Alexander Belov
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Personal information | |
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Born | Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union | 9 November 1951
Died | 3 October 1978 Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union | (aged 26)
Nationality | Soviet and Russian |
Listed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
Listed weight | 210 lb (95 kg) |
Career information | |
NBA draft | 1975: 10th round, 161st overall pick |
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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Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
FIBA Hall of Fame as player | |
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]
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 BC 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 NBA.
National team career
Belov won four gold medals with the senior Soviet Union national team. The highlight of his basketball career came when he hit the game-winning shot in the 1972 Summer Olympic Games gold medal game.
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
- 1951 births
- 1978 deaths
- Basketball players at the 1972 Summer Olympics
- Basketball players at the 1976 Summer Olympics
- BC Spartak Saint Petersburg players
- Centers (basketball)
- Deaths from cancer in Russia
- Deaths from cancer in the Soviet Union
- Deaths from heart cancer
- FIBA EuroBasket-winning players
- FIBA Hall of Fame inductees
- Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics
- New Orleans Jazz draft picks
- Olympic basketball players of the Soviet Union
- Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union
- Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union
- Olympic medalists in basketball
- Russian men's basketball players
- Soviet men's basketball players
- Spartak athletes
- Sportspeople from Saint Petersburg
- FIBA World Championship-winning players