Alexandre Sarr taken by Wizards second overall in NBA draft

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The younger brother of a former Kentucky basketball player is the second overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft.

On Wednesday night, the Washington Wizards selected Alexandre Sarr of France with the No. 2 pick.

The 7-foot-1 Sarr blossomed into a top NBA draft prospect this past season while playing with the Perth Wildcats in the National Basketball League, which is the top professional men’s basketball league in Australia and New Zealand. Prior to this, Sarr played in the Atlanta-based Overtime Elite system.

Still only 18 years old, Sarr joins a Wizards team that went 15-67 overall last season and continues to search for an identity in the post-John Wall and Bradley Beal era.

But, there’s also a Kentucky connection to Sarr, as some Wildcats fans might have deduced from his last name.

Sarr is the younger brother of Olivier Sarr, the 7-foot former UK forward who played with the Wildcats in the 2020-21 season.

That ultimately proved to be an ill-fate campaign for Kentucky: The Wildcats went a dismal 9-16 overall in a season played following the global COVID-19 pandemic. Kentucky had a six-game losing streak that season that included a home loss to Richmond, and the Wildcats missed out on the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013 (not counting the canceled 2020 tournament).

Individually, Olivier — who is also from France and previously played three seasons at Wake Forest before transferring to Kentucky — started all 25 games that Kentucky played during the 2020-21 season. He averaged 10.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.2 blocks per game for the Wildcats.

Olivier remains the only player born in France to ever appear in a game for the Wildcats.

Following that 2020-21 season, Olivier declared for the NBA draft, but wasn’t chosen. Since then, he’s spent most of his NBA career with the Oklahoma City Thunder and its G League affiliate. He has appeared in 46 career games for OKC, including 15 games this past season.

For his NBA career, Olivier is averaging 4.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, although he suffered a major injury this past spring: While playing for the Oklahoma City Blue in the G League Finals in April, Olivier ruptured his left Achilles’ tendon.

Olivier underwent surgery following the injury and is expected to miss a significant portion of next season. He will be a restricted free agent this offseason.

Alexandre’s draft night outfit pays homage, in part, to his older brother, Olivier. The inside of Alexandre’s cream-colored suit jacket features the initials of his parents, Massar and Marie, as well as the initials of Olivier.