5 NBA players who went abroad as Kemba Walker leaves for Euro League
Kemba Walker is the latest player to switch the NBA for a move abroad.
The point guard has completed a move to Monaco, after the deal was announced by the French basketball team on Friday. The veteran has signed a one-year deal to play in France for the 2023/24 season, leaving the Dallas Mavericks in the process.
Walker had spent the entirety of his professional career in the NBA prior to his switch to France. The 33-year-old was the No.9 overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets.
Since then, he has enjoyed an impressive career that has seen him become a four-time NBA All-Star. As well as Charlotte, Walker has also played for the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and the Mavericks in his career.
Walker becomes the latest player to move abroad after competing in the NBA. He joins a lengthy list of some of the most talented players to have played outside the United States in their illustrious careers.
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Here, Mirror Sport takes a look at five of the NBAs biggest stars who made the decision to play abroad.
Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson is one of the biggest stars to play both in the NBA and abroad (PELLE LUND/SCANPIX SWEDEN/AFP via Getty Images)Arguably one of the biggest stars in NBA history, Magic Johnson made the decision to sign for Swedish basketball team Boras Basket in 1999. The one season that Johnson played for the team, it was rebranded ‘Magic M7 Boras’.
Johnson had previously played his entire NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers. The No.1 overall pick from the 1979 draft, along with Larry Bird, was one of the biggest stars the sport had seen since the likes of Bill Russell in the 1960s with the Celtics.
The Lakers legend initially retired from basketball in 1991 after testing positive for HIV. Johnson made a stunning comeback years later where he would return to the Lakers as both a player and coach.
After calling time on basketball once again in 1996, he made his return with the move to Sweden in 1999. In 2000, Johnson officially called time on his playing career, which began more than two decades earlier.
Allen Iverson
The No.1 pick in the 1996 NBA Draft, Allen Iverson was one of the best players in the league in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The point guard was competing against the likes of Kobe Bryant for titles
After being drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1996, Iverson went on to become an 11-time NBA All-Star over the course of his career. His time in the City of Brotherly Love was followed by two years with the Denver Nuggets.
Iverson would then have brief stints with the Detroit Pistons and the Memphis Grizzlies, before eventually returning to the Sixers in 2009. His time in Philadelphia was short-lived, though, as his next adventure would take him to Europe.
The year 2000 saw Iverson move to Turkey with Besiktas, initially signing a two-year deal. However, a serious calf injury needed surgery which would effectively end his playing career, after featuring in just 10 games for Besiktas.
Dominique Wilkins
One of the NBA’s biggest stars in the 1980s, Dominique Wilkins made the switch to Europe towards the latter stages He was the No.3 overall pick in the 1982 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz, but was traded to the Atlanta Hawks.
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Wilkins spent 12 years in Atlanta, where he was also named as an NBA All-Star nine times. He later moved to the LA Clippers in 1994, before eventually signing for the Celtics.
His time in Boston would last a little over a year, and it was here where Wilkins would make the move to Europe. Greek basketball team Panathinaikos signed Wilkins in 1995, before he also later moved to Italian side Fortitudo Bologna after a return to the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs.
Scottie Pippen
Labelled by Michael Jordan as the best teammate he played with, Scottie Pippen is certainly one of the NBAs biggest icons. The forward from Arkansas was a key figure in the famed Chicago Bulls dynasty in the 1990s.
Pippen was the No.5 overall pick in the 1987 NBA Draft, and it would take a few years before his partnership with Jordan would truly flourish. That would happen in 1991, when the first of six NBA titles in the decade would be won, including two three-peats.
The forward’s time with the Bulls would come to an end in 1998, when a large number of the team’s stars left, including Jordan. Pippen would have spells with the Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers, before returning to Chicago for an injury-hit stint in 2003.
Pippen would announce his retirement from the NBA in 2004, but would return to the game of basketball four years later by signing for Finnish team Torpan Pojat. His time in Finland would last just a few games and he would not be back on the court again.
Stephon Marbury
One of the more recent players to leave the NBA, Stephon Marbury’s career began in 1996 when he was drafted No.4 overall by the Milwaukee Bucks. The two-time NBA All-Star, however, would be traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
His time in Minneapolis would last just three years, before he joined the New Jersey Nets in 1999. That would then be followed by spells with the Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks and Boston Celtics.
Marbury left the NBA in 2010 when he moved to China for the Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons, before joining the Foshan Dralions a year later. Marbury would eventually find his home with the Beijing Ducks, where he spent six seasons.
He would make one final move to the Beijing Fly Dragons in 2017, where he would spend one year before retiring in 2018.
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