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 ...

has a long and rich history in

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 ...

, dating back to the early 20th century. The sport was introduced to Russia even before the 1917 Revolution, but the game was not popular at that time. The country's first tournament took place only in 1923, and it quickly gained popularity among young people.

Soviet Era

During the Soviet era,

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 ...

became an important part of the country's sporting culture. The Soviet Union's national basketball team was one of the strongest in the world, and it won several Olympic medals, including gold in 1972, 1988, as well as three

FIBA Basketball World Cup The FIBA Basketball World Cup is an international basketball competition between the senior List of men's national basketball teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIBA, International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the sport's globa ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

, 1974 and 1982.

the Soviet Union dissolution and Present Russia

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, basketball in Russia experienced some ups and downs. The country's economy went through a difficult period, which affected the funding and development of sports programs. However, Russian basketball has rebounded in recent years, with several teams achieving success in European and international competitions. Today, Russia Russia Basketball Records
Retrieved 19 March 2023 at FIBA Archive has a strong professional basketball league, the VTB United League, which includes teams from

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

, and other countries. The league has produced several talented players, including Andrei Kirilenko, Sergey Karasev, and Timofey Mozgov, who have gone on to play in the NBA.

2022 Russia Banned

After the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, FIBA banned Russian teams and officials from participating in FIBA basketball and FIBA 3x3 Basketball competitions.

References

External links

Official website
{{Europe topic, Basketball in Basketball in Russia Sport in Russia by sport