Alexander Belov
Alexander Alexandrovich Belov (November 9, 1951 – October 3, 1978) was a Soviet basketball player who won the gold medal with the senior Soviet Union national basketball team at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games, scoring the game-winning basket in the gold medal game. Belov died from a very rare disease – cardiac sarcoma, in 1978, at the age of 26.[1] He was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991. He was enshrined into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007.[2]
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 9 November 1951 Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 3 October 1978 (aged 26) Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Soviet / Russian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 210 lb (95 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NBA draft | 1975 / Round: 10 / Pick: 161st overall | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Selected by the New Orleans Jazz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 1967–1978 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Center | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1967–1978 | Spartak Leningrad | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As player
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| FIBA Hall of Fame as player | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medals
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Club career
Born in Leningrad, Belov was the star player of Spartak Leningrad, leading the club to the Soviet Union League title in 1975, and to three European-wide 2nd-tier level FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup finals, in 1971, 1973, and 1975, winning the last two. In 2016, the club was renamed to Kondrashin Belov, in his honor.
1975 NBA draft
In the tenth round of the 1975 NBA draft, the New Orleans Jazz selected Belov with the 161st pick of the draft; like the vast majority of Soviet players drafted into North American sports leagues, he would never end up playing for the team that drafted him. It would not be until 1989, that the first Soviet player, Lithuanian-born Šarūnas Marčiulionis, would play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
National team career
Belov won four gold medals with the senior Soviet Union national team. The highlight of his career occurred during the 1972 Summer Olympic Games, where he scored the game winning point in the Basketball Final against USA.
References
- "Alexander Belov dies". The Free Lance–Star. Fredericksburg, Virginia. Associated Press. October 5, 1978.
- "Aleksander Belov Bio". FIBA. February 24, 2007. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2010.
External links
- (in Russian) Biography
- FIBA Hall of Fame page on Belov