Hornets center Moussa Diabate said Taj Gibson kept telling him to keep showing up. Diabate started 47 games last season and won the NBA Hustle Award.
Taj Gibson spent one season with the Charlotte Hornets, appeared in 37 games, and averaged 11.1 minutes a night. Gibson was 39 that year, in his 16th NBA season. Moussa Diabate brought him up on a recent podcast.
Charlotte signed Diabate to a two-way contract in July 2024. The Los Angeles Clippers had taken him 43rd overall in the 2022 NBA Draft after one season at Michigan, and across two years in Los Angeles he appeared in 33 games.
Through that first season with the Hornets, Diabate played 71 games, started eight, and averaged 17.5 minutes, 5.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 0.8 assists. Charlotte finished 19-63.
Diabate does the work and leaves the rest to God.
"That's something that Taj (Gibson) kept on telling me: 'Keep on showing up,'" Diabate said.
"There's no such thing as right timing," Diabate continued. "You don't know exactly when it's going to happen, but if you keep on showing up, one of them days it's going to happen. So it's like, you've got to keep showing up and give everything you have and just leave it to God after that."
Last season opened with Diabate behind Ryan Kalkbrenner, the 34th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. It ended with career highs of 73 games, 47 starts, and 26.0 minutes, and averages of 7.9 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.0 blocks, and 0.8 steals. Diabate shot 63.1% from the field and 65.9% from the free-throw line, both career highs. His 3.7 offensive rebounds per game ranked fifth in the NBA.
In April, the league named Diabate the winner of its Hustle Award, which is determined by a statistical formula rather than a vote of media, players, or executives. Among qualified players, Diabate ranked first per minute in offensive box outs, fourth in screen assists, eighth in offensive loose balls recovered, 10th in contested two-point shots, and 11th in defensive box outs. Hawks guard Dyson Daniels was the runner-up. Draymond Green of the Warriors finished third.
Charlotte went 44-38 and placed ninth in the Eastern Conference. The Hornets beat the Miami Heat in overtime in the No. 9 vs. No. 10 play-in game. It was Charlotte's first postseason win since 2016. The Orlando Magic won the next one, and Charlotte missed the playoffs by one game.
Diabate signed a three-year contract worth $5.69 million with Charlotte in February 2025.
Between June 25 and Aug. 14, the Hornets traded LaMelo Ball, Josh Green, Miles Bridges, and Tre Mann. Ball and Green went to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Naz Reid, a 2033 unprotected first-round pick, first-round swaps in 2028, 2029, and 2030, and second-round picks in 2029, 2032, and 2033, first reported by ESPN's Shams Charania. Bridges went to the Phoenix Suns for Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale. Mann went to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Dennis Schroder. Charlotte re-signed Coby White, acquired Dorian Finney-Smith from the Houston Rockets, and drafted Hannes Steinbach 14th and Christian Anderson 18th.
Sion James, who played all 82 games as a rookie last season, called the turnover a shock to the system.
Jonathan DeLong of At The Hive has Hornets coach Charles Lee starting White, Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, Reid, and Diabate, with Schroder, Allen, O'Neale, Grant Williams, Steinbach, and Kalkbrenner off the bench. ESPN projects Charlotte at 34-48.
Gibson is 41 years old and no longer in Charlotte. He signed a two-year deal with the Memphis Grizzlies in February 2026, his 17th NBA season, and has played in more than 1,000 regular-season games. His minimum salary for 2026-27 is non-guaranteed, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
Charlotte opens the season Oct. 21 at Brooklyn. The home opener is Oct. 23 against Atlanta at Spectrum Center. Six Hornets games are scheduled for national television, the first on Jan. 19 at Dallas.
