Andrei Kirilenko
The Visionary
The future, and what is barely possible, reads round the next corner.
Andrei Kirilenko is The Visionary in the fullest sense, a player who understood himself as proof of concept. The first Russian to anchor an NBA franchise as a genuine All-Star cornerstone, he consciously inhabited that role for a generation watching behind him, insisting that nothing is impossible, you can be there.
“I am very proud to be that person to kind of be a pioneer — not as just who joined the NBA and played a couple of games, but showing that any kid growing up and playing basketball can be an All-Star.”
On being a Russian NBA pioneerundated
“I wanted to get a feeling that kids who grew up watching me understand nothing is impossible. You can be there. I was a skinny kid, just running through.”
On inspiring the next generationundated
“In two thousand and eight, I've been awarded by my country to be a flag bearer for the opening ceremony — that's the highest possible honor you can get from your country when you represent it not as basketball, but as your country in sport.”
On carrying Russia's flag at Beijing Olympicsundated
Knuckleheads with Quentin Richardson & Darius Miles: “Andrei Kirilenko”
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