CAREER TRANSACTIONS:

Not drafted by the NBA out of college in 2005…spent the 2005-06 season with JDA Dijon Bourgogne of the French League and Climamio Bologna of the Italian League…signed as a free agent by the Denver Nuggets on Aug. 26, 2006…signed by the HEAT as a free agent on Aug. 7, 2008.

2007-08 SEASON:

Started 14 of the 54 games in which he appeared for the Denver Nuggets and averaged 2.8 points (.410 FG%, .710 FT%), 1.1 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 10.0 minutes…did not miss a game due to injury, but was a DNP-CD on 28 occasions…in his 14 starts he averaged 4.7 points (.453 FG%, .750 FT%), 1.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 16.6 minutes and the Nuggets went 10-4 (.714) in those contests…scored in double figures on four occasions…had one multi-steal game…Season Highs: 12 points (vs. Seattle, Oct. 31), five rebounds (vs. Seattle, Mar. 16), three assists (four times), two steals (at New Orleans, Jan. 28), one block (three times) and 27:54 minutes (vs. Seattle, Oct. 31).

2006-07 SEASON:

Appeared in 64 games (19 starts) for the Denver Nuggets and averaged 4.4 points (.342 FG%, .660 FT%), 1.7 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 18.4 minutes…did not miss a game due to injury, but was a DNP-CD on 18 occasions…ranked 10th among NBA rookies in three-point field goals made (49)…his 49 treys are the third highest total by a rookie in Nuggets franchise history…in his 19 starts he averaged 6.8 points (.333 FG%, .583 FT%), 2.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 26.4 minutes…led the team in assists once…was Denver’s top scorer off the bench on four occasions…scored in double figures on 10 occasions, including one 20-point performance…hit at least one three-point field goal in a career-high five consecutive games from Dec. 2-12…set single-game career highs in points (23), field goals made (8) and attempted (16), three-point field goals made (5), total rebounds (6) and minutes played (41:35) against Philadelphia on Jan. 2…had a career-high four assists against Indiana on Dec. 2…made his NBA debut in Los Angeles against the Clippers on Nov. 2 and was scoreless in 21:35 minutes, but tallied three rebounds, two assists and one steal…made his first career start against Washington on Dec. 18 and totaled eight points, three rebounds and two assists in 40:09 minutes…had eight multi-steal and one multi-block games…Season Highs: 23 points (vs. Philadelphia, Jan. 2), six rebounds (vs. Philadelphia, Jan. 2), four assists (vs. Indiana, Dec. 2), three steals (twice), two blocks (vs. Houston, Jan. 12) and 41:35 minutes (vs. Philadelphia, Jan. 2).

2005-06 SEASON:

Split the season with JDA Dijon Bourgogne of the French League and Climamio Bologna of the Italian League…in 20 games for JDA Dijon Bourgogne he averaged 16.5 points (.421 FG%, .744 FT%), 5.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists…joined Climamio Bologna in February and in 25 games of Italian League play he averaged 10.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.00 steals…in five Euroleague games with Climamio Bologna he averaged 5.8 points and 4.0 rebounds.

NBA PLAYOFFS:

2008: Came off the bench in all three games he appeared for the Nuggets in the Opening Round series loss to the Lakers and averaged 1.3 points (.400 FG%, .000 FT%), 0.3 rebounds and 2.7 minutes…2007: Came off the bench in his lone postseason appearance in Denver’s Opening Round series loss to San Antonio…made his NBA postseason debut at San Antonio in Game 5 on May 2 and was scoreless in 1:15 of playing time.

COLLEGE:

Played two seasons at Pepperdine University (2003-05) after playing two years at Southern Idaho Junior College (2001-03)…in 45 games as a member of the Waves he averaged 15.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 32.5 minutes while shooting 45.6 percent from the floor, 34.3 percent from three-point range and 65.0 percent from the free throw line…as a senior in 2004-05, he appeared in 31 games and averaged 14.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 31.9 minutes…was named First Team All-West Coast Conference as a junior in 2003-04 after averaging 18.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 34.0 minutes in 14 games while connecting on 50.9 percent of his field goal attempts, 48.1 percent of his three-point attempts and 75.8 percent of his free throw opportunities…in 63 games at Southern Idaho Junior College, he averaged 12.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 24.1 minutes while shooting 54.2 percent from the floor, 31.8 percent from three-point range and 58.6 percent from the free throw line…as a sophomore at Southern Idaho in 2002-03 he averaged 15.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 27.2 minutes in 32 games…saw action in 31 games as a freshman in 2001-02 and averaged 8.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 20.8 minutes.

PERSONAL:

Full name is Yakhouba Diawara…his name is pronounced Ya-KOO-ba Dee-a-WA-ra…nickname is “Kuba”…is a native of Paris, France…is the youngest of Bintou and Ansoumane Diawara’s four children…has two sisters (Kankou and Fatoumata) and one brother (Sourakhata)…lists his mother as the person that’s made the biggest difference in his life…speaks four languages (French, Italian, English and Senegalese)…played for the French National Team at the 2008 European Championships…was a member of the French B National Team in 2004 and the French A National Team in 2006…helped lead France to the 2000 Under-18 European Championship…also played in the European Championships for Young Men in Lithuania in 2002 as a member of the French Under-20 National Team…played soccer and handball in high school at Tremblay En France High…his favorite sport other than basketball is soccer and lists Manchester United as his favorite team…chose to wear number 9 with the HEAT because of Dan Majerle, who enjoyed great success playing for the Phoenix Suns under coach Paul Westphal who was Diawara’s coach at Pepperdine…in his free time he likes to read and watch movies…chose Remember the Titans as his favorite movie and Curb Your Enthusiasm as his favorite TV show…lists Denzel Washington as his favorite actor…enjoys listening to R&B…lists 2Pac and Notorious B.I.G. as his favorite musical artists and his favorite album is 2Pac’s All Eyez On Me…would one day like to meet Muhammad Ali…participated in the Nuggets “Eat Right” program and also in a clinic with the National Sports Center for the Disabled…purchased tickets to every Nuggets game during the 2007-08 season and distributed them to less fortunate families…says something most people don’t know about him is that he is shy…his favorite type of food is French food…has no special pre-game superstitions or rituals…wears a size 13 shoe.