Alexander Alexandrovich Belov, commonly known as Sasha Belov (November 9, 1951 – October 3, 1978), was a Soviet
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
player. During his playing career, he played at the
center
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...
position. Belov is most remembered for scoring the game-winning basket of the
gold medal game
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...
of the
1972 Munich Summer Olympic Games, which gave the
gold medal
A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture.
Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...
to the senior
Soviet national team.
Belov was named one of
FIBA's 50 Greatest Players
FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991) is the list of the 50 greatest players in the history of FIBA international basketball, as selected in the year 1991, by FIBA Magazine. The list was created in honor of the 100th anniversary of the creation of the ...
in 1991. He was enshrined into the
FIBA Hall of Fame
The FIBA Hall of Fame, or FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame, honors players, coaches, teams, referees, and administrators who have greatly contributed to international competitive basketball. It was established by FIBA, in 1991. It includes the " Samar ...
in 2007.
Club career
Born in
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, Belov was the star player of
Spartak Leningrad
BC Spartak Saint Petersburg is a Russian professional basketball team that is based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. During the 2016–17 season, the club was named BC Kondrashin Belov (BCKB), after its former player Alexander Belov and its former head ...
(later known as Spartak St. Petersburg), as he led the
club
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea''
Brands and enterprises
...
to the
Soviet Union League title in 1975, and also to three
European-wide 2nd-tier level
FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup
The FIBA Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA E ...
(Saporta Cup) Finals (
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6).
The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history.
Events
Ja ...
,
1973
Events January
* January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...
, and
1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
). Including winning the title in both 1973 and 1975. During his club career, Belov was a two-time
FIBA European Selection
FIBA All-Star Games were all-star basketball exhibition games, which were also known as "FIBA Festivals". The "FIBA Festival All-Star Games" were held from 1964 to 1995. The FIBA European Selection teams won most of the FIBA Festival All-Star Ga ...
(1971 and 1972).
In 2016, the club that Belov played for was renamed to
Kondrashin Belov, for a short time. The club was renamed in honor of both Belov, and the club's former head coach
Vladimir Kondrashin
Vladimir Petrovich Kondrashin (; 14 January 1929 in Leningrad, Soviet Union – 23 December 1999 in Saint Petersburg, Russia) was a Soviet and Russian professional basketball player and coach. He was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007.
...
.
1975 NBA draft
In the tenth round of the
1975 NBA draft
The 1975 NBA draft was the 29th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 29, 1975, before the 1975–76 season. In this draft, 18 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players a ...
, 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
Raimondas Šarūnas Marčiulionis () (born June 13, 1964) is a Lithuanian retired professional basketball player. Widely considered one of the greatest international players, he was one of the first Europeans to become a regular in the Nationa ...
, would play in the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
(NBA).
National team career
Belov won four
gold medal
A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture.
Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...
s with the senior
Soviet Union national team. While representing the USSR, Belov won gold medals at the
1969 EuroBasket
The 1969 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1969, was the sixteenth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe.
First round Group A – Caserta
Group B – Naples
Knockout stage Pla ...
, and the bronze medal at the
1970 FIBA World Championship
The 1970 FIBA World Championship was the 6th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Yugoslavia in Sarajevo, Split, Karlovac, Skopje and Ljubljana, from 10 to 24 May 1970. It was ...
. He also won the gold medal at the
1971 EuroBasket
The 1971 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1971, was the seventeenth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe.
Venues
First round
Group A – Essen
Group B – Böblingen
Knock ...
.
The highlight of Belov's career occurred during the
1972 Summer Olympic Games
The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...
, when he scored the game-winning basket in the
Olympic Basketball Final against
Team USA
The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions.
Olympic teams
Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...
, which gave the Soviet Union the gold medal. After that, he won the gold medal at the
1974 FIBA World Championship
The 1974 FIBA World Championship was the 7th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Puerto Rico from July 3 to 14, 1974. The tournament was won by the Soviet Union.
Venues
Comp ...
, the silver medal at the
1975 EuroBasket
The 1975 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1975, was the nineteenth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe.
Venues
First round Group A – Split
Group B – Karlovac
Group C ...
, and the bronze medal at the
1976 Summer Olympics
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...
.
Life and death
Belov was born in
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
,
Russian SFSR
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
,
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, on 9 November 1951. Belov died in Leningrad, on 3 October 1978, at the age of 26. His cause of death was a very rare disease,
cardiac sarcoma
Angiosarcoma is a rare and aggressive cancer that starts in the endothelial cells that line the walls of blood vessels or lymphatic vessels. Since they are made from vascular lining, they can appear anywhere and at any age, but older people are ...
.
References
External links
Biography
FIBA Hall of Fame page on Belov101 Greats: Alexander "Sasha" Belov
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belov, Alexander
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 the Soviet Union
Deaths from heart cancer
FIBA EuroBasket-winning players
FIBA Hall of Fame inductees
FIBA World Championship-winning players
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
1970 FIBA World Championship players
1974 FIBA World Championship players
Spartak athletes
Basketball players from Saint Petersburg