New faces continue to come over to Europe and strengthen various basketball teams.
A few days ago, the return of Willy Hernangomez to European basketball with Barcelona and Facundo Campazzo landing back with Real Madrid caused a stir.
However, the biggest and most important addition of the window has just been made official.
At the age of 33, Kemba Walker has landed in France with Monaco after a career that saw him become one of the biggest stars in the NBA.
While injuries have slowed him down in recent seasons, he’s looking to bounce back after deciding to head over to Europe.
We aren’t talking about just any player. Walker was the ninth overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft after being selected by the Charlotte Bobcats and was named an All-Star (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020) on four occasions.
Kemba Walker con EEUU en el Mundial de China 2019
That’s when we saw the best of Kemba, who averaged 25.6 points per game in his last season in Charlotte, before moving to the Boston Celtics, where he wasn’t able to bring the team its first title since 2008. He was also named All-NBA Third Team in 2019.
Since his departure from Boston, his career has been in free fall, playing a reduced role for the New York Knicks under Tom Thibodeau.
Last season he played just nine games with Luka Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks, averaging 8 points per game. Now he has the opportunity to bounce back and regain the form that made him an NBA superstar.
Kemba Walker iguala su tope de la temporada con 32 puntos para tumbar a los Suns
Walker will pair up with Mike James
Eager to regain his form, Walker will be paired in the backcourt with a EuroLeague star in Mike James.
The pair will start at point guard and shooting guard, and will form a fearsome duo in European basketball that could give Monaco the leap in quality they need to win the European title after reaching last season’s Final Four.
That’s where they lost against Olympiacos in the semifinals and finished third after defeating Barcelona in the third and fourth place game.
Along with players like Jordan Loyd, Petr Cornelie and Donta Hall in other positions, the French team will look to win EuroLeague and be the successor to Real Madrid, the reigning champion.
