Finally, Alex Sarr signs a $90 million contract with the LA Lakers… See more…
NEW YORK — Alex Sarr has spent the past five years traversing the globe to prepare himself for the NBA draft.
The charming 7-footer from Bordeaux, France, left home at 14 to join Real Madrid’s youth team in Spain. From there, he went to Atlanta in 2021 to join Overtime Elite, which helped Amen and Ausar Thompson become top-five picks in 2023.
Last season, Sarr moved again in search of better competition, landing in Australia with the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League. When time permitted, he visited his father’s side of the family in Senegal.
The past six MVP awards in the NBA have gone to international players, and several new potential stars born outside the United States were gobbled up to start the first round of the league’s annual draft Wednesday night at Barclays Center.
French teenagers Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr, as expected, were selected as the top two picks of this year’s NBA draft by the Hawks and Wizards, respectively.
Either one of them going No. 1 — after wunderkind big man Victor Wembanyama went first to the Spurs one year ago — would have made history.
