Devin Cannady has been a professional basketball player for six seasons, and currently hones his craft as a guard with the NBA G League’s Birmingham Squadron. He averaged 10.2 points per game during the Showcase Cup portion of the Squadron’s 2023-24 season, and through five regular season contests is scoring 9.2 points per outing.
His wife, Katie Lou Samuelson, has six WNBA seasons on her resume, following a decorated college career with the UConn Huskies. She is now with the Los Angeles Sparks.
Hoops is likely a hot topic of conversation in their home, but so is parenthood; they welcomed their first child last August. And while all parents want their kids to succeed, Cannady decided to put his hopes and dreams for his daughter in writing.
Cannady is the author of Aliya Can, a book “for all parents who want their children to believe that they can achieve anything they set out to do.”
The book – set for release on Monday, January 15 – is illustrated by Danika Runyan.
“My wife and I were just having a conversation on the way to our honeymoon,” said Cannady, who’ll suit up for the New Orleans Pelicans’ affiliate tonight in a road game against the Memphis Hustle. “And we were just thinking, ‘Hey, how great would it be to write a book for our daughter about our daughter?’ She’s like, ‘Oh, my gosh, that’d be so fun. How would you ever do something like that?’”
Cannady, who says he’s always looking to learn new things, began to investigate what such an undertaking would involve. So, he decided to Google “How to write a book.”
Eight months later, his book was written.
“That brings us where we are today, where we have a physical copy in hand and they’re ready to be distributed,” he said. “It’s really been a process of learning for me.”
Cannady said he hopes Aliya Can is something that his daughter can one day read and know that it was for and about her, but also provide a positive impact for other children and their parents.
“I guess it sounds cheesy or cliché, but I just wrote it from my heart,” he said. “When you think about children’s books, and study some of the classics with a rhyme scheme, you want to do something that’s quick-hitting and that kind of flows, almost like a nursery rhyme. So that’s what I had in mind from day one.
“When I talked about it with my wife, I was like, ‘This is the vision I have. Let me just speak from my heart and see what that end product could be.’ And honestly, it didn’t take very long for me to come up with what is now the final product.”
Although aimed at young kids, the message is universal.
“It blends in with my ethos of believing in yourself and having confidence,” he said. “I think that’s something that parents or anyone, for that matter, can embrace, and inspire kids to believe in themselves and achieve anything at a young age. That’s something I’m going to be preaching to my daughter her whole life. So, I figured I’d get it in book form. Once it’s out there, I can say that’s my philosophy.”
His Squadron coaches and teammates have been supportive of his project ever since they found out it was almost ready for publication a few weeks ago.
“A lot of my teammates just look at me like, ‘Are you kidding me … you’re doing that?’ So, they’re all super excited for me. I think a couple of guys, even coaches, are looking to purchase some for siblings and cousins, and it’s really exciting to have that support.”
And while fatherhood might not have changed his approach to basketball, it most certainly has changed him as a person.
“One hundred percent, yes,” he said. “Once you’re in that delivery room, and in the moment she’s born … it’s a feeling you can’t truly describe or put into words. But you feel kind of this overwhelming sense of joy, and also a sense of responsibility. For someone like me who’s been in the NBA, who has goals and aspirations and feels a need to give back, it just raises that level of focus and intensity.”
Aliya Can will be available through Barnes & Noble or you can get further information by clicking on Cannady’s bio link on Instagram at devin_cannady3.