Getting into one of the clubs of the National Basketball Association is the dream of every slightly ambitious athlete. The popularity of the American championship around the world, not to mention the States themselves, is hard to overestimate. Who among us doesn't know clubs like the Chicago Bulls or the Los Angeles Lakers? And the names Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, and Shaquille O'Neal speak for themselves, associating in our minds only with success, talent, and huge money.
European basketball, with all our respect for it, pales before the mesmerizing word NBA. The attitude in the USA toward this sport deserves separate discussion. Every American university has its own basketball team, and making it onto the team is considered a great honor. And if a young athlete has attracted the attention of the university administration, almost no attention is paid to his academic work.
For some young guys—from poor, predominantly African-American families—playing basketball is almost the only chance to achieve something significant in life.
There are not so many non-Americans in the NBA, and even fewer from the former USSR. Let us recall that from post-Soviet countries, three Lithuanians (Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Arvydas Sabonis, and Žydrūnas Ilgauskas), three Russians (Sergei Bazarevich, Nikita Morgunov, and Andrei Kirilenko), and one representative each from Latvia (Gundars Vētra), Estonia (Martin Müürsepp), and Georgia (Vladimir Stepania) have played in the League at various times and are still playing. Moreover, apart from the Lithuanians, all the above-mentioned basketball players either only occasionally came on as substitutes or were simply listed on team rosters.
With the exception of the traditionally strongest basketball school on the continent, the Yugoslav school (Serb Vlade Divac, Croats Dražen Petrović and Toni Kukoč), the other European countries are represented in the New World very, very weakly: the German Detlef Schrempf, the Dutchman Rik Smits, that is, perhaps, all more or less well-known basketball players who have played in the NBA. Moreover, all of them (except, of course, Toni Kukoč, who played side by side for many years with the legendary Michael Jordan and won four championship titles with the Chicago Bulls) played for not the strongest clubs in the League.
For Ukraine, this tradition was broken by the legendary Alexander Volkov; later Vitaly Potapenko was invited to the NBA, but the most significant achievements were nonetheless made by Kyiv resident Stanislav Medvedenko. A talented basketball player who began his career at the capital's Budivelnyk, he came into the view of American scouts quite a while ago. Even during his performances for BC Kyiv, created by Alexander Volkov, and the Lithuanian Alita-Savė in the NEBL (North European Basketball League), the powerful forward attracted the attention of representatives of Western clubs.
The temptation for the young player was very great, but Stanislav acted like a mature person—he did not grab at the first chance offered to him, but patiently waited for his moment, being the clear leader in all his teams. After a year's stay in Lithuania, despite having good offers from Europe, Medvedenko still chose BC Kyiv.
Under Medvedenko's leadership, BC Kyiv reached the final of the Ukrainian playoffs, defeating MBC Odessa in a grueling third game, and became champion. In the NEBL championship, Stanislav led Volkov's team to the Final Four, but there the Kyivites disgracefully lost both matches. Medvedenko was among the best both in the regular season and in the playoffs. He scored 21 points and made 7.5 rebounds on average per game. At the same time, Stas shot 56% from the field. The stats are more than convincing.
At this stage, Stanislav was invited by the famous overseas club, the Los Angeles Lakers. The legendary club, for which Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson played, is a symbol of all American sports (among its avid fans are Bill Clinton, Jack Nicholson, and Madonna). At that time, it was also a championship club that had proven its tangible superiority over other teams in the previous year and became the strongest in the NBA.
Of course, in the very first season, Lakers coach Phil Jackson was cautious, not putting the Ukrainian in the starting lineup. And competition in the club was and remains very high. Only Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant enjoy untouchable authority in the team; everyone else must prove that their claims to a starting spot are well-founded.
Another problem for Medvedenko was his lack of English. It was also for this reason that Phil Jackson did not trust the Ukrainian with a starting spot. He always feared that at the most crucial moment Stanislav would not understand his instructions and would do something not as needed. But this fact did not upset our foreign player, and he continued to train hard and study English. In Stas's debut game, a funny incident occurred—during a fight under the basket, an opponent pushed the Ukrainian too roughly. He could not help but respond. But not with his fists, but with words. After receiving a technical foul for using obscene language, Stas was very surprised at how well basketball referees in America understand Russian.
In his very first season in the NBA, Medvedenko received a championship ring. An excellent start to a career that, we believe, will only go from strength to strength. And in the very next season, Stanislav began to be put on the court. Even if not in the starting lineup, but as a substitute, Medvedenko played about ten minutes in almost every game. This is excellent experience and an opportunity to show what you are really worth as a basketball player.
Relations with the coach also improved. The Ukrainian is now in Phil Jackson's good books, and mutual understanding has been found. And the "coach" enjoys very great respect. "He is an excellent psychologist," Medvedenko says of his coach. "The League has plenty of specialists who, in matters of tactics and the training process, perhaps are not inferior to him, and maybe even surpass him. But in the ability to set up players, to make them work to the seventh sweat, no one can compare with Phil."
In purely everyday terms, Stanislav was also lucky - he got to play for a team in the City of Angels, which has not only the Hollywood "Dream Factory" but also a fairly large Russian diaspora. Therefore, Medvedenko has the opportunity to communicate with both Hollywood stars and his former compatriots.
Regarding the close proximity of the "Dream Factory," Stanislav says the following: "I spent most of my life in Kiev, accustomed to snow. Therefore, it is harder for me to get used to the fact that in Los Angeles there is no snow, has not been and will not be, than to the close proximity of the center of the film industry." But in Los Angeles there is a sea, which is not in Kiev, and although it is not visible from the window of his house, Stanislav spends quite a lot of time on the beach. By the admission of the basketball player himself, he still cannot get used to American food, so he often visits Russian shops, restaurants and cafes.
Stas met all the Lakers players during personal training sessions. Shaq then approached the newcomer and said: "Hi! How are you? Do you even realize, guy, how lucky you are to have joined our team, because I play here!" In the NBA, friendship between teammates is not customary. The guys get together only to play. For example, in the Lakers, team dinners and joint trips to the bar are practiced only during away games.
Therefore, Medvedenko has no friends or pals on the team. Nevertheless, if something doesn't work out, teammates encourage and help. They believe that Ukraine and Russia are the same state, so they call Stas Russian. And since Russia is both respected and feared in the USA, this aura extends to the only foreign player in the Lakers.
Currently, Stanislav has two NBA championship titles, and no changes in his place of work are expected. But this does not prevent the talented basketball player from playing for his country's national team, which he will demonstrate in the near future by taking part in the final tournament of the European Championship, which will take place in September of this year in Sweden.