Charlotte’s Moussa Diabaté wins NBA’s Hustle Award for this season
Moussa Diabaté of the Charlotte Hornets was announced Thursday as the NBA’s Hustle Award winner for this season. ALSO READ: Hornets players share bond through French connection Unlike most of the year’s awards, this one was not done by voting. The NBA uses a ranking system that takes nine stats into account — offensive box outs, defensive box outs, screen assists, contested 2-pointers, contested 3-pointers, offensive loose balls recovered, defensive loose balls recovered, deflections and charges taken.
Diabaté ranked 11th or better among qualifying players leaguewide in six of those categories. He also posted career-high numbers in several categories, including points (7. 9), rebounds (8.
7) and assists (1. 9) per game. Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels was second, Golden State’s Draymond Green — last season’s Hustle winner — was third, Memphis’ Cedric Coward was fourth and New York’s Josh Hart was fifth.
This was the 10th season that the award has been handed out.