National Basketball Association

Utah Jazz Add DeSagana Diop to Coaching Staff

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Former Top 10 pick and 12-year NBA veteran DeSagana Diop has joined the Utah Jazz as an associate coach.

During Utah Jazz training camp last week, a number of new faces could be spotted coming and going at the Zions Banks Basketball Center. With Joe Johnson, Boris Diaw and George Hill joining the team’s rookies and roster packed with extra bodies for camp, the Jazz have a distinctly different look at the moment.

One of the new faces catching the attention of observers was that of a longtime former player in the league. More specifically, the No. 8 pick in the 2001 NBA Draft and a 12-year veteran, DeSagana Diop.

But the seven-footer wasn’t there to vie for a spot on the team as the third center. Diop has actually joined the team as a member of Quin Snyder‘s coaching staff.

The move was made official when the team announced that Diop had been added to Snyder’s staff as a coaching associate on Monday. Per Jazz policy, terms of Diop’s agreement with the team were not disclosed.

As a coaching associate, Diop will aid Snyder and the rest of his staff in a variety of capacities, including work on the court during practices, player workouts, video editing and analysis and other team preparation.

According to the team’s announcement of Diop’s hiring, the coaching associate position was created by the Jazz to “provide prospective coaches an opportunity to gain further experience in an apprenticeship role.”

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After his playing career concluded in 2013 at the age of 31, Diop joined the D-League’s Texas Legends as a player development coach. He was promoted to the role of assistant coach the following year.

As a player, Diop saw action in more than 600 career games with the Cleveland Cavaliers (who drafted him out of high school in ’01), Dallas Mavericks, New Jersey Nets and Charlotte Bobcats. Despite limited minutes, he blocked 630 shots over the course of his career.

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