Vitaly Valeryevich Fridzon (russian: Виталий Валерьевич Фридзон, born October 14, 1985) is a 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 for

Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, acco ...

of the

VTB United League VTB United League (russian: Единая Лига ВТБ) is an international professional men's club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that was founded in 2008. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus an ...

. He also represents the senior

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 ...

. Standing at 1.95 m (6 ft 4 in), he mainly plays at the

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 ...

position, but he can also play at 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 ...

position.

Professional career

Early years

Fridzon started his professional career in the Russian team Standart Toliatti, in 2001, and stayed with them until the end of the 2003–04 season.

Khimki

Fridzon then moved to the prominent Moscow-based team

Khimki Khimki ( rus, Химки, p=ˈxʲimkʲɪ) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, 18.25 kilometres northwest of central Moscow, and immediately beyond the Moscow city boundary. History Origins and formation Khimki was initially a railway station tha ...

. With Khimki, he won the Russian Cup in 2007, and the

championship in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, while also being the

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 ...

. A year later, he won the EuroCup 2011–12 season championship, the second-tier level European continental championship, thus giving his team a spot in the upcoming EuroLeague 2012–13 season, after a year of absence from that competition. In the 2012–13 season, he averaged a career-high 11.4 points and 2.2 rebounds per game, in 24 EuroLeague games. However, Khimki didn't win any trophies that season.

CSKA Moscow

On June 13, 2013, Fridzon signed a two-year contract, with the option for a third season, with the Russian team

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

. In his first season with CSKA, in the EuroLeague 2012–13 season, he averaged 7.5 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game, over 31 games. In the 2014–15 season, CSKA Moscow managed to advance to the

EuroLeague Final Four The EuroLeague Final Four is the final four format championship of the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague professional club basketball competition. The Euroleague Basketball Company used the final four format for the first time in 2002, f ...

, for the fourth straight season, after eliminating

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

for the second straight season. in the

quarterfinals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

series, with a 3–1 series win. However, in the EuroLeague semifinal game, despite being dubbed by media as an absolute favorite to advance, CSKA once again lost to

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

. The final score was 70–68, after a great Olympiacos comeback in 4th quarter, led by

Vassilis Spanoulis Vassilis "Billy" Spanoulis ( el, Βασίλης Σπανούλης; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and current basketball coach for Peristeri of the Greek Basket League and the Basketball Champions League. S ...

. CSKA Moscow eventually won the EuroLeague third place game, after defeating Fenerbahçe, by a score of 86–80. Fridzon had nearly the same season, statistically speaking, like his first season with the club, averaging 7.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game, over 23 games played in the EuroLeague. CSKA Moscow finished the season by winning the VTB United League season, after eliminating

, with a 3–0 sweep in the league's finals series. On June 16, 2016, he re-signed with the team, on a new two-year contract, with the option of another season. On July 25, 2018, Fridzon and CSKA officially part ways after five seasons.

Lokomotiv Kuban

On July 25, 2018, Fridzon signed a two-year contract with the Russian club

Lokomotiv Kuban PBC Lokomotiv Kuban (russian: ПБК «Локомотив Кубань») is a Russian professional basketball team based in Krasnodar. The club participates in the VTB United League. The team is one of the top tier basketball teams in Russia. T ...

Zenit Saint Petersburg

On July 18, 2020, Fridzon moved to

on a one-year contract, marking his return to the EuroLeague. On June 3, 2021, Zenit announced that Fridzon's contract would not be renewed, making him a free agent once more. On March 5, 2022, he has signed and joined back the team.

Russian national team

Fridzon is also a member of the senior

. He won a bronze medal at the

EuroBasket 2011 EuroBasket 2011 was the 37th men's EuroBasket, European Basketball Championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Lithuania. This was the second time EuroBasket had been held in Lithuania, the country having also hosted t ...

, and a bronze medal at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=3,

, 16 , , 2 , , 19.0 , , .375 , , .327 , , .964 , , 2.4 , , 2.0 , , .4 , , .1 , , 6.5 , , 5.9 , - , 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 ...

, 9 , , 7 , , 22.5 , , .328 , , .313 , , .759 , , 4.1 , , 1.4 , , .7 , , .1 , , 8.2 , , 7.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2012–13 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 ...

, 24 , , 5 , , 24.0 , , .450 , , .432 , , .813 , , 2.5 , , 2.2 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 11.4 , , 9.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=5,

, 31 , , 7 , , 17.8 , , .520 , , .500 , , .853 , , 1.5 , , 1.1 , , .5 , , .1 , , 7.5 , , 6.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , 23 , , 18 , , 18.3 , , .417 , , .423 , , .872 , , 2.3 , , 1.4 , , .7 , , .1 , , 7.8 , , 6.3 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2015–16† , 27 , , 14 , , 13.9 , , .475 , , .429 , , .833 , , 1.7 , , .9 , , .6 , , .0 , , 6.4 , , 5.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , 35 , , 6 , , 12.9 , , .511 , , .417 , , .860 , , 1.2 , , .8 , , .6 , , .3 , , 5.9 , , 5.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , 30 , , 0 , , 7.6 , , .372 , , .382 , , .882 , , .7 , , .4 , , .3 , , .1 , , 2.9 , , .9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 195 , , 59 , , 15.4 , , .447 , , .419 , , .851 , , 1.8 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , .1 , , 6.8 , , 5.3