Hornets' Moussa Diabaté Returns to Practice Work Ahead of Suns Game

Moussa Diabaté went through part of practice Wednesday, a day before the Charlotte Hornets open a four-game road trip at Phoenix. The starting center has missed the last two games with right quadriceps tendinopathy.

Hornets coach Charles Lee's update came in comments Sam Perley posted on X Wednesday afternoon.

"He was able to do some of practice today," Lee said. "It wasn't a ton of contact, but fact that he's feeling a little bit better and participating in some of these drills shows he's trending in the right direction... He's still in that day-to-day."

Diabaté started each of Charlotte's first nine games. Then he appeared on the Nov. 5 injury report as questionable with the quad issue. He was out for the NBA Cup game against Boston the next day. Monday brought another questionable listing, followed by another decision to hold him out that evening.

Ryan Kalkbrenner has started both games in his place. Boston won the first by 39. In the second, Kalkbrenner grabbed 15 rebounds as Charlotte beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 124-112 to end a six-game losing streak.

Charlotte is 4-7 and ninth in the East. The Hornets have lost their last three road games.

Brandon Miller didn't play Monday either. A right hip strain forced him out of the Boston game, and his status remains day-to-day. Kon Knueppel made his season debut Nov. 4, then hurt his left hamstring again. The Hornets plan to re-evaluate him in four weeks.

Dennis Schröder has missed time with soreness in his left thigh. Grant Williams is still working back from a right hamstring strain he suffered in an offseason workout.

Charlotte first signed Diabaté in July 2024, on a two-way deal. He had been the Clippers' No. 43 pick out of Michigan two years earlier. The Hornets gave him a standard contract in February 2025, a three-year deal worth $5.69 million. This is the last year of that deal, with his $2,461,462 salary guaranteed.

He was in the lineup for 73 games last season, 47 of them as a starter. His 3.7 offensive rebounds per game put him fifth in the NBA. He finished with averages of 7.9 points and 8.7 rebounds in 26 minutes, adding 1.9 assists a night. Those were all career highs.

The Hornets went 35-18 after he became a full-time starter on Dec. 23 and finished 44-38. The NBA named him its Hustle Award winner on April 30.

At training camp at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C., in October, Diabaté said he expected a very long season with plenty of ups and downs. Winning the award hadn't changed his approach.

"It ain't changed," Diabaté said. "I think I have the same perspective. At the end of the day, I ain't really accomplished nothing. I'm still looking at it the same way I was looking at it when I first came in, trying to prove something.

"I think at the end of the day, that's the only way to do it, right?" Diabaté continued. "I'm going to play as hard as I can, trying to get better each and every day. And, yeah, really, that's the whole point. So it doesn't change."

Thursday's game in Phoenix tips off at 9 p.m. ET. The Hornets visit the Los Angeles Clippers at 4:30 p.m. ET Sunday and the Los Angeles Lakers at 11 p.m. ET Tuesday, and the trip ends Nov. 20 in Atlanta. Charlotte returns home Nov. 23 against the Memphis Grizzlies.