The Walkup case has escalated into open warfare, and it's no longer just between club and player. Olympiacos has sent an official letter to Dubai denouncing illegal contact with its point guard and simultaneously filed a tampering complaint with EuroLeague offices, according to Eurohoops.
The European champion's argument is straightforward: Walkup has a valid contract through the end of the 2026-27 season, and therefore any direct recruitment effort by another franchise constitutes a violation of competition regulations. The ammunition is plentiful: as we've been reporting, the UAE club has submitted three written offers this summer to acquire his rights, all rejected, and its general manager has publicly discussed the player.
The Thursday That Started It All
The escalation has a date. Walkup failed to show up Thursday morning for the medical and physical examinations that the club had scheduled for him, the appearance Olympiacos had set as a crucial test. Considering the absence unjustified, the club has opened a disciplinary case against him and summoned him to provide explanations.
The player's response hasn't been slow in coming, and it's the most serious move yet: he has appealed to the BAT, basketball's arbitration court, to try to terminate his contract and become an unrestricted free agent. It's the legal formalization of the unilateral termination he notified last week, which the club does not recognize.
Three Fronts Open and No Easy Way Out
The result is a conflict on three simultaneous fronts: the internal disciplinary case against the player, the arbitration case at the BAT, and the federation complaint against Dubai with EuroLeague. And an immovable starting position: Olympiacos has declared Walkup strictly off the market and refuses even to consider counteroffers for his transfer.
Recent European basketball history shows that these standoffs usually end in financial agreements, because no club benefits from a player at war nor does any player benefit from a lost season. But it also shows that the BAT almost always upholds clear contracts, and Walkup's, extended in 2023, is clear. The Greek international, in Piraeus since 2021 and European champion three months ago, has much more at stake than just a transfer: he's gambling with his reputation at what has been his home.