When Kemba Walker makes his Turkish Airlines EuroLeague debut in October with AS Monaco, he will join a long list of former NBA lottery picks to compete in Europe's premier club basketball competition. And he is clearly among the most accomplished. Here’s a look back at some of those players who came before him.
To date, 28 players who were top 10 picks in the NBA Draft have played in the modern EuroLeague. The highest drafted players were Andrea Bargnani and Anthony Bennett, who were both No. 1 overall selections. Bargnani, the top pick in the 2006 draft by the Toronto Raptors, finished his professional career with Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz in 2016-17. Bennett, meanwhile, was taken first in 2013 by the Cleveland Cavaliers and played for Fenerbahce Istanbul in 2017, when it won the EuroLeague.
Walker will become the fifth player to appear in the EuroLeague after being named to an All-NBA team, though two of those played in the previous era of the EuroLeague. They are Dominique Wilkins, who won the 1996 EuroLeague with Panathinaikos Athens, and Tom Chambers, who played for Maccabi Tel Aviv that same season. Joining them in the modern era were Amar'e Stoudemire and Pau Gasol.