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UNC Basketball: Former Tar Heel Ty Lawson set to continue career in Greece

By Blake Cockrum

BEIJING, CHINA - NOVEMBER 02: Ty Lawson #3 of ShanDong Hi-Speed in action during the 2017/2018 CBA League match between Beijing Ducks and ShanDong Hi-Speed at Shougang Basketball Center Gymnasium on November 2, 2017 in Beijing, China. (Photo by XIN LI/Getty Images)
BEIJING, CHINA - NOVEMBER 02: Ty Lawson #3 of ShanDong Hi-Speed in action during the 2017/2018 CBA League match between Beijing Ducks and ShanDong Hi-Speed at Shougang Basketball Center Gymnasium on November 2, 2017 in Beijing, China. (Photo by XIN LI/Getty Images) /
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Former UNC basketball standout and free agent Ty Lawson is set to continue his playing career in Greece.

Free agent point guard Ty Lawson is preparing to continue his playing career in Greece, agreeing to terms on a contract with Kolossos H Hotels, a Greek professional basketball team located on the island of Rhodes, in Rhodes City. It marks Lawson’s first professional contract since being banned from the Chinese Basketball Association in September.

Lawson, 33, has nine years of NBA experience on his resume, but hasn’t played for the league since 2018 when he appeared in five playoff games for the Washington Wizards. Despite performing well during that stretch, Lawson wasn’t offered a contract from the Wizards or any other NBA team the following season. As a result, Lawson returned to China to resume a career with the CBA that he began in 2017.

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A consensus second team All-American and national champion in 2009, Lawson was at one point considered one of the best young guards in the NBA. Off-court issues, including a long and storied battle with alcoholism, derailed his promising career. He’s continued to find opportunities to play basketball overseas, though, including his newest post in Greece.

Perhaps the most important factor in Lawson’s new deal, which should be finalized and formally announced in the coming days, is the relationship that Lawson cultivated with Kolossos H Hotels head coach Ilias Kantzouris. Lawson played a brief stint with Žalgiris Kaunas during the 2011 NBA lockout, and Kantzouris was an assistant coach on the Zalgiris bench at that time.

Prior to his release from the Fujian Sturgeons and subsequent banishment from the CBA, Lawson averaged 27.3 points, 8.7 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game.

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Check back with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on Ty Lawson, and everything related to the UNC basketball program and its alumni.

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