After being named as the NBA Gatorade League Defensive Player of the Year for the 2024-25 season, former Alabama forward Braxton Key will be eligible to play in the NBA playoffs with the Golden State Warriors.

With the Warriors on a two-way contract, Key signed a standard contract with Golden State on Sunday, the NBA team announced. The upgrade puts Key on the Warriors’ 15-man roster as Golden State begins the postseason.

The Warriors are in the play-in tournament as the West’s No. 7 seed. To keep its season going, Golden State must beat the Memphis Grizzlies when they square off at 9 p.m. CDT Tuesday at Chase Center in San Francisco. The winner of the game will advance to play the Houston Rockets in the NBA playoffs.

Key joined the Warriors on March 5, when the NBA team signed him off the roster of the San Diego Clippers of the NBA G League to a two-way contract.

Since then, Key has played three games with Golden State and 11 games with the Warriors’ NBA G League affiliate in Santa Cruz, California.

In his three games with Golden State, Key had three points, two rebounds and two steals in 11 minutes of court time.

In 49 games with Santa Cruz and San Diego in the NBA G League this season, Key averaged 16.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.1 blocked shots.

In two seasons at Alabama, Key averaged 9.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 60 games. The Crimson Tide lost to Richmond in the NIT to end Key’s first season in 2017 and to Villanova in the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2018.

In Key’s first season after transferring to Virginia, the Cavaliers defeated Texas Tech 85-77 in overtime to win the NCAA tournament for the 2019 season. Key led Virginia with 10 rebounds in the title game.

Since entering the NBA as an undrafted rookie, Key has played in 37 games with four teams across four seasons. While trying to find a place in the NBA, Key helped the Delaware Blue Coats win the NBA G League championship for the 2022-23 season.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.