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Moussa Diabate's decision to skip EuroBasket is a win for the Charlotte Hornets

Originally posted on Charlotte Hornets on SI
By Matt Alquiza | Last updated Aug 18, 2025 9:42 AM ET

We're at the point of the sports calendar where NFL preseason consumes the majority of the oxygen on sports air waves. Baseball's pennant races haven't quite come into focus, hockey is dormant, the dawn is just breaking on the soccer season, and basketball's flurry of offseason activity has relatively cooled down.

A major debate about preseason football is whether or not to give the starters burn in the meaningless games. The rise of joint practices between squads has proven fruitful, giving two franchises opportunities to get work against opposition wearing a different jersey in a more controlled environment.

Daily practices against your own team and a handful of scrimmages against an opposition without playing in exhibitions are solid ways to improve your game ahead of a new season, and the Charlotte Hornets' projected starting center Moussa Diabate did just that for the French National Team.

Diabate denied the opportunity to suit up for France in EuroBasket

With the quadrennial tournament set to tip off in just a couple of weeks, France was forced to cut down their roster and Diabate was one of the casualties. He was cut on August 8th in favor of some more veteran options.

However, due to an injury to Vincent Poirier, Diabate was afforded the opportunity to re-join the squad. According to EuroHoops, the Moose denied the overtures of the French Basketball Association to 'focus on the NBA season.'

It's the best of both worlds for the Hornets.

Much like an NFL preseason, Diabate got some rigorous work against his own talented French side while getting some scrimmage work against opposing national teams. He came out of the friendly schedule in good health, with some hopefully refined skills, and can now focus on preparing for his upcoming campaign in Charlotte with his NBA teammates.

The EuroBasket championship game is on September 14th. France has aspirations to be competing that deep into the tournament, meaning Moussa would have only had about two weeks to recharge before joining the Hornets for training camp in Charleston if he was on the French squad.

Charlotte saw first hand in 2024 how extended international duties for Josh Green and Vasilije Micic impacted their play at the beginning of the NBA season, and they won't have to worry about that for Moussa now.