Kemba Walker signs one-year contract with AS Monaco of EuroLeague

Four-time NBA All-Star Kemba Walker has signed a one-year contract with AS Monaco of the EuroLeague, the team announced Friday.

This will be Walker's first time playing in Europe, following a 12-season run in the NBA.

While Walker is just 33, he's had significant knee problems over the past few years that have hindered his career and led to his transition to Europe. He originally had knee surgery in 2015, but problems began to crop up again after he signed a max deal with the Boston Celtics in 2019. He missed more than half of the 2021-22 season with the New York Knicks and played just nine games for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2022-23 season.

A first-round pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, Walker was selected ninth overall by the Charlotte Bobcats (now known as the Charlotte Hornets). He stayed in Charlotte for eight seasons, making three straight All-Star Games as a Hornet before accepting the sign-and-trade deal with the Celtics, who had just lost Al Horford and Kyrie Irving. He made his fourth straight All-Star team with Boston, but was traded after just two years. From there he bounced to the Knicks and finally to the Cavs this year with whom he averaged 8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists on 42.1% shooting over just nine total games.

Walker is joining a team on the rise. AS Monaco finished third in the EuroLeague and won its first French pro league title this past season, sweeping Victor Wembanyama's Metropolitans 92 team.