Former Lakers Guard to Become Highest-Paid Player in Europe

A Los Angeles Lakers alum is turning heads abroad.

L.A. had a strange run in 2022-23. The team kicked things off with an ill-balanced roster, overburdened by past-their-prime guards.

Then-first-year head coach Darvin Ham had his work cut out for him trying to balance former nine-time All-Star Russell Westbrook, former All-Defensive Teamer Patrick Beverley, and former All-Rookie standout Kendrick Nunn, on a roster that also included LeBron James, Anthony Davis, a then-rising Austin Reaves, and Dennis Schroder.

Westbrook, Nunn, and Beverley were all jettisoned by that season's trade deadline (as was floor-spacing center Thomas Bryant, who was actually pretty good that year). Beverley and Westbrook both thrived playing for their hometown clubs, the Chicago Bulls and L.A. Clippers (Westbrook's from Long Beach).

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Nunn, who like Beverley is a Chicago native, was sent to the Washington Wizards.

The 6-foot-2 pro should have prospered on a rebuilding Wizards squad, but he playing a similarly sparing bench role for Washington. After being held out the entirety of his 2021-22 season with the Lakers due to an injury, Nunn had averaged 6.7 points on .406/.325/.810 shooting splits in his 39 games (two starts) for Los Angeles, across 13.5 minutes per.

In 31 contests for Washington, the 27-year-old averaged 7.5 points while slashing a more efficient line of .447/.392/.900, 1.8 dimes, 1.7 boards and 0.5 swipes a night.

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Since 2023, Nunn has been lighting it up for Greek club Panathinaikos. During his first season with the team, Nunn was named the Greek League Most Popular Player, an All-Greek League First Teamer, and an All-EuroLeague First Teamer, while winning both the Greek League and EuroLeague.

He was also honored as the Greek League Finals MVP. This season, he led Panathinaikos to the Greek Cup championship.

PAO pick and roll action on display ☘️@WenyenGabriel goes UP for a dunk after a great feed from @nunnbetter_ 😤✈️#FlighTime | @TurkishAirlines pic.twitter.com/xHAihRjAc3
— Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) March 26, 2025

Alongside a former Lakers teammate, power forward Wenyen Gabriel, Nunn has been absolutely thriving with Panathinaikos.

Now, he's earning a raise. Per Legion Hoops, Nunn is inking a new deal with the franchise that will make him the best-compensated player in Europe.

Kendrick Nunn is signing a contract with Panathinaikos B.C. that will make him the highest-paid player in Europe, per @SdnaGr. pic.twitter.com/9TsRbiQx0G
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) March 30, 2025

Per Eurobasket, Nunn will net $4.5 million annually, as part of a contract that keeps him under Panathinaikos control until 2028. The deal has no NBA out clauses, meaning he will ostensibly be unable to depart the team for the world's top basketball league for three more years.

This year with the club, Nunn is logging averages of 20.3 points, 4.1 assists and 3.6 rebounds a night, and is looking like a contender for a EuroLeague MVP award.

Across 193 career regular season NBA games (113 starts), Nunn has averaged 12.1 points while slashing .451/.362/.876, plus 2.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 0.7 steals a night.

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