The Soviet basketball legend Sergey Belov was born 23 January, 1944 in Nashchyokovo, Soviet Union. The 191-centimeters-tall shooting guard spent the majority of his career as a member of the CSKA Moscow (1968-1980) team, winning two EuroLeague and 11 USSR Premier League titles in his career. A profilic scorer, Belov was one of the greatest players of his generation and to this day remains one of the greatest European players ever. The Soviet legend won every major title during his career, including the EuroLeague, Olympic gold medals, the FIBA World Cup, and Eurobasket.
Belov made his EuroLeague debut during the 1968/69 season, instantly making his name as one of the finest scorers of the competition, scoring 158 points in 9 games, averaging 17.6 points per game, and helping the CSKA team to win a title after beating Real Madrid 103-99. In the Final, Belov scored 19 points.
In the following seasons, Belov was always among the leading scorers of the EuroLeague, becoming the Top Scorer in 1973. However, his finest moment in the EuroLeague came during the 1970/71 season, when CSKA won their 4th title. Belov won the Finals MVP award for his brilliant performance in the final against Ignis Varese team, scoring 24 points. Under his leadership, the CSKA team was among the three best EuroLeague teams in every of his five seasons in this competition. The CSKA lost two Finals in 1970 and 1973, and finished third during the 1976/77 season. In total, Belov scored 1002 points in 55 EuroLeague games, averaging 18.6 points per game.
Belov’s international career was filled with success. He led the Soviet Union national team for more than a decade, regularly winning medals at the major tournaments. In his EuroLeague and international games from 1967 to 1980, Belov scored 2491 points in 170 games. He finished his career as the all-time leading scorer of the Soviet Union national team with 1489 points.
ACCOLADES
EuroLeague champion (1969, 1971)
EuroLeague (1970, 1973)
EuroLeague (1977)
EuroLeague Finals MVP (1971)
EuroLeague Top Scorer (1973) FIBA World Cup MVP (1970) Eurobasket MVP (1969)
Olympic Games (1972) Olympic Games (1968, 1976, 1980) FIBA World Cup (1967, 1974) FIBA World Cup (1978) FIBA World Cup (1970) Eurobasket (1967, 1969, 1971, 1979) Eurobasket (1975, 1977) Eurobasket (1973) USSR Premier League (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980) USSR Premier League (1975) #1 all-time in scoring in Soviet Union national team history with 1489 points
Year
68/69
69/70
70/71
72/73
76/77
TOT
Team
Age
25
26
27
29
33
GP
9
9
11
11
15
55
PPG
17.6
16.0
14.0
21.3
22.8
18.6
PTS
158
144
154
234
342
1002
RNK
15th
12th
12th
3rd
USSR PREMIER LEAGUE STATISTICS
Year
68/69
73/74
74/75
77/78
TOT
Team
Age
25
30
31
34
GP
44
27
32
17
120
PPG
14.0
17.9
15.2
28.4
17.2
PTS
616
484
486
482
2068
TRK
OLYMPIC GAMES STATISTICS
Year
1968
1972
1976
1980
TOT
Team
Age
24
28
32
36
GP
9
9
7
8
33
PPG
8.5
14.0
14.7
21.1
14.4
PTS
77
126
103
169
475
RNK
45th
9th
11th
8th
FIBA WORLD CUP STATISTICS
Year
1967
1970
1974
1978
TOT
Team
Age
23
26
30
34
GP
7
9
7
8
31
PPG
4.6
11.3
10.6
9.9
9.3
PTS
32
102
75
79
288
RNK
49th
24th
50th
59th
EUROBASKET STATISTICS
Year
1967
1969
1971
1973
1975
1977
1979
TOT
Team
Age
23
25
27
29
31
33
35
GP
9
7
7
7
6
7
8
51
PPG
9.4
13.4
10.4
17.4
22.7
13.9
15.0
14.3
PTS
85
94
73
122
136
97
120
727
RNK
47th
15th
31st
5th
4th
21st
13th
Description for statistics
FIBA Saporta Cup is the same competition, as FIBA European Cup Winners’ Cup, ULEB Cup or EuroCup, a 2nd-tier European Cup competition. FIBA Korac Cup is the same competition as FIBA EuroChallenge, a 3rd-tier European Cup competition. GP – Games played PPG – Points per game PTS – Total points RNK – Individual scoring ranking TRK – Team ranking