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Soviet basketball player From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anatolij Kovtun (31 December 1960 – 22 February 2005) was a Ukrainian basketball player and a member of the Soviet Union national basketball team. He won the Soviet championship twice, with CSKA Moscow and Stroitel Kiev, and the Icelandic championship once with KR.[1]
Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | Soviet Union | 31 December 1960
Died | 22 February 2005 44) | (aged
Nationality | Soviet / Ukrainian |
Listed height | 206 cm (6 ft 9 in) |
Listed weight | 100 kg (220 lb) |
Position | Center |
Career history | |
19??–198? | Celje |
198?–198? | CSKA Moscow |
1986–1987 | Statyba |
1986–1987 | Dnepropetrovsk |
1987–1989 | Stroitel Kiev |
1989–1990 | KR |
Career highlights and awards | |
As player:
| |
Kovtun grew up in Simferopol where he started playing basketball.[2]
Kovtun joined Úrvalsdeild karla club KR in 1989, under head coach László Németh, becoming the first Soviet player to play for an Icelandic team.[3][1] With KR, Kovtun teamed up with American Jónatan James Bow, who was on a loan from Haukar,[4] in the FIBA Korać Cup which was, according to FIBA, the first time an American and a Soviet player played together in the Cup.[5] In the Úrvalsdeild, Kovtun averaged 16.9 points and 11.0 rebounds and helped KR to its first national championship in 11 years.[1] During the summer of 1990, Kovtun was seriously injured in a car crash that killed his friend. After the accident, he was in a coma for six days and permanently lost the sight on one eye, effectively ending his professional career.[6][2]
Following his professional career, Kovtun ran a basketball school in Lviv in Ukraine and worked as an sports agent for basketball players.[6] He died on 22 February 2005 at the age of 44.[7]
Kovtun was married to Natalia Kovtun and together they had two daughters. His older daughter, Mariia Kovtun, played college basketball for Lamar University[8] and Texas Woman's University,[9] and professionally in Europe.[10]