Basketball: Díaz aims to lead Gran Canaria back to Liga Endesa

This season, Christian Díaz is fulfilling a dream he has been striving for for 34 years. Having been the only youth academy graduate from the famous 1992 generation not to make his debut for CB Gran Canaria, the veteran point guard has returned to the club after 16 years of continuous hard work in basketball: «It’s indescribable to be back home in the final stretch of my career.»

His return to the Claretian side coincides with Cajasiete Gran Canaria’s relegation to the FEB First Division after three decades in the elite of Spanish basketball, so the Gran Canaria native makes no secret of his desire to return to the Liga Endesa with the yellow-clad side.

Christian Díaz: Promotion with Gran Canaria is a major goal

«I’ve long felt that my dreams and goals in basketball had been fulfilled by my previous promotions, my debut in the Liga Endesa and even being named MVP for a matchday. I’d ticked all the boxes, but now I have a huge picture on the wall at home with the aim of bringing Gran Canaria back to the place it should never have left,» he says emotionally in an interview with EFE.

The excitement reached its peak on 26 September in the league opener against Alimerka Oviedo Baloncesto (108-69). Díaz played his first minutes on court in the Claretian jersey and felt that tingling sensation, the same one felt by the boy who grew up in La Vega de San José and went on to become the man who «was able to fulfil the dream of every youth academy player».

The Cajasiete Gran Canaria point guard says that the first person who sprang to mind at that moment was his mother, who «always had the dream» of seeing him at the Gran Canaria Arena wearing the home shirt, a wish she was unable to fulfil from her seat in the stands, but one that lives on in Christian Díaz’s heart.

The Liga Endesa crowns Díaz's long career

The Gran Canaria native left the Yellow side in 2012, following two consecutive loan spells at La Palma, and ever since then he has treasured some words from Pedro Martínez, Gran Canaria’s manager at the time, which had a profound impact on his career: «Good luck, you’ve chosen the best path.»

Ten years later, Díaz met the coach again in the Liga Endesa and, although he thought the Catalan wouldn’t even remember him, Martínez came over, gave the Canary Islander a warm hug and told him «how delighted he was that he’d managed» to reach the elite of Spanish basketball after a long journey through the second tier with Navarra, Ourense and Huesca: «That recognition from such a brilliant coach was incredible and very special.»

Christian Díaz is aware that his journey has been «less fortunate than others'», but he emphasises that he has always relied on his hard work to «tick off the milestones» in his career, such as making his Liga Endesa debut in 2018 after being promoted with Río Breogán.

«One of my goals was to play in the Liga Endesa, and I’ve worked my whole life to achieve it. I’m very proud of the way I’ve gone about it and of a journey that was by no means easy, but that’s what makes it all the more satisfying and rewarding. It’s incredible and hard to put into words because I’ve spent so many years away, far from my family, friends and partner, in difficult, cold places, with lots of emotional ups and downs,» he says.

Cajasiete Gran Canaria brings Díaz back

That whole journey came to a happy ending of sorts when he received a call this summer from Francesc Solana, the current sporting director at Cajasiete Gran Canaria, who told him that Bruno Savignani wanted to speak to him about signing him for the yellow-shirted side.

«The manager was in Las Vegas. The time difference was huge, but I told him I was ready to talk at any time, even though his 9.00 am was my 3.00 am. It was a bit of a faff, but I was on the ball to make my dream come true,» he explains with a laugh.

Three promotions confirm Txus Vidorreta's advice

Christian Díaz’s career in the former LEB Oro was a highly successful one, including three promotions with Ourense, Breogán and Granada, although the Gran Canaria native had to work incredibly hard to reach the top flight, so much so that in 2017 he even sought advice from Txus Vidorreta at a coaching clinic in Gran Canaria.

The Basque coach told him that the only way to reach the Liga Endesa from LEB Oro was through promotion, a response that made the yellow team’s point guard «furious», although with the passage of time he has come to understand it thanks to the maturity he has gained.

«To be honest, that answer really annoyed me at the time, because as a Spanish player who was performing well, my only option was to move up. It was on my mind that players like Pepe Pozas, Alberto Díaz, Fabio Santana and Sergi Quintela, who were from my generation, were in the Liga Endesa and I wasn’t. It made me angry and I said, ‚Well, by God, if that’s the way it is, I’m going to give it my all to get promoted.‘ And that’s exactly what happened, the bloke was right (laughs),» he explains.

Now aged 34 and with many games under his belt, Christian Díaz has two dreams in mind: to continue on the path of «hard work every day, being a family and building relationships» in order to fight for promotion, and to be able to end his professional career with Cajasiete Gran Canaria, ideally after enjoying a spell in the top flight wearing the shirt he always dreamed of wearing.