Career: Spartak St. Petersburg (Russia-Superleague, 1996-98), CSKA Moscow (Russia-Superleague, 1998-2001), Utah Jazz (USA-NBA, 2001-07). Selected in the first round of the 1999 NBA draft (#24) by the Utah Jazz

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Last summer Andrei Kirilenko, arguably one of the best European players today, asked newly appointed head coach David Blatt for permission to stay in the USA to be 100% ready for the new NBA season. Instead of helping his countrymen qualify for EuroBasket 2007, Andrei came to Los Angeles where a special training program was designed to help him gain weight and practice his mid-range shot.

Unfortunately, it didn’t help him much. The 2006-07 season is already history for the Utah Jazz’s “do-it-all” small forward. It was a year to remember for the Jazz, who made it to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in nine years, but one to forget for Kirilenko, who finished the campaign with career-low numbers.

However, "AK" remains a tremendous athlete who can do everything on the court with the exception of shoot. In 2006 the Jazz were happy to offer Kirilenko an 80 million dollar contract extension just six years after drafting the skinny and inexperienced Russian boy, making him the youngest European ever selected at the time.

Well, his success wasn’t a surprise for fans in Europe who had watched Kirilenko start his professional career at 15 at Spartak St. Petersburg.  Not only in his early pro debut, but also his performances in international youth competitions, Kirilenkp provided proof of his talents by snagging MVP honours at both cadet and junior level. After his stint with Spartak, Kirilenko moved to European powerhouse CSKA. While there, he won two Russian league titles and carried the Army club to the FIBA SuproLeague Final Four in 2001. After his dominant performance in 2001, he was named European Player of the Year in a vote published by French weekly magazine "Basketnews". Soon after Kirilenko went west, but he has been returning home nearly every summer to play for the National Team.

What will Kirilenko bring to the table after such a disappointing season? We don’t know yet. But one thing is clear – if we are still talking about a ticket to the 2008 Olympics, David Blatt will need his AK to be fully loaded. When Kirinlenko is happy, healthy and playing his stat-stuffing, team-oriented style, Russia is a completely different team.