Well-known Europeans usually switch to the NBA, but this is not so often the case the other way around. But that also happens from time to time, like now: Kemba Walker joins AS Monaco.
He wasn’t happy in Dallas, how’s Monaco doing? Kemba Walker. IMAGO/Icon Sportswire
As the French champion announced on Friday, Walker is coming to the Principality and signed for a year with the team of head coach Sasa Obradovic, who once made a name for himself in the Bundesliga as a player and coach at Alba Berlin – the Serb also coached the Cologne 99ers. Last year Obradovic caused a big upset in the Euroleague when he led the Monegasques to the Final Four and finished third.
With the signing of Walker, the Monegasques are now also making an announcement to the competition, wanting to underline that the success of the previous year should not be a flash in the pan. Walker is no longer at his peak, but the 33-year-old definitely brings a lot of quality to Europe – and thus also to the Euroleague.
Best time in Charlotte
In 2011 he was drafted ninth place by the Charlotte Bobcats, who have since renamed themselves the Hornets, and in the following years he has become a top performer: During his time in Charlotte he was selected to the NBA All-Star Team three times – he scored a total of 12,009 points for the North Carolina franchise.
In 2019/20, the playmaker was traded to the Boston Celtics, where he didn’t play badly, but in the end didn’t live up to the expectations placed in him – even though he had been called up to the All-Star team – for the fourth time in a row – and had even reached the Conference Finals with the Celtics, where they lost to the Miami Heat.
Boston was not convinced of Walker, who also had knee problems during the season – and traded him to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He never played there, rather the player agreed to a buyout with the club, making him a free agent.
Walker then tried his luck in New York with the Knicks – and didn’t find it, even flew out of the club’s rotation. Things went even worse in the past season with the Dallas Mavericks, who parted ways with the point guard after just nine games – the concern was probably too great whether the left knee would hold out.
In Monaco, however, people are obviously convinced of Walker, who has accumulated 750 NBA games in his career – also that the native of New York will help the Monegasques in sport. At the beginning of January there had already been speculation about Walker’s impending move to Europe, but at the time Armani Milan were the favourites. Now it has become AS Monaco.
2023-07-21 19:20:38
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