NBA Players from Ukraine: How many players have played in the NBA from Ukranian decent and how many are still active?
Have there been any NBA players from Ukraine and if so, how many of them are still active playing in the league?
NBA players from Ukraine haven’t been able to break through as well in the league as have other countries from across the world. An extremely underrated storyline from this season in the NBA is the fact that the top 3 MVP candidates are all international players. Nikola Jokic is of Serbian decent, Joel Embiid is from Cameroon, and Giannis Antetokounmpo hails from Greece.
While Ukraine isn’t all too well represented in the league today, the fact that there are players active from there is a step in the right direction for the country as far as basketball goes.
Niche NBA fans may remember the infamous Slava Medvedenko rant from Stephen A Smith when talking about the lack of help Kobe Bryant had on the mid 2000s Los Angeles Lakers. They would be pleased to know that Slava is from Ukraine.
The former Laker’s best year in the league would come during the 2004 season where he’d average 8.3 points while shooting a below average percentage of 44% from the field.
Are there any active NBA players from Ukraine?
Alex Len and Svi Mykhailiuk are both NBA players from Ukraine who are currently active on NBA roster. The former Suns big man has appeared in 33 games for the Sacramento Kings this season while Svi, who played for the Lakers as well, has suited up for the Toronto Raptors 43 times this season, starting on 5 of those occasions.
Other NBA players from Ukraine over the history from the league who aren’t active now are Kyrylo Fesenko (2007-12), Oleksiy Pecherov (2007-10), Vitaly Potapenko (1996-2007), Pooh Jeter (2010-11 season only), and Viacheslav Kravtsov (2012-14).
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