12.6 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 3.4 steals and 1.2 blocks per game.
"I went to the tournament thinking that we were winning this time, but things didn't go as we expected," said Diop, referring to Senegal's loss to Mali in the final a second straight U18 tournament by 2 points. "But I learned a lot despite the game being very different from the Spanish League and EuroCup."
Diop was playing for Senegal the second time after appearing in the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup in 2019, where he played against players two years old than him.
"When you play basketball in Senegal, your dream is to go to Europe and play pro basketball here."
"It was a great experience to play versus teams like United States because the confidence in your game grows after playing against the best players of your generation. You feel every aspect and minute of the game because you are 100 percent focused in these types of games," said the big man, who averaged 13.1 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks while playing against countries like the United States, Lithuania, Greece and Canada.
Despite Senegal having many good talents, the team slumped to 15th place among 16th teams. Still, it was a great chance to develop.
"Sometimes the results don't come, but we all learned a lot from that tournament and now can focus on our mistakes to not repeat it the future," he said.
That Senegal team featured a number of players who, just like Diop, arrived in Spain as youngsters and worked their way up the youth ranks in their adopted home country.
"When you play basketball in Senegal, your dream is to go to Europe and play pro basketball here. I am trying to follow the example of many players from my country to achieve their goals or even bigger," said Diop, who played soccer before he first picked up basketball in early 2017.
Diop has also already seen success with Gran Canaria as he helped the club’s U18 team take first place at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Valencia in 2019 to earn a spot at the ANGT Finals, which ended up being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It was very important for my career and my teammates. It helped me a lot last year and this one," said Diop, who averaged 13.0 points 9.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in the tournament.
It was also just another experience along the way that has helped Khalifa Diop do his part to help Gran Canaria excel in the EuroCup.