Hornets coach believes Moussa Diabate has the traits of two well-known Hall of Famers

Every good team has an energizer bunny on its roster that does all of the things that may not show up in the stat sheet, or maybe collects the stats that aren't necessarily the most coveted. Center Moussa Diabate is exactly that for the Charlotte Hornets.

Early on in his tenure with the Hornets, he reminded a lot of folks of Dennis Rodman for how often he would finish a game with anywhere from zero to four or five points, but record double-digit rebounds. He remained highly effective without scoring the ball very much. Now, his head coach, Charles Lee, is even buying into that comparison, along with another Hall of Famer.

“He brings a ton of energy. We talk about it as a staff, we talk about it as a team all the time. Like, I’ve never seen a guy play that hard, that long, that consistently for the whole game," Lee said ahead of Saturday's game against Golden State. "Like, Ben Wallace comes to mind as somebody that just loves doing all the dirty work, all the things necessary to try to win a game — he does it. Our whole group appreciates everything he brings. He just brings a nastiness, a toughness. Defensively, he allows us to switch up our coverages. His defensive presence is really good on the ball, and then also, he’s protected the paint too. He’s had some big-time blocks for us when we have gotten beat. And then offensively, what he does on the offensive glass is…it’s Dennis Rodman-like. He’s unbelievable. He’s a joy to watch.”

I know what you're thinking...comparing Moussa to a pair of Hall of Famer is a bit of a reach. Is it thought? I mean, no one is predicting that Diabate is going to have. Hall of Fame-type career, but his game is so eerily similar to both of them. And for whatever it's worth, Diabate's production is right there with that of Wallace and Rodman in the fourth year of their respective careers.

Year four averages

Moussa Diabate: 8.2 ppg, 8.4 rpg (3.7 orpg), 1.0 blk, 0.8 stl, 62% FG

Dennis Rodman: 8.8 ppg. 9.7 rpg (4.1orpg), 0.7 blk, 0.6 stl, 58% FG

Ben Wallace: 4.8 ppg, 8.2 rpg (2.6 orpg), 1.6 blk, 0.9 stl, 50% FG

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