While you may have heard of incoming New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, what do you know of his basketball deputy, a guy named Sergey Kushchenko?
The Wall Street Journal is running a piece on Kushchenko, who even more than his billionaire boss is credited with the success of CSKA Moscow basketball’s success in the 2000s. Kushchenko first started in the CSKA system in 2002 after gaining experience with Ural Great and Team Russia; by the 2005-06 season, CSKA was once again a monster in European basketball and Kushchenko was named Euroleague Executive of the Year.
By the time Kushchenko resigned as CSKA general manager last July, Moscow had won seven Russian League titles and had played in as many Euroleague Final Fours – in seven seasons.
The slightly sobering news for Nets fans in the ‘Journal: “Mr. Kushchenko says he will have neither a financial stake nor a formal role in the Nets’ organization…”
As far interesting future plans, Kushchenko “says he has some ideas about the Nets roster and coaching staff but won’t share them publicly. He will say that Mr. Prokhorov plans to introduce Russians ‘little by little’ into minor management positions, but won’t confirm speculation that Andrei Vatutin, Mr. Kushchenko’s understudy and successor at CSKA, will be offered a position in the Nets’ front office.”
Vatutin also worked in the CSKA Moscow front office through the glory days of the 2000s and still holds the GM/president role for the club.
The entire Wall Street Journal profile may be read here.
Tags: Andrey Vatutin, CSKA Moscow, Euroleague, Mikhail Prokhorov, NBA, New Jersey Nets, Russia, Russian league, Sergey Kushchenko, Team Russia, Ural Great
[...] CSKA Moscow president Andrei Vatutin, a member of Prokhorov’s basketball posse and a name New Jerseyans’ll continue to hear through 2010-11, was a bit more realistic about a [...]
[...] Not wanting to get anyone too too excited here, but the truth is the funny Russian appears to have all the tools in place to bring greatness to New Jersey basketball. He’s a self-made billionaire a la Cuban, albeit beginning in a way lower-tech field; his love of the game and former play gives him enough knowledge to appreciate a few subtler points of strategy; and the “basketball people” he’ll probably be bringing created a monster in Moscow in the 2000s. [...]
[...] Moscow basketball and Brooklyn/New Jersey Nets enthusiasts surely recall Kushchenko as Mikhail Prokhorov’s team-running “basketball people” whilst the multimillionaire was owner of the Red [...]
[...] do know that Sergey Kushchenko, Prokhorov’s right-hand man for those CSKA teams and beneficiary of much basketball press since his former boss’ financial play, has quashed all [...]