View source for Alexander Belov

{{Short description|Soviet basketball player (1951–1978)}}
{{other uses}}
{{family name hatnote|Alexandrovich|Belov|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name = Alexander Belov
| image = Alexander Belov.jpg
| image_size = 225
| caption = 
| birth_date = {{birth date|1951|11|9|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]], [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]], [[Soviet Union]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1978|10|3|1951|11|9|df=yes}}
| death_place = Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
| nationality = Soviet / Russian
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 7
| weight_lb = 210
| college = 
| draft_round = 10
| draft_pick  = 161
| draft_team = [[New Orleans Jazz (NBA team)|New Orleans Jazz]]
| draft_year = 1975
| career_position = [[Center (basketball)|Center]]
| career_number = 14
| career_start = 1967
| career_end = 1978
| years1 = 1967–1978
| team1 = [[BC Spartak Leningrad|Spartak Leningrad]]
| highlights =
'''As player'''
*2× [[FIBA European Selection]] (1971, 1972)
*2× [[FIBA Saporta Cup]] champion ([[1972–73 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup|1973]], [[1974–75 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup|1975]])
*[[USSR Premier Basketball League|Soviet League]] champion (1975)
*[[FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991)|FIBA's 50 Greatest Players]] (1991)
*101 Greats of European Basketball (2018)
| FIBA_HOF_player = Alexander-Belov
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport | Men's [[Basketball]]}}
{{MedalCountry|the {{bk|URS}}}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Basketball at the Summer Olympics|Summer Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[Basketball at the 1972 Summer Olympics|1972 Munich]] | }}
{{MedalBronze|[[Basketball at the 1976 Summer Olympics|1976 Montreal]] | }}
{{MedalCompetition|[[FIBA World Cup]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1974 FIBA World Championship|1974 Puerto Rico]] | }}
{{MedalBronze | [[1970 FIBA World Championship|1970 Ljubljana]] | }}
{{MedalCompetition|[[FIBA EuroBasket]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[EuroBasket 1969|1969 Italy]] | }}
{{MedalGold | [[EuroBasket 1971|1971 West Germany]] | }}
{{MedalSilver | [[EuroBasket 1975|1975 Yugoslavia]] | }}
{{MedalCompetition|[[FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship|European U-18 Championship]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1968 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship|1968 Spain]]|[[Soviet Union national under-19 basketball team|Under-18]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1970 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship|1970 Greece]]|[[Soviet Union national under-19 basketball team|Under-18]]}}
}}

'''Alexander Alexandrovich Belov''', commonly known as '''Sasha Belov'''<ref>[https://www.euroleague.net/news/i/an5tppd5vme73ywx/101-greats-alexander-sasha-belov 101 Greats: Alexander "Sasha" Belov.]</ref> (November 9, 1951 &ndash; October 3, 1978), was a Soviet [[basketball]] player. During his playing career, he played at the [[center (basketball)|center]] position. Belov is most remembered for scoring the game-winning basket of the [[1972 Olympic Men's Basketball Final|gold medal game]] of the [[Basketball at the 1972 Summer Olympics|1972 Munich Summer Olympic Games]], which gave the [[gold medal]] to the senior [[Soviet Union national basketball team|Soviet national team]]. In 1978, when just 26 years old, Belov died of cardiac sarcoma, a type of cancer.

Belov was named one of [[FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991)|FIBA's 50 Greatest Players]] in 1991. He was enshrined into the [[FIBA Hall of Famer|FIBA Hall of Fame]] in 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.halloffame.fiba.com/pages/eng/hof/indu/p/lid_9024_newsid/18006/playBio.html |title=Aleksander Belov Bio |date=February 24, 2007 |publisher=FIBA |access-date=November 29, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711001617/http://www.halloffame.fiba.com/pages/eng/hof/indu/p/lid_9024_newsid/18006/playBio.html |archive-date=July 11, 2011 }}</ref> In 2018, he was named one of the 101 Greats of European Basketball.

==Club career==
Born in [[Leningrad]], Belov was the star player of [[BC Spartak Leningrad|Spartak Leningrad]] (later known as Spartak St. Petersburg), as he led the [[sports club|club]] to the [[USSR Premier Basketball League|Soviet Union League]] title in 1975, and also to three [[European professional club basketball system|European-wide 2nd-tier]] level [[FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup]] (Saporta Cup) Finals ([[1970–71 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup|1971]], [[1972–73 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup|1973]], and [[1974–75 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup|1975]]). Including winning the title in both 1973 and 1975. During his club career, Belov was a two-time [[FIBA European Selection]] (1971 and 1972).

In 2016, the club that Belov played for was renamed to [[BC Kondrashin Belov|Kondrashin Belov]], for a short time. The club was renamed in honor of both Belov, and the club's former head coach [[Vladimir Kondrashin]].

===1975 NBA draft===
In the tenth round of the [[1975 NBA draft]], the [[New Orleans Jazz (NBA team)|New Orleans Jazz]] selected Belov with the 161st pick of the draft; like the vast majority of Soviet players drafted into North American sports leagues, he would never end up playing for the team that drafted him. It would not be until 1989, that the first Soviet player, Lithuanian-born [[Šarūnas Marčiulionis]], would play in the [[National Basketball Association]] (NBA).

==National team career==
Belov won four [[gold medal]]s with the senior [[Soviet Union national basketball team|Soviet Union national team]]. While representing the USSR, Belov won gold medals at the [[1969 EuroBasket]], and the bronze medal at the [[1970 FIBA World Championship]]. He also won the gold medal at the [[1971 EuroBasket]].

The highlight of Belov's career occurred during the [[1972 Summer Olympic Games]], when he scored the game-winning basket in the [[1972 Olympic Men's Basketball Final|Olympic Basketball Final]] against [[United States national basketball team|Team USA]], which gave the Soviet Union the gold medal. After that, he won the gold medal at the [[1974 FIBA World Championship]], the silver medal at the [[1975 EuroBasket]], and the bronze medal at the [[Basketball at the 1976 Summer Olympics|1976 Summer Olympics]].

==Life and death==
Belov was born in [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]], [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]], [[Soviet Union]], on 9 November 1951. Belov died in Leningrad, on 3 October 1978, at the age of 26. His cause of death was a very rare disease, [[Angiosarcoma|cardiac sarcoma]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1298&dat=19781005&id=Ot5NAAAAIBAJ&pg=6493,498794|title=Alexander Belov dies|date=October 5, 1978|agency=Associated Press|work=[[The Free Lance–Star]]|location=Fredericksburg, Virginia}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.fiba.basketball/hall-of-fame/Alexander-Belov Alexander Belov] at the [[FIBA Hall of Fame]]
* {{FIBA|new_id=199576|old_id=103209}}
* {{Olympedia}}
* {{Olympics.com profile|alexander-belov}}
* [https://www.euroleague.net/news/i/an5tppd5vme73ywx/101-greats-alexander-sasha-belov 101 Greats: Alexander "Sasha" Belov]
* [http://sportlegend.kulichki.net/basketball/belov.htm Biography] {{in lang|ru}}

{{navboxes|list=
{{Soviet Union squad EuroBasket 1969}}
{{Soviet Union Squad 1970 FIBA World Championship}}
{{Soviet Union squad EuroBasket 1971}}
{{Footer 1972 Olympic Champions Basketball Men}}
{{Soviet Union Squad 1974 FIBA World Championship}}
{{Soviet Union squad EuroBasket 1975}}
{{Footer 1976 Olympic Bronze Medalists Basketball Men}}
{{BC Spartak Saint Petersburg 1972–73 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup champions}}
{{BC Spartak Saint Petersburg 1974–75 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup champions}}
{{1975 NBA draft}}
{{FIBA50}}
{{FIBA Hall of Fame}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belov, Alexander}}
[[Category:1951 births]]
[[Category:1978 deaths]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 1972 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 1976 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:BC Spartak Saint Petersburg players]]
[[Category:Centers (basketball)]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Deaths from heart cancer]]
[[Category:FIBA EuroBasket–winning players]]
[[Category:FIBA Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:FIBA World Championship–winning players]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:New Orleans Jazz draft picks]]
[[Category:Olympic basketball players for the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in basketball]]
[[Category:Russian men's basketball players]]
[[Category:Soviet men's basketball players]]
[[Category:1970 FIBA World Championship players]]
[[Category:1974 FIBA World Championship players]]
[[Category:Spartak (sports society) sportspeople]]
[[Category:Basketball players from Saint Petersburg]]
[[Category:20th-century Russian sportsmen]]