From Senegal to Cleveland, Khalifa Diop living his basketball dream

CLEVELAND — A 14-year-old Khalifa Diop gripped the armrests of his airplane seat as the jet lifted off the runway in his native Senegal. Somewhere beyond the clouds was Spain, a country far from everything he knew, where a new life awaited.

“I was scared,” Diop remembered. “The [flight attendant] gave me food, but I couldn’t eat. That plane ride wasn’t easy for me.”

It was Diop’s first plane ride and his first trip away from his family of 12. He was headed to a new country in pursuit of a professional basketball career, just two years after first learning the sport.

A decade later, that journey has brought the 6-foot-10 center to the Cleveland Cavaliers, four years after the franchise selected him with the 39th pick in the 2022 NBA draft.

Diop bypassed the familiar American pathway of AAU, high school and college basketball. Instead, his journey illustrates another route to the NBA: one in which young African prospects leave their countries to develop through European basketball clubs at an early age, learning the game while adjusting to life in a foreign country.

For Diop, the opportunity came with enormous sacrifice. He would spend much of his teenage years thousands of miles from home, developing his skills in a basketball system that offered professional opportunities but no guarantees of reaching the NBA.

And basketball wasn’t even his first love.

Growing up in Senegal, Diop loved soccer. But a growth spurt at age 12 left him towering over his peers, who encouraged him to try basketball.

“When I first started, I couldn’t even dribble,” Diop said. “I would miss easy layups. But I kept playing because I was having fun with my friends.”

As Diop continued to grow, so did his basketball skills. His soccer background provided a foundation for strong footwork and mobility. Missed layups became dunks, and he gradually developed better control of the ball.

His talent eventually caught the attention of an agent. Just two years after Diop first picked up a basketball, he was signed, and his agent helped arrange an opportunity for him to develop his game with a club in Spain.

While many American prospects spend their teenage years competing in high school and AAU programs, Diop developed within a European club system where young players train and compete on a path toward professional basketball. Spain represented more than an opportunity to improve his skills. It offered the possibility of a professional career and a chance to eventually help support his family.

But convincing his family to let him go wasn’t easy. His father had a concern that mattered more than basketball.

“When I told my dad that I wanted to go to Spain to try to play basketball, he wanted to know if I’d still be able to go to school,” Diop said. “‘And if not, you’re not going.’”

His father eventually agreed, after learning Diop could continue his education while playing basketball in Spain.

With his family’s blessing, Diop was free to chase his dream. But he still had to learn how to live without the people who had surrounded him his entire life.

“The first year wasn’t easy, honestly,” Diop said. “You have practice, you go to school and you don’t have any family there. You’re by yourself trying to learn new things.”

Cavaliers assistant general manager Jose Calderon understands the challenges of leaving home to pursue basketball. Calderon began his basketball career in his native Spain at age 13.

“Leaving home at a young age isn’t easy,” said Calderon, who played 14 NBA seasons. “I guess it makes you mature a little bit faster.”

For Diop, that maturity had to develop on and off the court. Along with adjusting to life without his family, he faced the challenge of competing against more experienced basketball players in a system far different from the one he had known in Senegal.

At first, the NBA wasn’t his immediate goal. He wanted to become good enough to earn a place on the first team of his club, Gran Canaria. Diop spent six seasons developing at various levels with Gran Canaria, beginning in 2017. His progress was gradual. During the 2018-19 season, he appeared in just one game with the club’s senior team. The following season, he played in 25, including seven starts.

By the 2021-22 season, Diop had become a more established contributor, averaging 6.5 points and 4.2 rebounds in 54 games. His development was beginning to attract attention beyond Spain.

The Cavaliers selected Diop in the second round of the 2022 NBA draft, recognizing the potential of a 20-year-old center whose athleticism and defensive instincts were ahead of his offensive game.

“His defense was always a little bit ahead of his offense at that time,” Calderon said of what initially attracted Cleveland to Diop. “We liked his athleticism. He was getting better offensively as well.”

Diop didn’t watch the draft that night. Instead, at about 3 a.m. in Spain, he received a text message from his agent informing him Cleveland had selected him.

He didn’t sleep for the rest of the night.

“I called my family,” Diop said. “And I could only think about all the things I went through to get into this position. I was happy about the opportunity.”

But Cleveland wasn’t in a hurry to bring him to the NBA. Rather than immediately joining the Cavaliers, Diop remained in Spain, where he continued developing against professional competition.

“For us, we probably didn’t have any roster spots,” Calderon said. “It was more about him staying there and continuing to develop.”

Diop continued improving with Gran Canaria during the 2022-23 season, averaging 7.9 points and 5.0 rebounds while shooting 60.1% from the field. His next stop was Baskonia, another Spanish club, where he would spend three seasons.

Those years provided Diop with additional experience against professional competition while Cleveland monitored his progress.

“When I moved to Gran Canaria, I started playing there and I started thinking about the NBA,” Diop said.

What once seemed distant moved closer to reality when Diop, now 24, joined the Cavaliers’ Summer League team this past summer. In three games, he averaged 4.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in 17.4 minutes as the Cavs went on to win the Summer League title.

The Cavs recognized the maturity and continued growth in Diop’s game. 

“He’s gotten better,” Calderon said. “Hopefully, we’ll see another step or two ahead of him. The best part is that he’s still a young guy.”

With Jarrett Allen as Cleveland’s starting center, Diop faces another challenge. Due to a knee injury, Diop has yet to make his NBA debut, but when healthy, he’s expected to compete with Thomas Bryant for minutes as Allen’s backup.

It is another step in a basketball journey that began with a teenager who couldn’t dribble or make easy layups and who didn’t initially imagine playing in the NBA.

But the journey has always been about more than basketball. Diop boarded an airplane bound for Spain 10 years ago. He was frightened and uncertain about what awaited him. He left behind his family and friends. Years later, after developing his game thousands of miles from Senegal, he has an opportunity to play in the world’s premier basketball league.

And through it all, Diop hasn’t forgotten the people who made the start of the journey possible.

“When I first started I couldn’t imagine I’d have this opportunity, so I will do my best,” Diop said. “Every basket I make [in the NBA] is for my mom and dad. They helped me a lot.”