Who Is Hamidou Diallo? His Age, Height, Weight, Family, Bio

Quick Facts

Hamidou Diallo shares his last name with another NBA player and many have thought the two players are brothers or should be related somehow, but surprisingly, they are not related in any way. While Cheick is a Malian-born player whose family currently resides in Mali, Hamidou was born and raised in Queens, New York, U.S.A., but his root is traced to Guinea – a country in West Africa.

Diallo is currently playing as a shooting guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the NBA. He was selected by the team at the 2018 NBA Draft after playing college basketball at Kentucky.

Who Is Hamidou Diallo? His Bio, Age

Hamidou was born in Queens, New York on July 31, 1998, to Marima and Abdoulaye Diallo. He has always loved the game of basketball right from when he was very small. He recalls how he played his game on a fenced-in court in the neighbourhood and how he couldn’t wait to grow up so he would get a chance to play against older boys and that chance did eventually come.

He began playing with the big guys at John Bowne High School, Flushing, New York. During his sophomore year, he recorded an average of 6.6 rebounds, 17.1 points and 2.7 assists. In 2015, he played with the NY Jayhawks of the AAU team – the Under Armour Association Circuit (UAA) and recorded an average of 5.0 rebounds and 22.5 points per game.

At the end of his sophomore season, one of his coaches advised him to try a prep school, thus, he transferred to Putnam Science Academy located in Putnam, Connecticut. There, Diallo worked on both his grades and game without the distraction of New York. As a junior in his new school, he recorded an average of 17.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, leading the team in a 25-7 overall record.

Later that season, he joined the New York Rens for the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) Circuit and led the team with 2.1 assists and 18.6 points. He was part of the RENs that visited the White House during the 2016 National Gun Violence Awareness Day. However, they were unable to meet President , who had another commitment at the U.S. Air Force Academy that same day.

As a senior, he led the Mustangs to a 38-3 record after hitting an average of 3.0 assist, 19.0 points and 6.0 rebounds. Rivals.com, ESPN and Scout.com named him as one of the top players in the 2017 recruiting class. He received scholarship offers from several schools which include the University of Connecticut, Indiana University, University of Arizona, Syracuse University, University of Kentucky and University of Kansas. In January 2017, he declared his commitment to Kentucky.

He began practising with the team but didn’t play a single game with them throughout the 2016-17 season due to his late entry. He would later declare for the 2017 NBA Draft despite not playing any college game yet. He later opted out and returned to Kentucky to play in the 2017-2018 season. Draft scouts projected that he would have been selected in the first round that year had he not opted out.

NBA Career

After spending his 2017/2018 season at Kentucky, Hamidou Diallo, again, entered for the NBA Draft and was selected by the Brooklyn Nets as the 45th pick at the 2018 NBA draft. That same night, he was traded to the Charlotte Hornets, who would later trade him to Oklahoma City Thunder.

Hamidou Diallo has played for his national team too. he was part of the U.S Basketball Junior Team that represented the country at the October minicamp held in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 2015.

In 2016, he was part of the Under 18 team that played at the  FIBA Americas U18 Championship which held at Valdivia, Chile. The team won the gold medal. In 2017, he was invited to join the U.S Men’s U19 World Cup Team. He was part of the team that won bronze at the FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup held in Egypt in 2017.

His Family

Despite being born in the U.S, Hamidou Diallo has an African root traced to Guinea, a country in West Africa. His parents (Marima and Abdoulaye) moved to the U.S. decades ago and settled in Lefrak City, blocks of high-rise apartments located in Corona section of Queens, New York.

His father worked as a cab driver and his mom a hairdresser to support their four children. Diallo is their third child. He has two older siblings (a brother and a sister) and a younger brother.

His Height And Weight

The NBA shooting guard stands at a height of 6 ft 4 in (1.96 m) and weighs 198 pounds  – 90 kg, although his weight doesn’t measure up to those of his counterparts, it has aided his flexibility on the court.

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