Alexander "Sasha" Olegovich Kaun (, born May 8, 1985) is a Russian former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

in the United States for the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

for four seasons, where he won an NCAA championship in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

before being selected with the 56th overall pick by the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly shortened to Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Division (1967–1970), and ...

in the

2008 NBA draft The 2008 NBA Draft was held on June 26, 2008, at the The Theater at Madison Square Garden, Washington Mutual Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. In this NBA draft, draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took t ...

. He played seven seasons in Russia for

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

. In 2015, he returned to the United States and played his only

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

season with the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

, where he won an

NBA championship The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

in 2015–16. Kaun became one of the first Russians, along with

Timofey Mozgov Timofey Pavlovich Mozgov ( rus, Тимофей Павлович Мозгов, p=tʲɪmɐˈfʲej mɐˈzɡof, born 16 July 1986) is a Russian former professional basketball player. Mozgov won an NBA championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 201 ...

, in NBA history to win an NBA championship. He also represented

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

in the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

High school

In high school at the Florida Air Academy, Kaun averaged 13.0 points, 7.0

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

, and 2.0 blocks per game as a junior and 15.3 points and 12.6 rebounds per game as a senior. He led his team to a 23–0 record and to the Florida state championships.

College career

During the fall of 2003, Kaun committed to the

. He also received offers from

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

and

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

. During his freshman season with the

Kansas Jayhawks The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools List of college athletic programs in Kansas, in the state of Kansas that participate in ...

, he played in 27 games, starting twice. In his sophomore season he helped the Jayhawks to an 80–68 win against the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

, which made the Jayhawks the 2006

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

champions. During his senior year, he was the starting center for the Jayhawks and with them he won the 2008 NCAA Championship. He graduated with a degree in computer science and was selected to the Academic All Big 12 Basketball Team three times, in 2006, 2007, and 2008.

Professional career

CSKA Moscow (2008–2015)

Kaun was drafted 56th overall in the

by the

. He was the final draft pick in Sonics history, before the franchise moved to

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

. His NBA draft rights were then traded to the

for cash considerations. He signed a three-year contract worth

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

2,700,000 with the Russian team

in 2008. On May 23, 2012, Kaun re-signed his contract with CSKA, staying three more seasons with the team. In the 2014–15 season, CSKA Moscow has managed to advance to the

Euroleague Final Four The EuroLeague Final Four is the final four format championship of the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague professional club basketball competition. The Euroleague Basketball Company used the final four format for the first time in 2002, fo ...

for fourth straight season, after eliminating Panathinaikos for the second straight season in the quarter-final series, 3–1. However, in the semifinal game, despite being dubbed by media as an absolute favorite to advance, once again lost to

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

. The final score was 70–68, after an Olympiacos comeback in 4th quarter, led by

Vassilis Spanoulis Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...

. CSKA Moscow eventually won the third place after defeating Fenerbahçe with 86–80. In his "contract year", Kaun had the best season since coming in the club, starting in all 30 games played in the Euroleague and averaging a career-high 9.9 points and 4.5 rebounds on 69.1% shooting from the field. After winning his fifth

VTB United League The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...

championship with CSKA, there were some reports that Kaun had retired from professional basketball. A day later, Kaun denied these reports, adding that he was, however, done playing basketball in Europe.

Cleveland Cavaliers (2015–2016)

On September 9, 2015, Kaun signed with the

. He made his debut for the Cavaliers on October 28, recording one rebound, one assist, one steal and one block in a 106–76 win over the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the ...

. Over the first half of the 2015–16 season, Kaun appeared in just nine games for the Cavaliers, scoring a season-high four points on two occasions. On April 11, 2016, Kaun was assigned to the Canton Charge, the Cavaliers' D-League affiliate, for a day of training. He was reassigned to Canton the next day to help the team in Game 1 of the D-League Eastern Conference Finals against the

Sioux Falls Skyforce The Sioux Falls Skyforce are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and are affiliated with the Miami Heat. The team has played its home games in the Sanford Pentagon since the 2013–14 ...

. The next day, he was recalled by the Cavaliers. Kaun did not play a single game for the Cavaliers during their playoff run, a run that ended with the Cavaliers defeating the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

4–3 in the

2016 NBA Finals The 2016 NBA Finals was the NBA Finals, championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2015–16 NBA season, 2015–16 season and conclusion of the 2016 NBA playoffs, season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven series, and a rema ...

to win the championship. Kaun and his teammate,

, became the first Russians to win an NBA championship. On July 15, 2016, Kaun was traded, along with cash considerations, to the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

in exchange for the rights to Chukwudiebere Maduabum. He was waived by the 76ers on July 17, and six days later, he announced his retirement from professional basketball.

Russian national team

Kaun was a member of the senior

Russian national basketball team The Russia men's national basketball team () represents Russia in international basketball competition. They are organized and run by the Russian Basketball Federation (RBF). The team came into existence after the dissolution of the Soviet Uni ...

, and was part of the team that won the bronze medal at the

Personal life

Kaun is married to Taylor Kaun (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Blue), a former soccer player at the

.Pluto, Terry
Cleveland Cavaliers can thank Danny Ferry for the addition of Sasha Kaun -- Terry Pluto

Cleveland Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio; it is a major national newspaper. In the fall of 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily an ...

, August 25, 2015.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", † , style="text-align:left;",

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, 25 , , 0 , , 3.8 , , .529 , , .000 , , .455 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , .2 , , .2 , , .9 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 25 , , 0 , , 3.8 , , .529 , , .000 , , .455 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , .2 , , .2 , , .9

Euroleague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="6",

, 10 , , 0 , , 5.1 , , .429 , , , , .417 , , 1.5 , , .1 , , , , .3 , , 1.1 , , 1.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , 21 , , 17 , , 22.4 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", .713* , , , , .569 , , 4.6 , , .6 , , .4 , , 1.0 , , 9.1 , , 11.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , 21 , , 4 , , 11.4 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", .712* , , , , .516 , , 2.0 , , .1 , , .4 , , .2 , , 4.3 , , 4.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2012–13 , 30 , , 27 , , 20.8 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", .716* , , , , .520 , , 4.0 , , .5 , , .4 , , 1.2 , , 8.1 , , 10.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , 30 , , 16 , , 18.4 , , .701 , , , , .590 , , 3.5 , , .5 , , .8 , , .8 , , 8.4 , , 11.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="background:#CFECEC;", 30* , , style="background:#CFECEC;", 30* , , 20.1 , , .691 , , , , .673 , , 4.5 , , .5 , , .4 , , .9 , , 9.9 , , 13.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 142 , , 94 , , 17.9 , , .702 , , , , .581 , , 3.6 , , .4 , , .5 , , .8 , , 7.6 , , 9.8

References

External links

Sasha Kaun
at euroleague.net
Sasha Kaun
at kuathletics.com

at vtb-league.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaun, Sasha 1985 births Living people 2010 FIBA World Championship players Basketball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Canton Charge players Centers (basketball) Cleveland Cavaliers players Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball players Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics NBA players from Russia Olympic basketball players for Russia Olympic bronze medalists for Russia Olympic medalists in basketball PBC CSKA Moscow players Russian expatriate basketball people in the United States Russian men's basketball players Seattle SuperSonics draft picks Sportspeople from Tomsk 21st-century Russian sportsmen