After a string of persistent knee injuries, former All-Star defender Kemba Walker leaves the NBA

Four-time All-Star dribbler Kemba Walker has decided not to play in the NBA anymore. Instead, he will switch to the second highest professional league in the world, the EuroLeague, playing for AS Monaco club.

According to many reputable news sites, Kemba Walker signed a 1-year contract with the French team, where he will play in parallel between the French professional league (LNB Pro A) and the EuroLeague.

Now 33 years old, Kemba Walker made just nine appearances for the Dallas Mavericks last season. In January, former defender Charlotte Hornets and Boston Celtics had his contract cut.

Over 12 seasons playing in the NBA, Kemba averaged 19.3 points and 5.3 assists throughout his career. He has played for 4 different teams including Charlotte Hornets, Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks.

Kemba Walker will go to AS Monaco, one of the strongest clubs in Europe. This team has just won the French professional championship and reached the semi-final series of EuroLeague 2022-23.

The farewell to the NBA is a sad ending for Kemba Walker after he was unable to regain his form due to a series of knee injuries.

Except for his last season playing for the Hornets (20218-19), Kemba's number of appearances gradually decreased from 82 to 56, 43 and 37 from 2019 to 2022. In the last season alone, he played only 9 matches for Dallas.

The last time Kemba Walker had a stable season was 2020-21 in the Boston Celtics shirt. He started in 43 matches, averaging 19.3 points and 4.9 assists with more than 31 minutes of play per game.

After that, the 33-year-old defender was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, his contract was liquidated and then landed in the New York Knicks before the 2021-22 season. Unfortunately, the injury caused Kemba to only play 34 games and miss the entire last 3 months of the Regular Season.

Sharing with The Athletic, Kemba Walker said that he was quite sad when he was not contacted by any NBA team to sign a contract. However, this does not mean that he will retire.

“I still love basketball, I still want to play at a high level. I certainly won't retire. Where needed, I will accept the invitation so I can continue to play," Walker said.

Kemba Walker's move this time will give him a fresh start. If he performs well in Europe, the 1990 defender has a chance to return to the NBA after a season or two.