View source for Vitaly Potapenko

{{short description|Ukrainian basketball player}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{family name hatnote|Mykolayovych|Potapenko|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name = Vitalii Potapenko
| image = Vitaly Potapenko in 2016.jpg
| image_size = 
| caption = Vitaly Potapenko in 2016.
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 10
| weight_lb = 280
| league = [[National Basketball Association|NBA]]
| team = Detroit Pistons 
| position = Assistant coach
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1975|03|21}}
| birth_place = [[Kyiv]], [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukrainian SSR]], [[Soviet Union]]
| nationality = Ukrainian
| college = [[Wright State Raiders men's basketball|Wright State]] (1994–1996)
| draft_year = 1996
| draft_round = 1
| draft_pick = 12
| draft_team = [[Cleveland Cavaliers]]
| career_start = 1992
| career_end = 2008
| coach_start = 2009
| coach_end = 
| career_position = [[Center (basketball)|Center]]
| career_number = 52, 9, 20
| years1 = 1992–1994
| team1 = [[BC Budivelnyk|Budivelnyk]]
| years2 = {{nbay|1996|start}}–{{nbay|1998|end}}
| team2 = [[Cleveland Cavaliers]]
| years3 = {{nbay|1998|end}}–{{nbay|2001|end}}
| team3 = [[Boston Celtics]]
| years4 = {{nbay|2002|start}}–{{nbay|2005|end}}
| team4 = [[Seattle SuperSonics]]
| years5 = {{nbay|2005|end}}–{{nbay|2006|end}}
| team5 = [[Sacramento Kings]]
| years6 = [[2007–08 ACB season|2007–2008]]
| team6 = [[CB Estudiantes|Estudiantes]]
| cyears1 = 2009–2010
| cteam1 = [[Fort Wayne Mad Ants]] (assistant)
| cyears2 = {{nbay|2010|start}}–{{nbay|2010|end}}
| cteam2 = [[Indiana Pacers]] (assistant)
| cyears3 = 2011–2012
| cteam3 = [[Dakota Wizards]] (assistant)
| cyears4 = 2012–2013
| cteam4 = [[Santa Cruz Warriors]] (assistant)
| cyears5 = {{nbay|2013|start}}–{{nbay|2017|start}}
| cteam5 = [[Cleveland Cavaliers]] (assistant)
| cyears6 = {{nbay|2018|start}}–{{nbay|2023|end}}
| cteam6 = [[Memphis Grizzlies]]
 (assistant)
| cyears7 = {{nbay|2024|start}}–present
| cteam7 = [[Detroit Pistons]] (assistant)
| highlights = '''As player:'''
* 2× [[Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague|Ukrainian]] champion (1993, 1994)
* 2× First-team All-[[Horizon League|MCC]] (1995, 1996)
'''As assistant coach:'''
* [[List of NBA champions|NBA champion]] ({{nbafy|2016}})
| stats_league = NBA
| stat1label = [[Point (basketball)|Points]]
| stat1value = 3,995 (6.5 ppg)
| stat2label = [[Rebound (basketball)|Rebounds]]
| stat2value = 2,725 (4.5 rpg)
| stat3label = [[Assist (basketball)|Assists]]
| stat3value = 418 (0.7 apg)
}}
'''Vitalii Mykolayovych Potapenko'''<ref name=nbabio/> ({{IPAc-en|p|oʊ|ˈ|t|ɑː|p|ɛ|ŋ|k|oʊ}} {{respell|poh|TAH|peng|koh}},<ref>{{cite press release |author=<!--Not stated--> |title=2023-24 start of season NBA pronunciation guide
 |url=https://www.nba.com/news/2023-24-start-of-season-nba-pronunciation-guide |publisher=National Basketball Association |date=October 24, 2023 |access-date=May 18, 2024}}</ref> {{langx|uk|Віталій Миколайович Потапенко}}; born March 21, 1975) is a Ukrainian professional [[basketball]] coach and former  player who is an assistant coach for the [[Detroit Pistons]] of the [[National Basketball Association]] (NBA). He played [[college basketball]] for the [[Wright State Raiders men's basketball|Wright State Raiders]] and was selected 12th overall by the [[Cleveland Cavaliers]] in the [[1996 NBA draft]], also the last pick before [[Kobe Bryant]]. Nicknamed "the Ukraine Train",<ref name=nbabio>{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/playerfile/vitaly_potapenko/bio.html|title=Vitaly Potapenko Bio|publisher=NBA|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080405161045/http://www.nba.com/playerfile/vitaly_potapenko/bio.html|archivedate=April 5, 2008}}</ref> he played for the [[Cleveland Cavaliers]], the [[Boston Celtics]], the [[Seattle SuperSonics]], and the [[Sacramento Kings]] of the NBA, as well as [[MMT Estudiantes]] in the Spanish [[Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto|ACB]].<ref>[http://www.eurobasket.com/team.asp?Cntry=Spain&Team=198&Page=4 MMT Estudiantes former players]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.celticslife.com/2010/05/what-hell-happened-tovitaly-potapenko.html|title = What the Hell Happened to...Vitaly Potapenko?}}</ref>

Since retiring as a player, Potapenko has been serving as an assistant coach for several teams, among them the [[Fort Wayne Mad Ants]], the [[Indiana Pacers]], the [[Dakota Wizards]],<ref>[http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/215728/Dakota_Wizards_Hire_Potapenko_As_Assistant_Coach Dakota Wizards Hire Potapenko As Assistant Coach]</ref> and the [[Santa Cruz Warriors]] and later as an assistant director of player development for the Cleveland Cavaliers,<ref>{{cite web|title=Vitaly Potapenko returning to Cleveland Cavaliers as player-development coach|date=4 June 2013|url=http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2013/06/ex-cav_vitaly_potapenko_return.html}}</ref> helping them win their first ever NBA championship.

==NBA career statistics==
{{NBA player statistics legend}}

===Regular season===
{{NBA player statistics start}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nowrap|{{nbay|1996}}}}
| style="text-align:left;"| [[1996–97 Cleveland Cavaliers season|Cleveland]]
| 80 || 3 || 15.5 || .440 || '''.500''' || .736 || 2.7 || .5 || .3 || .4 || 5.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nowrap|{{nbay|1997}}}}
| style="text-align:left;"| [[1997–98 Cleveland Cavaliers season|Cleveland]]
| 80 || 0 || 17.7 || .480 || .000 || .708 || 3.9 || .7 || .3 || .4 || 7.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nowrap|{{nbay|1998}}}}
| style="text-align:left;"| [[1998–99 Cleveland Cavaliers season|Cleveland]]
| 17 || 12 || 27.5 || .437 || .000 || .673 || 5.5 || .9 || .6 || '''.9''' || 8.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nowrap|{{nbay|1998|nolink=y}}}}
| style="text-align:left;"| [[1998–99 Boston Celtics season|Boston]]
| 33 || 32 || '''28.1''' || .521 || {{sort|-|–}} || .547 || '''7.2''' || '''1.8''' || '''.7''' || .6 || '''10.8'''
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nowrap|{{nbay|1999|trunc=y}}}}
| style="text-align:left;"| [[1999–2000 Boston Celtics season|Boston]]
| 79 || '''72''' || 22.7 || .499 || .000 || .681 || 6.3 || 1.0 || .5 || .4 || 9.2
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nowrap|{{nbay|2000}}}}
| style="text-align:left;"| [[2000–01 Boston Celtics season|Boston]]
| '''82''' || 7 || 23.2 || .476 || {{sort|-|–}} || .728 || 6.0 || .8 || .6 || .3 || 7.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nowrap|{{nbay|2001}}}}
| style="text-align:left;"| [[2001–02 Boston Celtics season|Boston]]
| 79 || 9 || 17.0 || .455 || {{sort|-|–}} || .742 || 4.4 || .4 || .5 || .2 || 4.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nowrap|{{nbay|2002}}}}
| style="text-align:left;"| [[2002–03 Seattle SuperSonics season|Seattle]]
| 26 || 2 || 15.4 || .441 || {{sort|-|–}} || .759 || 3.4 || .2 || .3 || .3 || 4.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nowrap|{{nbay|2003}}}}
| style="text-align:left;"| [[2003–04 Seattle SuperSonics season|Seattle]]
| 65 || 39 || 21.8 || .489 || {{sort|-|–}} || .641 || 4.4 || .8 || .3 || .4 || 7.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nowrap|{{nbay|2004}}}}
| style="text-align:left;"| [[2004–05 Seattle SuperSonics season|Seattle]]
| 33 || 1 || 10.2 || .517 || {{sort|-|–}} || '''.871''' || 2.4 || .3 || .2 || .1 || 3.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nowrap|{{nbay|2005}}}}
| style="text-align:left;"| [[2005–06 Seattle SuperSonics season|Seattle]]
| 24 || 12 || 13.4 || .500 || {{sort|-|–}} || .588 || 2.6 || .3 || .1 || .1 || 3.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nowrap|{{nbay|2005|nolink=y}}}}
| style="text-align:left;"| [[2005–06 Sacramento Kings season|Sacramento]]
| 9 || 0 || 3.5 || '''.714''' || {{sort|-|–}} || {{sort|-|–}} || .2 || .2 || .0 || .0 || 1.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nowrap|{{nbay|2006}}}}
| style="text-align:left;"| [[2006–07 Sacramento Kings season|Sacramento]]
| 3 || 0 || 4.3 || .000 || {{sort|-|–}} || {{sort|-|–}} || .7 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 610 || 189 || 19.0 || .479 || .167 || .694 || 4.5 || .7 || .4 || .3 || 6.5
|-
{{s-end}}

===Playoffs===
{{NBA player statistics start}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nowrap|{{nbapy|1998}}}}
| style="text-align:left;"| [[1997–98 Cleveland Cavaliers season|Cleveland]]
| 4 || 0 || '''17.5''' || .400 || {{sort|-|–}} || .500 || '''2.8''' || '''.8''' || '''.5''' || .0 || '''4.3'''
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nowrap|{{nbapy|2005}}}}
| style="text-align:left;"| [[2004–05 Seattle SuperSonics season|Seattle]]
| '''5''' || 0 || 7.4 || '''.500''' || {{sort|-|–}} || {{sort|-|–}} || 1.4 || .0 || .0 || .0 || 2.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nowrap|{{nbapy|2006}}}}
| style="text-align:left;"| [[2005–06 Sacramento Kings season|Sacramento]]
| 4 || 0 || 2.4 || '''.500''' || {{sort|-|–}} || {{sort|-|–}} || .3 || .0 || .3 || .0 || 1.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 13 || 0 || 9.0 || .448 || {{sort|-|–}} || .500 || 1.5 || .2 || .2 || .0 || 2.4
|-
{{s-end}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Sports}}
* [[List of foreign NBA coaches]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{basketballstats}}
* [http://www.nba.com/historical/playerfile/index.html?player=vitaly_potapenko NBA.com Profile]
* [http://i.cdn.turner.com/nba/nba/.element/media/2.0/teamsites/cavaliers/pdfs/14-15-frontoffice-UPDATED.pdf Cleveland Cavaliers' Front Office]

{{Detroit Pistons current roster}}
{{Cleveland Cavaliers 2015–16 NBA champions}}
{{1996 NBA draft}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potapenko, Vitaly}}
[[Category:1975 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Basketball players from Kyiv]]
[[Category:BC Budivelnyk players]]
[[Category:Boston Celtics players]]
[[Category:CB Estudiantes players]]
[[Category:Centers (basketball)]]
[[Category:Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coaches]]
[[Category:Cleveland Cavaliers draft picks]]
[[Category:Cleveland Cavaliers players]]
[[Category:Dakota Wizards coaches]]
[[Category:Memphis Grizzlies assistant coaches]]
[[Category:Fort Wayne Mad Ants coaches]]
[[Category:Indiana Pacers assistant coaches]]
[[Category:Liga ACB players]]
[[Category:NBA players from Ukraine]]
[[Category:Power forwards]]
[[Category:Sacramento Kings players]]
[[Category:Santa Cruz Warriors coaches]]
[[Category:Seattle SuperSonics players]]
[[Category:Ukrainian expatriate basketball people in Spain]]
[[Category:Ukrainian expatriate basketball people in the United States]]
[[Category:Ukrainian men's basketball players]]
[[Category:Wright State Raiders men's basketball players]]