Kemba Walker Mar 26, 2011; Anaheim, CA, USA; Connecticut Huskies guard Kemba Walker (15) shoots a free throw basket against the Arizona Wildcats during the finals of the west regional of the 2011 NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
By Chris Novak on

Kemba Walker announced his retirement from basketball on Tuesday.

Walker leaves the sport as one of his era’s best college basketball players. Walker helped lead Connecticut on an unforgettable run to a National Championship in 2011. That run’s best remembered for an insanely torrid run through the Big East Tournament, where UConn won five games in five days.

Walker announced his retirement on X, the popular website formerly known as Twitter.

The Charlotte Bobcats, who later became the Hornets, drafted Walker in 2011 with the ninth overall pick. He went on to have a 13-year NBA career in Charlotte, Boston, New York, and Dallas.

One of his most memorable NBA performances came with the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, the building where his famed stepback jumper swished against Pitt. Walker became the seventh NBA player in history to record a triple-double on Christmas Day. Walker scored 10 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and dished out 12 assists in a Knicks win over the Atlanta Hawks.

[Kemba Walker on X]

About Chris Novak

Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022

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