It's 70 to Sergey Belov

Sergey Belov, our club's legend, one of the greatest players in the history of world basketball would turn 70 today.

Sergey Belov was born on January 23, 1944 in Nashchekovo, Tom' Region. He was EuroBasket champion 4 times (1967, 69, 71, 79), 2-time World Champion (1967, 74), Olympic champion (1972) with the USSR National Team; 11 USSR League championships (1969, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80), 2 USSR Cups (1972, 73), 2-time European Champions Cup winner (1969, 71) with CSKA Moscow. He was selected as one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991), 50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors (2008). Inducted to FIBA Hall of Fame (2007).

Arguably one of the best shooters in basketball history, Sergey Belov was virtually unstoppable on 2-spot for his club and the National Team. In the Gold Medal game of the 1972 Summer Olympics, Belov was the top-scorer with 20 points as the Soviet Union defeated the USA (51-50). Sergey Belov was also a successful coach with CSKA and Russian National Team. Team Russia had the best result in its independent history by winning two silver medals on FIBA World Championships (1994, 1998) under Belov.

Unfortunately Sergey passed away on October 3, 2013.