Cheick Diallo sits in an office inside the New Orleans Pelicans’ practice facility in Metairie, sporting a black Nike T-shirt, red backward baseball cap, black sweatpants and toting a brand-new red backpack. In other words, he looks a lot like the average American teenager, kicking back on a relaxing summer morning. But then he starts talking and – not just because of his thick accent – it’s quickly apparent that the native of the African nation of Mali is different from many 19-year-olds you might meet.
“Right now, I’m wearing all these nice clothes and have all kinds of stuff,” the second-round NBA draft pick said, contrasting his experience in the U.