Hornets rookie Tidjane Salaun reveals which of his teammates speaks the best French

Tidjane Salaun has been able to speak a little bit of French with one Hornets player.

Zach Roberts | 4 Hours Ago

Dec 16, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Charlotte Hornets forward Tidjane Salaun (31) warms up before the game against the Philadelphia 76ers at the Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-Imagn Images / Sam Sharpe-Imagn Images

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Charlotte Hornets

Tidjane Salaun and Moussa Diabate are two French NBA players who play for the Charlotte Hornets. They both speak English, but their native language is French. That's not true of any other players on the roster, but there is one teammate they have that speaks a surprisingly fair amount of their language.

Tidjane Salaun praises LaMelo Ball's French

🎙️ Tidjane Salaun spoke with @SamFarberLive on the latest Hornets Hive Cast!

Aside from Moussa Diabate, who on the team speaks the best French? Perhaps because it's in his middle name... LaMelo Ball!

"Small stuff like ça va bien or oui oui... everybody loves to say oui oui." 😅 pic.twitter.com/2DXT4FQKEb
— /r/CharlotteHornets (@HornetsReddit) December 18, 2024

Tidjane Salaun revealed that there's one player who speaks decent French: "Only player, LaMelo Ball," he said. "He's got some words, yeah. It's fun to speak with him. Sometimes when I speak French with Moussa or just on the court, he stops to say some sentence just behind me... Small stuff like ça va bien or oui oui, everybody loves to say oui oui."

Ball doesn't speak fluent French, but he knows a few phrases he pulls out to surprise Salaun and Diabate from time to time. The Hornets have more international players on the roster this year than they have at times in the past, but they reportedly don't have a big language barrier between players.

Salaun is just 19, so it's beneficial for there to be another French player on the roster and to have someone like Ball who's willing to speak the French he does know to create a better bond with the rookie first-round draft pick.

Had it not been for a plethora of frontcourt injuries, Salaun might have been relegated to the G-League. He's one of the league's youngest players, but he took that chance and ran with it. He played well enough that head coach Charles Lee has kept him at the NBA level and allowed him to be a key piece of the rotation.