This season will be different from its predecessors. The share of European representatives, who already last season set about conquering the NBA with great vigor, has grown significantly. Now the number of European basketball school representatives in North America far exceeds the paltry figure the Old World had 10 years ago.
It is gratifying that from year to year the number of our legionnaires - representatives of the former Soviet republics - is also growing. If all goes well, at least seven of our basketball players will take the court in the NBA this season. Among them are both NBA veterans and untested newcomers. The number of 'Soviet' legionnaires could have been even greater, had not Viktor Khryapa, a Ukraine-born player with a Russian passport, and Pyotr Podkolzin, a Siberian self-made giant, withdrawn their names from the rookie draft. But let us move on to our current heroes.
The most experienced of all, beyond any doubt, is 28-year-old Ukrainian Vitaly Potapenko (right in the photo), who has played in the world's strongest league since 1996. All told, Vitaly has spent seven seasons in the NBA, appearing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Boston Celtics, and the Seattle SuperSonics. Potapenko is currently in the training camp of the 'Supersonics.' He did take the court in only the final preseason game, logging 29 minutes and scoring five points. However, our compatriot's best years in the NBA seem to be behind him. Lately he has been plagued by injuries, and due to health problems he has been unable to return to averaging at least 10 points per game, as he did in the 98/99 season with Boston.
Second in NBA experience is Lithuanian center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, now in his fifth season in the league, since 1997. He started with the Cleveland Cavaliers very promisingly (almost 14 points per game), but then suffered a most serious injury that caused him to miss nearly two seasons. Another season and a half went to recovery, and only in 2002 did the Lithuanian begin to look like his old self. In the past season he averaged 17 points for Cleveland and was quite stable during preseason exhibition games. Ilgauskas is a solid starter for the Cavaliers. Incidentally, he will be joined on the team this new season by North America's new idol - LeBron James. If experts are to be believed, he is the second Michael Jordan.
Following the veterans is a pair from the younger generation - 24-year-old Ukrainian Stanislav Medvedenko and 22-year-old Russian Andrei Kirilenko. For Medvedenko, this will be his fourth season in the NBA. Incidentally, as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, Stas has already won two league titles, but the credit is due more to his partners - the celebrated Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and coach Phil Jackson. Medvedenko did not see the court in the starting lineup during exhibition games, but he did score his points reliably.
Kirilenko's situation is more encouraging. Over two seasons with the Utah Jazz, he has grown considerably stronger and more mature. And with the departure of the team's charismatic leader Karl Malone (he decided to become an NBA champion at the end of a brilliant career and moved to the Los Angeles Lakers to join Medvedenko), new horizons are opening for Kirilenko. Moreover, the coaches are likely to pin their hopes on the Russian in the upcoming season. During preparation for the new season, Andrei regularly appeared in the starting five and rarely fell below the 10-point mark.
The third group consists of NBA rookies (or almost rookies). Georgian Nikoloz Tskitishvili had an unremarkable season with the Denver Nuggets last year. Over the summer, Nikoloz was joined overseas by his compatriot Zaza Pachulia, who signed a contract with the Orlando Magic, and by Lithuanian Darius Songaila, who had previously played for Moscow CSKA and during the offseason agreed with the Sacramento Kings.
The representation of our basketball school in the NBA could have been even broader this season, but the celebrated Lithuanian player Arvydas Sabonis left the Portland Trail Blazers at the end of last season, a team to which he had devoted several years of his career, and returned home.