Alexander Belov

For the Olympic canoer, see Aleksandr Belov (canoer). For the Soviet soldier, see Alexander Belov (sergeant).
Alexander Belov
Personal information
Born (1951-11-09)9 November 1951
Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died 3 October 1978(1978-10-03) (aged 26)
Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Nationality Russian
Listed height 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
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 (Soviet Union)

Alexander Alexandrovich Belov (Александр Александрович Белов) (November 9, 1951 October 3, 1978) was a Soviet basketball player who won the gold medal with the 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 Cup Winners' Cup finals, in 1971, 1973, and 1975, winning the last two. He also won the Soviet Union League championship in 1975.

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 take until 1989 for the first Soviet player, Lithuanian born Šarūnas Marčiulionis, to play in the NBA

Soviet Union national team

Belov won four gold medals with the Soviet Union national team. The highlight of his career came when he hit the game-winning shot in the 1972 Summer Olympic Games gold medal game.

References

  1. "Alexander Belov dies". The Free Lance–Star. Fredericksburg, Virginia. Associated Press. October 5, 1978.
  2. "Aleksander Belov Bio". FIBA. February 24, 2007. Retrieved November 29, 2010.

External links

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