Jon Robert "J.R." Holden (russian: Джон Ро́берт Хо́лден; born August 10, 1976) is a retired American-Russian professional

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, currently serving as an

NBA 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 St ...

Director of Player Personnel for the

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The t ...

. Holden was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. At 1.85 m (6'1") tall, he could play at both the

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

and

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

positions, but he primarily played at point guard. As a member of CSKA Moscow, Holden won two EuroLeague titles, in 2006 and 2008. Moreover, he reached eight consecutive EuroLeague Final Four tournaments, a record he shares with his former CSKA teammate,

Theo Papaloukas Theodoros Papaloukas (Greek: Θεόδωρος Παπαλουκάς; born May 8, 1977), commonly known as Theo Papaloukas or Thodoris Papaloukas, is a retired Greek professional basketball player. He was a four - time All-EuroLeague selection, a me ...

. His consistency at the highest level of European basketball earned him a selection to the EuroLeague 2000–2010 All-Decade Team. He was also a member of the senior men's

Russian national basketball team The Russia men's national basketball team (russian: национа́льная сбо́рная Росси́и по баскетболу, natsionalnaya sbornaya rossii po basketbolu) represents Russia in international basketball competition. Th ...

, which he helped lead to the FIBA EuroBasket title in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, Russia's first ever gold medal in the tournament.

High school

Holden attended and played high school basketball

Wilkinsburg High School The Wilkinsburg School District is a small, urban public school district serving the mostly African American Municipality of Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. The district encompasses approximately . According to 2000 federal census data, it served a ...

, in

Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania Wilkinsburg is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The borough has a population of 15,930 as of the 2010 census. Wilkinsburg is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The borough was named for John Wilkins Jr., a United States Army o ...

, and at Linsly School, in Wheeling, West Virginia.

College career

After high school, Holden played

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering. ...

, with the Bucknell Bison, from 1994 to 1998.

Professional career

After graduation from Bucknell, Holden received a call from the basketball club

ASK/Brocēni/LMT ASK/Brocēni/LMT was a professional basketball team that was located in Riga, Latvia that existed from 1992 to 2001. The club played in the Latvian Basketball League, winning eight consecutive titles from 1992 till 1999. Brocēni also were regul ...

, located in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

, offering him $3,000

net income In business and accounting, net income (also total comprehensive income, net earnings, net profit, bottom line, sales profit, or credit sales) is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and amortization, interest, a ...

a month to join their team. He accepted, and began a long and very successful career in European basketball.Former Bison Hoops Star J.R. Holden Thriving in Russia :: Standout point guard given Russian citizenship.
Holden played for teams in: the Latvian League (

1998–99), the Belgian League (

Telindus Oostende Basketball Club Oostende, for sponsorship reasons Filou Oostende, is a Belgian professional basketball team. The club is based in Ostend and was founded in 1970. The club competes domestically in the BNXT League and internationally in the Baske ...

1999–01), the Greek Basket League ( AEK Athens 2001–02) and the Russian Superleague A ( CSKA Moscow 2002–2011). He won national championships in each country. He was named the 2003 Russian Superleague A Player of the Year by the website

Eurobasket.com Eurobasket.com also commonly referred to as "Eurobasket News", is a basketball-centered website that provide coverages of every professional and semi-professional leagues around the world. Although primarily focusing on European basketball, th ...

. He also earned an Import Players Honorable Mention in the 2002

website's All-Europe Rankings. Holden won the EuroLeague 2005–06 and the EuroLeague 2007–08 season championships with CSKA. Holden started for CSKA Moscow against the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

in an exhibition game in October 2006, in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, as part of the EA Sports NBA Europe Live 2006 promotional event.

National team career

Holden's biggest achievement came in the

FIBA EuroBasket 2007 The 2007 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2007, was the 35th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2008 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to ...

final game against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, where he scored the winning shot that gave

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

the championship. He scored the final winning basket with 2 seconds left in the game. He was also named to the Russian squad for the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

men's basketball tournament.

Post-playing career

After he retired from playing professional basketball, Holden became a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

, for the

's Detroit Pistons and the

. He is currently the Director of Player Personnel for the Brooklyn Nets of the NBA.

Personal life

On October 20, 2003, Holden became a Russian

citizen Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

by decree of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

. This move was brought about by new

Russian Basketball Federation Russian Basketball Federation (russian: Российская Федерация Баскетбола, Rossiyskaya Federatsiya Basketbola), also known as RBF, is a national governing body of basketball in Russia. It was founded in 1991, and is the ...

regulations restricting the number of foreigners, and specifically Americans allowable on Russian League teams. In response to the move, CSKA Basketball CEO Sergei Kushchenko hatched the idea of Holden acquiring citizenship.

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

mayor Yury Luzhkov and the Russian State Sports Committee both wrote letters in support of the decree. Holden currently maintains dual American and Russian citizenship. In a September 2012 interview Holden stated that

Dušan Ivković Dušan "Duda" Ivković ( sr-cyrl, Душан "Дуда" Ивковић; 29 October 1943 – 16 September 2021) was a Serbian professional basketball player and coach. He served as head coach of the senior Serbian national basketball team from 20 ...

is one of the best coaches ever.MVP.rs JR Holden za MVP: Želeo sam da igram za Partizan.
/ref> Jon is married to Aireka Holden. They reside in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. They have a daughter and son.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2001–02 , style="text-align:left;",

AEK A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelf ...

, 20 , , 19 , , 35.7 , , .362 , , .302 , , .616 , , 2.4 , , 2.8 , , 1.4 , , .0 , , 17.2 , , 12.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2002–03 , style="text-align:left;", CSKA , 22 , , 20 , , 33.4 , , .395 , , .356 , , .638 , , 2.2 , , 4.4 , , 1.7 , , .0 , , 15.5 , , 13.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2003–04 , style="text-align:left;", CSKA , 22 , , 22 , , 33.3 , , .393 , , .312 , , .563 , , 2.3 , , 3.8 , , 1.2 , , .1 , , 14.2 , , 10.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2004–05 , style="text-align:left;", CSKA , 24 , , 24 , , 31.0 , , .363 , , .297 , , .847 , , 2.2 , , 2.8 , , 1.1 , , .0 , , 11.3 , , 8.8 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2005–06† , style="text-align:left;", CSKA , 24 , , 23 , , 31.3 , , .416 , , .336 , , .642 , , 1.6 , , 2.0 , , 1.4 , , .0 , , 11.4 , , 9.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2006–07 , style="text-align:left;", CSKA , 25 , , 22 , , 29.9 , , .433 , , .366 , , .667 , , 2.3 , , 2.3 , , 1.2 , , .0 , , 10.0 , , 8.9 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2007–08† , style="text-align:left;", CSKA , 25 , , 25 , , 28.4 , , .376 , , .367 , , .741 , , 2.0 , , 3.0 , , 1.1 , , .0 , , 7.7 , , 7.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;", CSKA , 16 , , 15 , , 29.4 , , .393 , , .380 , , .792 , , 2.0 , , 3.4 , , .8 , , .0 , , 7.9 , , 7.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;", CSKA , 21 , , 5 , , 30.9 , , .352 , , .358 , , .905 , , 1.8 , , 1.8 , , 1.1 , , .0 , , 10.3 , , 6.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, style="text-align:left;", CSKA , 10 , , 8 , , 29.7 , , .264 , , .295 , , .500 , , 1.9 , , 3.4 , , .5 , , .0 , , 6.4 , , 2.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 209 , , 183 , , 31.4 , , .381 , , .335 , , .674 , , 2.1 , , 2.9 , , 1.2 , , .0 , , 11.4 , , 9.0

Honours

Clubs

* Latvian League Champion: (1999) * Belgian League Champion: (2001) * Belgian Cup Winner: (2001) * Greek League Champion: (2002) *9× Russian Championship Champion: (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) *4× Russian Cup Winner: (2005, 2006, 2007, 2010) *2× EuroLeague Champion: (2006, 2008)

Russian senior national team

* FIBA EuroBasket : (

)

Individual awards

website's

Russian Super League Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Player of the Year: (2003) * EuroLeague Finals Top Scorer: (2009) *

VTB United League Final Four MVP The VTB United League Final Four MVP is an annual award that is given to the best player of the final four of the VTB United League competition. The award has been given out since the league began. Previously, the award was also known as the VTB U ...

: (2010) * EuroLeague 2000–10 All-Decade Team: (2010)

References

External links

Euroleague.net Profile

FIBA Archive Profile

Russian League Profile

CSKA Club Profile

n°54 on ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

''’s list of "100 Olympic Athletes To Watch" {{DEFAULTSORT:Holden, Jon Robert 1976 births Living people AEK B.C. players African-American basketball players American emigrants to Russia American expatriate basketball people in Belgium American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Latvia American expatriate basketball people in Russia American men's basketball players Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Pittsburgh BC Oostende players Bucknell Bison men's basketball players FIBA EuroBasket-winning players Greek Basket League players Naturalised citizens of Russia Olympic basketball players of Russia PBC CSKA Moscow players Point guards Russian men's basketball players Russian people of African-American descent Shooting guards 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople