Biography. Who proposed to take a high position

Big game

Legendary basketball player Alexander VOLKOV: “Sabonis and Marciulionis were very friends since childhood, but they constantly argued about which of them was more important in Lithuania. Sometimes they would go into the toilet and fight”

Alexander Volkov is only 40 years old, but they contain so many victories and troubles that they would be enough for several lives. World basketball star, versatile forward, champion Olympic Games 1988, European champion, Soviet Union and Greece - he was one of the first Ukrainian players to break through the window into the NBA. Nevertheless, several times life subjected him to such tests of strength that it’s time to remember Pavka Korchagin...

Alexander Volkov is only 40 years old, but they contain so many victories and troubles that they would be enough for several lives. World basketball star, versatile forward, 1988 Olympic champion, European, Soviet and Greek champion - he was one of the first Ukrainian players to break through to the NBA. Nevertheless, several times life subjected him to such tests of strength that it’s time to remember Pavka Korchagin... In the 1993-1994 season, when Volkov played for the Greek Olympiacos, something terrible happened. Fate did not seat Alexander in wheelchair just because he couldn't even sit... A miracle saved him. And colossal courage. And his doctor friends - one, risking his reputation, injected Sasha, exhausted by unbearable pain, with curare poison, the other carried him over the abyss of long hunger strikes (the last was a 60-day fast, almost a week of which was “dry”). Having lost 30 kilograms from the then 120, Volkov found the strength to overcome a severe spinal injury, recover and return to big-time sports... President of the Ukrainian Basketball Development Fund (of his own name), president and then honorary president of BC "Kiev", vice -President of the Ukrainian Basketball Federation, member of the FIBA-Europe executive committee, Alexander Volkov admits that in his youth his favorite words were from the diary of the Roman Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar: “23 years old, and nothing has been done for immortality.”

"MY FIRST CAR WAS A ZHIGULI, AND I FIT IN IT NORMALLY. PROBABLY, THEN THE SPINE BENDED BETTER"

Now I don’t, I act instinctively, but in childhood, of course, there were complexes, especially when I began to rapidly stretch out and instantly grew out of my clothes. The coat fit me somehow awkwardly, my arms were sticking out of the sleeves - naturally, I was embarrassed to be in sight all the time, because I had to go to training across the whole of Chernigov. I even came up with various tricks - for example, I jumped into the bus at the last stop and quickly sat down, or, if there were no empty seats, I remained standing on the bottom step so as not to stand out...

- Do you remember how old you were when you started to grow rapidly?

Probably 14-15. I was thin, long, awkward, and this, of course, attracted everyone's attention. Then other problems appeared. It was already when I entered the Kiev sports boarding school that I felt more comfortable. Kyiv is a big city, people here didn’t care about me, but how difficult it was to buy clothes and shoes... Besides, I didn’t make any money then...

- Try to get some Adidas sneakers...

Just shoes and trousers, a jacket, a coat! Some things were altered by my mother from my father’s things, some were bought with great difficulty. It’s fortunate that I got into the USSR national team and started traveling abroad. There are great big stores there, where we basketball players tried to buy everything, and for the first time I felt human.

True, when we went to games and training camps, on the way I prayed that the hotel bed would have only one back - at the head.

- What if the back was also at the foot?

Then, if the administrators did not comply with the request to change the bed or give another room, the lost night was ensured. This happened especially often in the regions - provincial hotels were terribly uncomfortable. Well, I tried to lie across - I couldn’t even put a chair under my feet. I thought: a short bed would be better, but without a back... I curled up in the fetal position, but still felt discomfort, could not relax... Now in hotels you can choose a bed upon request, spacious, without a back...

- How do you adapt on airplanes?

If possible, I always book a ticket in the first row of business class - there is more distance between the seats. These are specific tricks. People with normal height They don’t think about where they will sit, but we calculate in advance. If you can't get business class, I ask for a seat in economy class near the emergency exit...

You've probably flown around America on domestic flights in small airplanes, which are difficult for a person of average height to squeeze into. How did you get out of the situation there?

In hopeless situations, you just have to endure it, curled up like a bagel. Usually there are some options, and most people are compassionate - if they can help, they always help.

But with cars it’s much easier now. My first car was a Zhiguli, and I remember I fit in it just fine. The same giants sat next to us, and we rode without much inconvenience. Probably, the spine bent better back then... Now you look at the Lada and think: “Did I really ever drive in this cell?” Thank God, there is already an opportunity to choose a larger car. In America, a Mitsubishi jeep served me faithfully for many years, and in Kyiv I drive a Ford Expeditor.

Sasha, your height is two meters six centimeters. Alexander Belostenny has 2.14, Volodya Tkachenko has 2.20, and poor Alexander Sizonenko has 2.38...

Already 2.43, and the foot is size 58 - it continues to grow...

- In my opinion, this is a tragedy for the guys. Or am I overdramatizing the situation?

Well, let's say, Belostenny is still okay, from a distance his height is not very different from 2.10, but Tkachenko had constant problems. Not to mention Sasha Sizonenko, who played for St. Petersburg Spartak and Kuibyshev Stroitel (his name was included in the Book Guinness records as the tallest basketball player in the world) - now he lives somewhere in St. Petersburg, I don’t know in what condition...

In serious condition... I read about him: he had surgery on the pituitary gland twice, because of severe osteoporosis, he walks on crutches, he is plagued by arrhythmia and diabetes, he lives on the pension of a group II disabled person...

Trouble... We are called Gullivers, but few people know about the problems big people. You don’t need to look far for examples - the former basketball player Nikolai Sushak is too serious with his legs and spine... But you can’t say that he is a supergiant - only 2.10...

Giants have complexities and certain complexes. It’s fortunate that there are sports where height provides certain opportunities, even advantages, and that people are interested in you. If the guys aged 2.17, 2.18 had no need for basketball, volleyball, handball, what would they do in life, especially now, who would need them? Thank God, they have a chance not just to make money, but to be in demand, maybe become stars recognized by the whole world.

Now a provocative question. You achieved imaginable and unimaginable medals and titles in basketball, you were a champion of Europe and the Olympic Games, you achieved success in the NBA, Greece, and a number of other countries for whose clubs you played. If, say, you were asked today: “Sasha, do you want to exchange all this for normal height?”, would you agree?

Well, of course not. By the way, I can’t say that I’m such a colossus - sometimes I can buy things even in ordinary stores and slip through somewhere unnoticed. And in recent times - in today’s life, when some kind of prosperity and financial stability have appeared - growth does not interfere.

At the end of the 80s, when, in fact, your loudest victories took place, the country was going through a transitional period: before perestroika there were one circumstances, after it - others, it was already possible to earn money and save for a comfortable old age. And although the Chinese only wish their enemies to live in times of change, do you think it’s good that you found yourself at this turning point in eras?

Perestroika was an undoubted success for our generation. In fact, we were the first - not only basketball players, but athletes in general - who tasted the joy and experience of a real professional life, decent salaries and attitude towards ourselves. We could compare what we have now and when we played for the USSR national team or our own leading clubs of the Union.

I won’t say that it was better abroad than at home - there you are generally in a different state, in a different world. It was life in two different systems coordinates - literally and figuratively. But our players were also very capable, talented - real stars of world basketball: Kievans, Muscovites, Leningraders...

- ...Vilnius people...

Residents of Kaunas, Riga... Soviet fans they bought a ticket to the game for two or three rubles, well, five, and watched the best players in Europe and the world (today in the USA a front-row ticket to a Los Angeles Lakers game costs from 500 to 2000 dollars). What a stir there was then! At that time in the USSR the concept of “empty seat in the hall” did not exist - people sat on the steps, even us basketball players sometimes did not have enough chairs.

- What were the CSKA - Zalgiris matches worth?

And this is a completely different story! At the same time, I sincerely feel sorry for the generation of slightly older guys (not to mention the winners of the ’72 Olympics), who saw our capabilities and understood that they, too, could taste all the benefits in full...

- They were heroes...

But their opportunities came too late; it was more difficult for them than for us. Of course, we had our difficulties, but we still became pioneers professional sports for domestic players, but they failed to do this for objective reasons. They followed our careers, saw what we could afford... I know many guys, and, in my opinion, they have developed some kind of internal complex...

- It's a shame...

Sergei Tarakanov played with me at CSKA. He is older, but was able to play a little in Belgium and Germany - not for very much money. When I was getting ready to leave the NBA, he called and said: “Sasha, if fate gave me such an opportunity, I would sit there on the bench for free! Don’t even think about leaving!” There was such regret in his voice that he did not have time...

- ...on the footsteps of this train...

If his generation were two or three years younger, he, too, would have fulfilled the dream of any basketball player - to play at least six months in the NBA and say: “I was there.” Back then it was very prestigious, almost unattainable, it’s hard to even think of what could be better...

“SABONIS ONCE CONFESSED TO ME: “I’M NOT AFRAID OF ANYONE EXCEPT GOMEL”

Nobody wanted to become an NBA champion - just to get into the All Stars Game!

Now this is a completely surmountable path, all the guys dream of getting there, believe in luck and have already begun to think about how to become an NBA champion. For example, Andrei Kirilenko is our first representative in the “All Stars Game”...

Sasha, is the level of NBA players really much higher than those who also successfully perform in prestigious championships in a number of other countries?

I would say that in many ways it is promotion. In general, world basketball is currently experiencing a decline; it feels like a breakdown is about to occur, after which it will be forced to rise. Some clubs are emerging, new relationships are emerging... In Russia, for example, crazy amounts of money are spent on basketball, we also have a certain prosperity, even a certain excitement. Things look similar in Poland, but in Greece it’s the opposite - the financial collapse of almost all clubs. By the way, in Turkey, where there were crazy contracts five years ago, things have gotten much worse.

There is a change of leaders in Europe, and there is still an incomprehensible structure of the current European basketball... The conflict between two organizations - FIBA-Europe and the Union of Basketball Leagues of Europe ULEB, has dragged on, and they are not conducting any negotiations. At the end of World War II, the victors demanded complete and unconditional surrender from the Germans, and now both disputing sides expect the same surrender from each other. I, a member of the FIBA ​​Executive Committee, cannot understand: they seem to be adults, Europeans, friends...

- Money, Sasha, money...

Nightmare: they are stubborn and don’t want to make concessions, they are waiting to see who will give in first. As a result, all European club basketball is suffering. I feel that the NBA will come to Europe in some form from these wreckage (even though I myself am part of this association and have been in its kitchen)...

- ...and will absorb both FIBA ​​and ULEB?

This will all end! Of course, on the one hand, it’s a good option, but on the other hand, it’s their own fault: everything will happen as a result of the intractability of the Europeans.

- The title “Olympic champion” does not have the prefix “ex-”, it is for life. How did you feel when in 1988, as part of the star team of Alexander Gomelsky, you became an Olympic champion? Didn't it seem to you that this was a peak, above which it was already
can't get up?

It is impossible to convey those feelings; it really was some kind of indescribable euphoria. It so happened that we became Olympic champions, and we had to fly home only after three days. The Olympics are still ongoing, and we have already lost our heads with happiness! It all started not just weakly - even, I would say, gloomily. The very first match, and a mediocre loss to the Yugoslavs - the teams and my personal...

- It was also a terrible match with Puerto Rico...

Yes, they swayed with a creak. We expected the game to go well with Sabonis’s arrival, but it turned out the opposite: we were preparing for the summer without him, he arrived in three days, and all the game schemes broke down. It was necessary to somehow adapt, but people were already on edge - the end of preparation. We barely got used to it...

Of course, well done Gomelsky for surviving all this!

- How did he set you up for victory: did he shout, curse?

Firstly, in Seoul we somehow came together internally, everyone sincerely believed that we could win, although we didn’t admit it to others - not even to ourselves... Never before have I seen such extreme concentration of each player, and that’s all But, as usually happened in Soviet times, at the start we surrendered to the Yugoslavs - our most irreconcilable rivals. Usually in such cases, some Komsomol leaders, heads of the sports committee come to meetings to scold the players...

- ...they say, as at Stalingrad, that “there is no land for us beyond the Volga”...

And why are you traitors, we will show you where the crayfish spend the winter! And then suddenly Gomelsky calmly promised: “Guys, I won’t let anyone near you, we’re the best anyway and we’ll beat everyone here.” He very skillfully instilled in us faith in a miracle, which eventually happened.

- I wonder how such a small person can cope with giants? What keys did he pick for you?

Apparently this is a mysterious natural phenomenon. It happens, for example, that for some reason a handsome man lives with an inconspicuous woman (and vice versa), no one understands what he sees in her, but they dote on each other. Apparently, a small person knows and feels especially well what big people need...

For many years in a row, Alexander Gomelsky traditionally invited us to his birthdays, where many friends and famous people gathered. Previously, he usually organized veterans’ games, but then it became noticeable that this no longer aroused the same interest and ceased to be a beautiful sports spectacle: after all, we are slowly getting older, the level of fighting is not the same, the speed is not the same. Now we're just going to chat...

So, at one of these holidays, Sabonis lit a cigarette somewhere on the sidelines. Alexander Yakovlevich suddenly appeared, and Arvydas hastily began to hide his cigarette, although so many years had passed...

- Reflex - there's no escape...

Sabonis once admitted to me: “I’m not afraid of anyone except Alexander Yakovlevich.”

"WE KNEW: IT'S BETTER NOT TO JOKE WITH THE WHITE WALL"

Well yes, it was... (smiles). True, I would rather call it general rejoicing...

The Olympic Village in Seoul was a specially built huge residential building, no different from our nine-story buildings (when the Olympians left, townspeople moved in there). There were two apartments on the staircase. We lived in one - number 227, and in the other - the rest of our delegation: doctors, trainers. The apartment is neat, designed for an ordinary Korean family: a hall, several bedrooms, two toilets, decent furniture, a TV...

I return in the evening after the victory - the table is already set, guests of absolutely incomprehensible nationalities, countries, sports are constantly coming...

- The fraternization has begun...

And real fun. People took turns as if in a kaleidoscope: one slept on the sofa in the hall, woke up, another lay down in his place, someone dozed off right in the bathroom...

Gradually, a mountain of used plates and glasses, empty bottles, and forgotten things grew on the floor. The atmosphere was festive and peaceful, but they complained to Gomelsky that we were rowdy...

- Didn’t he participate in the manifestation of general joy?

Alexander Yakovlevich is a very strict person: he ran a cross-country race and rests, sleeps at night and carefully looks after himself. Of course, he also always supported the holiday, not without it, but he had to react when the head of the Soviet delegation, Marat Gramov, called him and said: calm down your people, it’s a shame in front of the world. The Olympics are still going on, but the basketball players are causing a riot, yelling and not letting the rest of the athletes sleep...

The wise Gomelsky realized that he could not cope with the newly-crowned Olympic champions so easily, and made two tactical moves. Firstly, he intercepted another bag of alcohol, handed over, so to speak, from the outside, and locked it in his metal safe, and secondly, he told Belostenny: “Sasha, you were deprived of the “Honored Master of Sports” twice, tomorrow you will be awarded him for the third time. If in half an hour there is no peace and order here, you will not restore your rank."

We laughed: “Well, what kind of blackmail is this?”, but after half an hour there was no one else in the room and there was perfect cleanliness, as if the maids had come...

- What words did White-walled find?

I don't remember anymore. We were indignant, demanded to be left alone, shouted: “Sasha, what’s the matter?! How can we break up? You’re kidding - we became Olympic champions!” But he remained adamant: “That’s it, let’s go for a walk and that’s enough!” Let's clean up all this mess." Nobody wanted to get involved with him, of course...

- Were you afraid?

That’s not the point, it’s just that if he’s set on something, it’s better not to joke with him.

- Curious, have there been situations when things came to a fight between famous basketball players?

Constantly...

- Yes? And what were they quarreling about?

Usually they could get into fights during training, where, naturally, brawls broke out from time to time. Sometimes they argued about political topics. The Baltic states, for example, opposed the Muscovites... There were no major scandals, but sometimes they balanced on the brink...

- Has self-awareness awakened?

Certainly. In addition, there was constant competition between Sabonis and Marciulionis. They are fellow countrymen, studied in the same class and always competed, trying to figure out which of them was more important in Lithuania. They were very friendly, but sometimes they fought seriously...

I remember a long tour of the USA - 40 days of constant games and flights. This is very difficult to withstand psychologically - with our overloads, seeing each other for days. Everyone knew: America is a test of whether you are fit to be bet on (not only in basketball, but also in life). Gomelsky constantly took three or four young players there to check what he could count on and what to do with them next. So it was not easy, and the final release came only on the plane on the way home, although before that... Throughout the tour we saved up money - bonuses, daily allowances, and in New York we were given two days...

- ...to rob stores?

Let's call it that. We had verified points suggested by friends - Russian-speaking emigrants. Some people bought gifts for loved ones, but mostly they took radio equipment. At this stage, all disagreements ended, the next morning fraternization began, all grievances were forgiven, and everything became completely fine on the plane. At that time, flights were long, with two landings (not like the current direct flights Kyiv - New York). First they landed in Canadian Newfoundland, then in Irish Shannon, and only then in Moscow, from where they dispersed throughout the Union. Naturally, as has always been our custom, we relaxed a little - our plane, flight attendants, finally, family members, the Russian language... And often one could observe the following scene: Sabonis and Marciulionis sat down next to each other somewhere in the back, and began peacefully talk, and after some time everyone turned around and saw that they were in a clinch (laughs).

Moreover, at the airport, in the hall for transit passengers, they could go into the toilet and fight. Then they settled down again in the adjacent seats in the aircraft cabin as if nothing had happened. They were constantly telling each other something in Lithuanian, unraveling an unclear relationship that had been going on since childhood.

- Are these disputes still ongoing?

Well, now the guys are already adults and won’t show it in plain sight.

- Will they go to the toilet?

- (Laughs). No, they behave correctly - it’s still a level, but I think they still have so much childhood left in them!

- Sasha, in the opinion of a professional, is Sabonis really a great basketball player?

I think that he is the greatest of the greatest! To go through so many injuries, play in the NBA, then break a multimillion-dollar contract, play almost for free for your native Zalgiris and practically take it to the Final Four - it’s just a miracle! Yes, the Kaunas team lost the decisive game to Maccabi Tel Aviv to reach the Final Four, after which the Israelis, who had one chance in a thousand, became champions of the ULEB Euroleague. In the last half a minute of the game, Sabonis sat on the bench for five fouls and could no longer help the team, but 15-20 seconds before the end, Zalgiris won six points and, by rights, should have made it to the Final Four.

Sabonis, at 39 (almost 40) years old, was recognized as the best player in the Euroleague! Who else, after spending five million dollars a year, can return home to take care of the image of their team, raise its level, give it a chance for the future, and attract sponsors? Such examples of nobility are extremely rare, not to mention Arvydas’ talent and fanaticism. He is a patriot, of which there are few, you can argue with him on any topic, criticize Lithuania, Kaunas a little, but if you touch Zalgiris, that’s it, that’s the end, Sabonis doesn’t forgive that.

"AT THE FIRST NBA GAME I WAS SHOCKED: WE WERE LOSSING, AND SUDDENLY THE COACH AND THE BEST PLAYER STARTED TO FIGHT..."

Of course, I dreamed about the NBA, read everything I could get my hands on, knew details about every player - probably no one else had such information as I did. I studied the language - I bought a tutorial, found a teacher who gave English lessons (for five rubles per hour) ...

When I arrived in the USA, my first impression was admiration, but also a little... disappointment...

- What?

It cannot be said that sport is a complete injustice, it is fair, but there are also elements of injustice in it... I felt that my regalia, physical and psychological data were not enough for me to prove to these guys that I could immediately join the team and be with them on equal terms in the most serious moments.

- Isn’t an Olympic champion a regalia for them?

No, this is impressive, but still a white man from Europe, especially from the Soviet Union...

- ...among the black beauties...

I can't say that I was poorly received, but the realization that in the first game you are only out for a minute is shocking. In training you are the best, in the preliminary games you are praised, but when it comes down to it, that’s it, they don’t trust you. I went through this many years ago when I first got into the sport, and with the Atlanta Hawks I had to start from scratch again. It was hard to readjust...

- What was it - tactics or politics?

There, the coach has no time to think whether you understood what he wanted to tell you. For example, today you can address our players in any language - English, Russian, Ukrainian - but this does not mean that it has reached them... And then in the NBA there was such intensity of games... Can you imagine how difficult it was for an English-speaking coach to assess the situation ? And although I spoke English quite well, I myself was not entirely sure that I fully understood what they wanted from me (at first, of course). And the coach noticed that once a misunderstanding flashed in my eyes, and he didn’t explain it the second time.

There were other unpleasant situations. At the very first game I was shocked: we were losing, and suddenly Michael Fratello and Dominique Wilkins started... fighting... Can you imagine, coach and best player! They are separated, they curse at each other... Maybe, I think this is an accident, but a minute later Moses Malone, known for his extremely aggressive style of play in attack, grappled with Fratello. This is the situation...

- Funny...

At the same time, the older generation of guys - real stars - received me very well. For example, the same Moses, who had already finished playing at the club. By the way, he was one of the first who, at 19 years old, came to the NBA immediately after high school, bypassing college basketball. Nowadays no one wants to go to college, because studying there is very expensive, but then it was rare.

Much has been said about Moses Malone different stories: the guy was born in Pittsburgh, Virginia, in a poor family, grew up without a father, his mother locked the refrigerator so that he would not eat all the supplies... Moses spoke very little English - in such Negro slang that practically nothing was possible understand - but was extremely sociable. For me, Malone was an idol, a star, it was inconvenient for me to avoid communicating with him - so funny things happened.

In America, the life of athletes is organized differently from ours. We are used to the fact that in a restaurant or canteen the team sets tables with the same dishes - we ate together and left together. But there it’s done differently: you were given a daily allowance, and do whatever you want with it.

I got up in the morning, went down to the hotel restaurant, and ordered breakfast. I see Moses coming. He sat down at my table and started talking to me. I so wanted to answer something, to understand what he was talking about, but... Such creepy, monstrously untranslatable slang mixed with English obscenities can sometimes be heard only in humorous American films...

The next day I go out to eat again, and Moses is there again. I looked around, no one else was visible. Then I ask the guys: “Why don’t you come down for breakfast?” They responded: “We order room service so as not to talk to Moses.” And I followed their example.

I just couldn’t save him from him - he rides on the bus and constantly talks about something. I ask Cliff Livingston, who played on our team: “Why is everyone laughing?” - “No one can understand Moses”...

And he played well! At the very beginning, when even before the training camp the guys are assembled for individual training, Malone called me: “Let’s play you one on one.” He is, of course, a center, but I was in good shape, I was quicker and beat him. Moses looked at me with respect (they said they brought a normal guy), recognized me and then always defended me. And his wife helped mine a lot - in the first year of my contract, Alla was pregnant, our eldest daughter was born in America...

Then young people came to the team, to whom we, foreigners, especially from somewhere in the Soviet Union, seemed like foreign bodies. They didn’t notice us at all; they had their own culture. The older generation of dark-skinned guys are almost my family: I still keep in touch with all of them, and I say hello to the new ones when we meet, but no more.

I once asked Valery Filippovich Borzov: “How can we explain that black athletes show such brilliant results in sprinting and almost never let whites get ahead?” He answered very interestingly. I want to ask you the same question: “Why is American basketball mostly “black”? Why are black athletes better than white ones and are they better?

Better, and I think it's in their physiology. I’m not a scientist to argue such things, but blacks are really more flexible, jumpier than us, play sharper, and grasp everything on the fly. Basketball is part of their culture; since childhood, everyone dreams of a career in this sport. American schools often administer tests. Little black boys sit on the floor and are asked one by one what they would like to be. Doctors? Lawyers (lawyers)? Several hands go up. Basketball players? Everyone is raising their hand. On the one hand, as soon as they learn to walk, they are already carrying a ball. On the other hand, these guys are closer to nature, healthier, and physically stronger. The average black person has a more athletic figure, although it cannot be said that if you are African American, you are automatically a good basketball player. Of course, among them there are also bad athletes and just losers. At the same time, there are whites who will give odds to any dark-skinned people.

-You didn’t become a racist in America?

Quite the contrary. I grew up in a provincial city and when, coming to Kyiv, I saw black people on the trolleybus or subway, it seemed to me something extraordinary. As a child, a black man was as strange to me as, say, King Kong. Today, I, my wife and children who live in the USA, absolutely do not care what color the skin of passers-by, acquaintances and friends.

"AFTER THE ANESTHESIA, I WOKE UP ALL VOIFIED. MY ARM WAS IN SOME HEAVY PLASTIC. I TRIED TO LIFT IT - IT WOULDN'T RISE. I WANTED TO GET UP - I CAN'T..."

- (Pause)... Imagine, just a wrist injury that happened in the first year, which was supposed to be a shock year for me - a real springboard into the future ... I was counting on a long career in the NBA, but twice in a row I seriously injured my hands and finished the season with severe pain . When I underwent a medical examination, the doctors said that I had cracks in the bones of my wrists: I needed to put on a plaster cast or have surgery. I asked if everything could heal without any intervention. They said yes, if I didn’t overexert myself too much, but the cracks not only did not heal, but in the second year they peeled off - I could no longer lift a glass of water to my mouth or shake hands...

I decided to have surgery. I imagined it something like this: they cut something off, took it out, sewed it up, and you went home.

And now from Atlanta I have to fly to Dallas to operate on my first wrist. The wife asks: “Take the necessary things with you - clothes, books.” I say: “Why? Give me a newspaper, a cosmetic bag. I’ll be back in a couple of days and start training.”

I arrive at the clinic and feel that I am starting to worry, some incomprehensible anxiety is growing...

Early in the morning I was taken to the operating room, laid on the table...

I woke up after the anesthesia all, sorry, vomited. I don’t understand anything, my hand is in some kind of heavy cast. I tried to lift it, but it wouldn’t rise; I wanted to get up, but I couldn’t.

- Did you experience shock?

Of course, this is the first operation in my life. I couldn't even imagine what was happening...

-... such helplessness?

I just thought: how do people undergo operations on the heart, brain, liver?.. After all, they only cut my hands - look at how small the scar is. It would seem, what’s wrong? But they also pulled out a piece of cartilage from my hip to attach it to the non-union bone in my wrist and stimulate this process. (When they told me about this, I realized where the bruise on half my thigh came from). Oh, it was actually a nightmare! I couldn’t step on my foot or even stand up; I had terrible pain all over my body. I thought that I would have a slight local pain in my hand, but here it’s just agony...

A week after the operation, I tried to walk, but I couldn’t (running was out of the question). Then I had to learn to walk again...

Thank God it's the second one surgical intervention it went better.

- Was there despair?

Yes... (Frowns). The operations were behind me, I believed that in a few weeks I would still get up and be in normal shape, but two or three months pass, and the pain does not stop, my hands do not develop...

I remember at some point I said to myself: “I need to calculate how much I earned under the contract, and, probably, it’s time to think about how I will live further... without basketball.”

Fortunately, I met Lesha Ovchinnikov, an emigrant from Leningrad, a devotee of yoga, well acquainted with oriental medicine... Thanks to him!..

Did the American basketball system throw you out or did they tell you: “Sasha, don’t worry. We will fully pay for your treatment, everything will be fine”?

Nobody threw me out. After the operation, I remained a member of the team and was paid a salary. When I could already walk, I went everywhere with the guys, sat on the bench during games... No, everything was fine. They treated me very loyally, with understanding, no one forced my entry onto the site. Over the summer I recovered and played in America for another year after the injuries...

"IN RELATION TO SOMEONE IN THE CABINET OF MINISTERS, SOMETIMES I WANTED TO USE PHYSICAL FORCE"

Dima, I will stand up for the officials - there are many smart and bright people among them.

- I have no doubt...

But this really came as a surprise to me...

- Who proposed to take a high position?

I had heard rumors for a long time, but Leonid Danilovich directly suggested it. I was probably raised in such a way that I couldn’t answer “no” or “I’m afraid.” Of course, I was afraid of this appointment, I didn’t understand what I would do there, but to refuse, and then scold myself for the rest of my life for the missed chance?..

I won’t lie, it was hard, there were moments when I was humiliated (at least, so it seemed to me), when I felt out of place. Yes, something worked out, but let’s just say I wasn’t happy...

And what is it like for a creative, basketball-loving person who recently played to suddenly sit in a boring ministerial chair? We have to make decisions, sign mountains of papers...

It's difficult, of course. I am grateful to the assistants and in general to everyone who did not set me up, although this could have been done simply.

A lot of people helped, but there were also those who took advantage of my weakness... This is about the same situation as if I invited someone from the ministry to play basketball and mocked him: they say, you can’t be on the court just like me...

When new player gets into the basketball team, the veterans give him some resistance, test him for lice, for strength. Was there something similar when newcomer Alexander Volkov got into the Cabinet of Ministers?

Well, of course, of course...

- And how did you check?

Some bosses spoke very specific texts!

- Which?

You know, I can’t even quote them to Bulvar... (Smiles). At first I was a little dumbfounded: having lived in the West for 10 years, I got used to different relationships. “What’s going on?” I think. “Where are human rights?” (laughs). And they explained to me: Sasha, this is how it is done, here this is the normal style of communication with subordinates...

- Did you have any desire to answer in equally strong terms?

It arose, of course, not only verbally - sometimes I wanted to use physical force...

Yes! Thank God I restrained myself. In response, he simply retorted and put forward counter-arguments. If he felt he was right, he tried to defend it.

So there were both good and bad moments, but time passed, and I gained a lot of experience, met many interesting people, saw life from an unusual side...

- ...from behind the scenes...

And of course, I am grateful to Leonid Danilovich for calling me there. I don't regret for a second that I made this decision.

Recently I learned one fact that simply shocked me. Roman Grigorievich Viktyuk told me an amazing story. “You know,” he said, “there is a very talented guy who is going to become a director, but he has absolutely no money. I asked everyone: “Establish a scholarship for a man so that he can study - he will grow up.” real star. This is the future of Ukraine!" Nobody did anything... By chance we met Sasha Volkov, I asked him and... a few days later the money was transferred."

Sasha, that’s a lot of money! What kind of emotional impulse is this? I want people to know about your action - it’s unfashionable in our country to do something nice for others, to give joy, to pay for studies...

Dima, it turned out very simple. Roman Grigorievich and I talked (by the way, on the set of your video), he said that he would like to help a former basketball player who dreams of becoming a director. The guy, they say, is from a very poor, large family... I said: okay, let the future star come see me, I’ll talk to him and, if I can, help.

After some time, a guy came - really, tall, strapping... I remembered him - he played in Rovno and Kiev CSKA, but his sporting fate did not work out... And I have a fund created to help basketball players - current and former. In general, I gave the order to transfer money - I hope Viktyuk’s “godson” will turn out to be a good director.

- Can you call yourself an accomplished person, an established personality, or is everything still ahead?

I concluded a long time ago: as soon as you decide that you have already achieved everything and are completely accomplished, that’s the end. At a certain moment, it seemed to me that I had achieved something in basketball - and my career went downhill sharply, failures and injuries began. I just stopped setting goals for myself, I became uninterested in listening to anyone, it seemed that I knew everything myself. This feeling of omniscience, the feeling that you have reached heights and can now automatically move up, leads to the fact that you really stop, or rather, roll down...

Now I think that I am at the origins, at the beginning, and am just trying to find my way. It seems to me that I found it correctly, but I’m not always sure about it. Therefore, I am interested in living, reading, communicating with bright people who will help me realize something new.

I was recently invited to a meeting with George H. W. Bush, former President of the United States. Thank God, knowledge of English allowed me to listen to him without an interpreter. You know, I didn’t even expect to get such pleasure. The man is in excellent shape (he celebrated his 80th birthday by parachuting twice from a height of 4000 meters!), everything is fine with him. He said: “If you are 80, this does not mean that you are no longer in the game. Don’t stop there, don’t sit on the couch, don’t stay in the hospital - work!” Bush advised doing noble deeds - helping children in need. This, according to him, gives a charge of youth and an incentive to live brightly...

Or the same Gomelsky - who can call him an old man? And such a thought will not arise. He has a young wife and small children. I am “retiring”, and he is seething, he has plans for 10, or even 20 years ahead. The most important thing is that Alexander Yakovlevich is not afraid to learn and change. I have been watching him for a long time and remember that at 50 he was one thing, at 55 he was another, at 60 he continued to transform, improve and is now developing further.

He was a brilliant coach, and now he has become the president of CSKA. Everyone said: “Well, Gomelsky won’t let anyone in there, he’ll run everything himself.”

- Did you let me in?

He didn’t just let him in - he made his “enemy” Dusan Ivkovic, with whom he had been fighting and arguing for decades, as the head coach, and appointed as general manager a competitor with whom he had generally fought, Sergei Kushchenko from Perm, the former president of Ural Great. Gomelsky took them to his place, realizing that these were the best people. Kushchenko entrusted the promotion of the team, and Ivkovic - everything that concerns basketball itself. I think that if a person in his eighties is able to make such decisions, it means that he thinks, analyzes, and strives to change himself.

That is why to say to yourself: they say, I have already developed as a person is a big mistake.

"OUTSTANDING NBA PLAYERS EARN 20-30 MILLION DOLLARS PER YEAR. MICHAEL JORDAN - 60 MILLION"

Huge! In my opinion, the contracts there are too big.

- Is basketball really profitable?
- Yes, everything pays off. Three or four years ago there was a slight stagnation in the NBA, but now it is on the rise again. Television pays the association crazy amounts of money, and the most interesting thing is that this happens not through the efforts of advertising managers, but through the players themselves... Do you know who significantly increased the NBA budget over the past year?

- No...

One man. You'll never guess...

- Who?

Chinese Yao Ming.

- How did he manage to do this?

Thanks to advertising television rights to his country, all of China is rooting for him and watching games with his participation. Can you imagine what kind of advertising market a state with a population of almost one and a half billion has?! Sometimes you watch Houston Rockets games in America, and there are Chinese characters on the billboards along the perimeter of the court...

- How much can American basketball superstars actually earn per year today?

Outstanding players - 20-30 million dollars each, Michael Jordan - 60 million (a monument to him was erected in front of the Chicago Sports Palace "United Center" during his lifetime)...

And what, as a rule, do they use these incredible amounts of money for? Are there any successful businessmen among basketball players?

But of course, I also know those who, even having such crazy money, will never spend an extra penny. Many athletes live modestly, as they are accustomed to - they have opened accounts in reputable banks, receive high interest rates, but do not allow themselves unnecessary luxury. There are also such specimens (forgive me if I express myself a little incorrectly) to whom no matter how much you pay, they will still pay down to the last cent. I think such different attitudes towards money are typical not only of highly paid basketball stars, but also of people in general.

- What do spendthrifts spend on - on casinos, on women?

They have 10 cars, two or three houses, apartments in different countries peace. Much is given to relatives - this is the custom. Black people hold family values ​​in high esteem, and there are usually a lot of relatives and friends of relatives. The whole clan needs to live, so they help each other when someone escapes poverty.

By the way, it’s not for nothing that basketball players used to be mandatory in the States - after school and before professional career- Spent four or five years in college. During this time, they developed as individuals, as athletes, and managed to understand: is it worth making basketball their profession or is it just a hobby.

Imagine, Dima, that they signed a contract with you, a high school graduate, for, say, three million dollars. Wouldn't you go crazy with that kind of money? Personally, I simply wouldn’t know what to do with them, and I’d probably do a lot of stupid things... I remember, having received my first salary - 140 rubles, I couldn’t decide what to spend it on. I can imagine what would happen to me if we were talking about a multi-million dollar contract...

- Now our basketball players also receive considerable contracts - are they going crazy or?..

This is a different story. Our players are... (looks for a word).

- I think I hit a nerve with you...

Products (please forgive me for calling them that) of the transition period between that and this system - they fell into a rift, everything got mixed up... The worst thing is that some of them were too focused on money. They don’t understand that you need to grow creatively, search, and the money will come by itself, they will bring it to you! No, guys measure everything in dollars, euros, hryvnias - how much per month, what bonuses, bonuses, additional benefits... Some openly declare: they say, I got mine, everything is fine, don’t touch me, I’m fine as is, no more , no less is needed...

- Thank you, is that enough?..

And this is a tragedy, because the athlete has no desire, no incentive to move forward. There were times in our clubs when we owed players several months' wages, and if they played poorly, we could not make a claim against them because we felt like debtors. And they came out onto the site as if they were doing you a favor. Once in the locker room I told them: “Guys, you will remember these times when you will have money, but you will receive your salary on time, but you will lose the habit of playing at full strength and will no longer realize yourself 100 percent. Separate the concepts of “money” and "professionalism": or leave altogether big sport, or give it your all."

And so it happened: today salaries and bonuses are paid on time, but they can no longer give their all in the game...

Sasha, are there any bright names now - at the level of the stars of past years - or has the transition period leveled off their skills?

The bar for the average level has even risen, but I want to say: “Yes, the basketball player Name-Rek is a star,” but I can’t. We have several players in Ukraine who could be considered potential stars (I really hope so). And in Europe there are guys who also want to be given star status, but for now, alas...

- Your tongue won't turn?

Yes. Two Ukrainians play in the NBA - Stanislav Medvedenko and Vitaly Potapenko, but Slava is not the first in the Los Angeles Lakers, and Vitalik is in the Seattle SuperSonics. But they don’t play for the national team, so that at least here they can be called real luminaries of basketball... Therefore, I prefer to say that today we simply have very talented athletes.

You said that you didn’t feel happy in the chair of the sports minister. Well, now do you feel like a fully realized, calm, confident person?

Certainly. I’m not chasing something unrealistic, I just know that I’m in the right place, and I understand what to do next, I see the prospect. I try to make this path visible to those around me...

Of course, there are enough difficulties, there are depressions, failures, resentments, misunderstandings (and mutual - I don’t understand, they don’t understand me), but, thank God, here in Ukraine we no longer have to run around with our tongue hanging out looking for funds to realize our plans, But there is an opportunity to implement them...

Honored Master of Sports of the USSR, Olympic champion, European champion, two-time USSR champion, Greek champion

One of the strongest heavy forwards in Soviet and European basketball in the 1980s - 1990s, who managed to reach great heights not only in sports, but also in politics.

Alexander Anatolyevich Volkov was born on March 29, 1964 in the Siberian city of Omsk in a family where basketball was a long-time hobby of both parents - mechanical engineers.

The future Olympic champion spent his childhood and adolescence in the ancient Ukrainian city of Chernigov. Like all boys, he was interested in hockey, football, and boxing. A tall, agile, courageous, and dexterous 9-year-old boy, who was playing yard football with his peers, attracted the attention of the coach of the local Youth Sports School No. 1, Alla Georgievna Vergun. It was A. Vergun and his father A. Volkov who always remained grateful for the fundamentals of basketball skills he received.

The son liked the way his father scored the ball into the hoop from above, and in order to develop the jumping ability necessary for this, eighth-grader Sasha Volkov set himself a daily norm of a thousand jumps and punctually completed it, until one day, feeling a fantastic feeling of flight and the joy of victory, he saw his the first ball hammered into the ring is on top!

At the beginning of 1981, Volkov, as part of the Ukrainian youth team, became the bronze medalist of the All-Union Schoolchildren Spartakiad. In the spring of the same year he graduated from a specialized sports boarding school in Kyiv. In the summer there in Kyiv he entered the State Institute of Physical Education, and in the fall he already played in his first professional basketball club - Kiev "Stroitel", under the guidance of the famous coach Boris Vdovichenko.

The 17-year-old boy, who was applying for the role of forward, not only did not get lost among the experienced professionals of the Kyiv club, but quickly became one of the team leaders. Playing for Stroitel, the young striker often and successfully attacked from long range, but could also cover all positions - from number 1 to number 4. Moreover, spinning like a top, at first he played both in the reserve team and in the main team! Therefore, he deservedly received his first “adult” medal - “silver” at the 1981 USSR Championship, along with everyone else.

In 1983, together with the future “golden” Olympians of Seoul 1988 A. Sabonis, V. Tikhonenko, S. Marciulionis and I. Miglinieks as part of the starting five of the USSR national team under the leadership of V.N. Obukhova Volkov became the silver medalist at the Junior World Championships.

A distinctive feature of the playing style of young A. Volkov (height 206 cm, fighting weight 105 kg) was the ability to unconventionally, unpredictably pass under someone else's shield through the opponents' defense. However, even then, 20-year-old Volkov understood that: “First of all, you need to play honestly in defense. And besides, try to bring the team approximately an equal number of points in a fast break, after passes, with shots middle distance and after fighting for rebounds. If the striker is able to give his partners, especially the centers, a sufficient number of sharp passes, then his game task can be considered completed.” That’s how he acted – carefully, wisely, balancedly, and with command. And if the opportunity arose, then, drawing applause from the stands, he knew how to show off with a swift passage across the entire court, a witty feint, a dashing throw from above.

In 1985, at his first “adult” European Championship in Germany, A. Volkov invariably started all meetings in the starting five and was very noticeable on the court in most matches. He became third on his team in rebounding the ball and personally scored 80 points. The strength of the Soviet team at that championship can be judged at least by the result of the final match, in which it crushed the Czechoslovakian team - 120:89.

The following year, 1986, A. Volkov performed brilliantly at the World Championships in Spain. At the preliminary tournament in Ferrol in Group “B”, the Australian team was the most “lucky” - it lost to the then to the current champion in the world of the Soviet team “only” 30 points. The rest of the opponents suffered defeats with a larger difference - from “-38” to “-40”. In the semi-final round, the traditionally strong teams of Greece, Brazil and Spain could not resist the unstoppable onslaught of the “Sovietikos”. In the semi-finals, in a very difficult confrontation, the Soviet basketball players managed to defeat the Yugoslavs, who were stronger than ever, in overtime - 91:90.

The winners in their semi-final groups – the USSR national team and the US national team, which had one defeat – from Argentina, competed for the “gold” of the tournament. In that dramatic match, especially in the second half, the Soviet basketball players gave everything to the game, but there was not enough time to win. The result of the match was 85:87 and silver medals in the championship. At that championship, the USSR national team scored a fantastic 1287 points in 12 games (against 1038 for the closest Americans), which did not include A. Volkov’s personal 111 points.

Success never passes without a trace, and A. Volkov greeted the beginning of the new basketball season with servicemen of the Soviet army in the main team of the country - Moscow CSKA under the command of head coach Yuri Gennadievich Selikhov. At that time, in the USSR Championship, the main problem of CSKA was Kaunas Zalgiris and its young supercenter A. Sabonis. And, if in 1987 “CSKA” did not solve this problem for the third season in a row and remained second, then in 1988 “Zalgiris” was finally dethroned from the top step of the pedestal, and the first one appeared in A. Volkov’s collection Golden medal USSR champion. The first medal immediately pulled the second one with it. A. Volokov “and his comrades” achieved it after the long-awaited return home to his dear Kiev “Stroitel” after the Olympics.

For the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, the USSR national team prepared well in advance and thoroughly. Back in 1987 in Atlanta (USA) A. Gomelsky and American coach M. Fratello with the support of “a great friend of the USSR and personally M.S. Gorbachev" by American billionaire Ted Turner, a two-week training camp and sparring with the NBA team "Atlanta Hawks" was organized for the USSR national team. On next year just before the Olympics, the sparring was repeated on the territory of the USSR. After such an “internship,” the Soviet athletes were no longer afraid of either the American or any other opponent.

Having lost their first match to the Yugoslav national team (79:92), the USSR national team won the remaining 4 matches in its group. In the quarterfinals she beat the Brazilians (110:105) together with their star super-sniper O. Schmidt. And in the semi-finals (for the first time since the unhappy final for the Americans at the 1972 Munich Olympics) she met with the US team and beat it - 82:76. Even many years later, having repeatedly watched the video of this match, which was destined to become the last in the historical confrontation between two basketball superpowers, A. Volkov never ceased to be amazed at how modern in its level that game remained.

The debut of the final match with the Yugoslavs was not easy - by the fourth minute the opponent was leading “+6”. However, overmotivated by head coach A. Gomelsky, the “sons” and “bandits” gathered and won not only the first half (31:28), but also the entire match - 76:63, making the USSR national team a two-time Olympic champion.

In Seoul, A. Volkov was one of the best in the team. He played in all matches, and not only provided excellent assistance to the team’s snipers, but also personally contributed 91 points to the total. And most importantly - in decisive match with the Americans, he did not allow his ward D. Mannig to score even once, while he himself scored 12 points.

In the 1989 season, the Kiev “Builder” won the first (and last) Ukrainian “gold” of the USSR Championship in history. In the same 1989, rich in significant events, A. Volkov, as part of the USSR national team, won bronze at the European Championship, graduated from the Kiev Institute of Physical Culture, was recognized as the most valuable player of the USSR Championship and received an invitation from overseas to play in the NBA. So A. Volkov became the first Ukrainian basketball player and the first “red” (read – Soviet) in the predominantly “black” (African-American) NBA club “Atlantic Hawks” (USA).

Already in his first incomplete season of 1989, A. Volkov became the best in Atlanta in shots from behind the 6-meter line. And in the second season he played in the NBA in 77 matches (starting 27 of them), received an average of 19.7 minutes from coach M. Fratello and brought the team 8.6 points, made 3.4 rebounds and 3. 2 assists per match. In less than three seasons that Volkov played for Atlanta, he played in 149 games, averaging 6.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.

Playing at the limit of strength led to a serious injury - multiple fractures of both hands. There was no time for treatment: it was necessary to defend the country’s honor together with the USSR team at the 1990 World Championships in Argentina. Throughout the tournament, Volkov worked tirelessly with his hands, which he could not even lift a cup of tea without painkillers. If not for these hands, with which Volkov scored 141 points with 55 rebounds in that tournament, then after a crushing loss to the Yugoslavs (77:100), the Soviet team’s victory over the Brazilian team (110:100) and reaching the semifinals might not have happened. The victory in the semifinals against the Puerto Ricans (98:82) allowed them to fight for gold. But the forces were unequal that time: in the final, the “Yugas”, who had previously defeated even the Americans (99:91), put the squeeze on the USSR national team (92:75), leaving them with only silver medals.

Two serious operations, a cast, a long recovery period - all this had to be endured by Volkov and his loving family - his wife and two daughters. It took almost a year. Volkov’s return to the Atlanta Hawks, which had become much younger during this time, was triumphant: demonstrating universal, beautiful basketball that was popular with the public, he became the best player of the season on the team. And at the end of 1991, the name of A. Volkov was forever included in the list of the 50 greatest players in the history of FIBA.

At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona (Spain), for the first time in history, the ban on the participation of professionals was lifted, which the United States successfully took advantage of, making up its team of NBA stars. This strongest team in the history of basketball “without question” crushed (+30 or more) all its opponents and won gold. Until the end of his life, Volkov was offended not for losing the Olympic “bronze” to his “Lithuanian colleagues”, but for the semi-final with the Croats, his best match in the tournament (20 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists), in which the united CIS team lost only to the Croats 1 point – 74:75.

The Italian season 1992/1993 in the Panasonic team from the southern city of Reggio Calabria began successfully for Volkov, promising both the club and its new player good prospects. However, a game knee injury, surgery, treatment and long-term rehabilitation of Volkov, the team leader, did not allow the club to achieve its goals. The club changed its owner, and Volkov changed his host country and place of work: he moved to the Athens BC Panathinaikos, which shone with European basketball stars, and helped the club win bronze in the 1994 Euroleague. And the next year, in the no less brilliant Piraeus Olympiacos, Volkov became the champion of Greece and the silver medalist of the Euroleague.

It was in that final Euroleague match against Real Madrid that Volkov faced a new challenge - a spinal injury with displaced intervertebral discs. The pain did not go away day or night, did not allow me to stand or lie down. Tbilisi sports doctor M. Safarov helped relieve the pain with special injections and begin to move around somehow. I had to forget about further performances in big-time sports, as it seemed, forever.

At the age of 32, Volkov suddenly found himself out of luck, living secludedly in his home in Atlanta, gaining weight, which aggravated his condition, and gradually lost hope of a cure. At the suggestion of A.Ya., who visited him in 1996. Gomelsky Volkov courageously put himself in the hands of a certain massage therapist and chiropractor, who treated him with fasting. How A. Volkov and his family survived that multi-week nightmare together is known only to them. The treatment, coupled with a strong desire to return to basketball, gave the result, fortunately, a positive one.

In 1998, Volkov returned to his homeland and founded the Ukrainian Basketball Development Fund there, which since 2005 became known as the “Foundation for Assistance to the Development of Sports of Olympic Basketball Champion Alexander Volkov.”

“My goal then was to return to the site. But from 1999 to 2000 I was the Minister of Dispute of Ukraine, and only in 2000 I was able to return to the site. I spent the 2000/2001 season playing for BC Kiev, played three matches as a player-coach for the Ukrainian national team, realized that I was no longer getting the same pleasure and finished playing,” recalled A. Volkov.

1999 became a new starting point in the biography of A. Volkov and the year when his long-time dream began to be realized: with the support of friends, like-minded people and basketball veterans, Volkov founded and headed a basketball club of the same name in Kiev, which over the next decade was the crown jewel of Ukrainian basketball. BC "Kyiv" has won the Ukrainian championship more than once, became the winner of the country's Cup, the winner of the FIBA ​​Eurocup, and successfully competed in the NEBL championship - a league, one of the founders of which was A. Volkov.

The famous basketball player and aspiring sports functionary in his homeland was immediately introduced to politics - by the President of Ukraine he was appointed the country's minister of physical culture and sports, then he was elected as a people's deputy. True, Volkov did not remain minister for long, less than a year, but he was elected as a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (VRU) three times. He was a member of the leadership of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Family, Youth Policy, Sports and Tourism. In 2002 A.A. Volkov was elected to the executive committee of FIBA ​​Europe, as well as to the executive committee of the NOC of Ukraine.

Since 2001, Volkov, along with performing his other duties, worked as vice-president of the Ukrainian Basketball Federation (FBU). In 2007, he headed the FBU, voluntarily accepting personal responsibility for all further ups and downs of Ukrainian basketball. And since then, for a number of years, every day, without fuss, unnecessary slogans and idle talk, he carefully and enthusiastically unravels the endless tangle of affairs and relationships (from the Ukrainian Super League to children's basketball) of all participants in the extremely complex process called Ukrainian basketball.

Thanks to Volkov, in 2011, the most experienced and respected NBA coach in the basketball world, M. Fratello, was invited to the post of head coach of the Ukrainian national team, through whose efforts two years later the Ukrainian national team reached the quarterfinals of EuroBasket 2013 for the first time in its history and took a worthy 6th place there .

On November 28, 2013, at the Kiev Sports Palace, at the Euroleague match between Budivelnik and CSKA, a ceremony was held in honor of Alexander Volkov. solemn ceremony raising a banner in the form of a game jersey with the number “5”.

A.A. Volkov - Honored Master of Sports of the USSR, Olympic champion (1988), two-time silver medalist of the World Championship (1986, 1990), European champion (1985), silver medalist of the European Championship (1987), bronze medalist of the European Championship (1989), champion World Universiade(1985), two-time champion of the USSR (1988, 1989), two-time silver medalist of the USSR championship (1981, 1987), two-time bronze medalist of the USSR championship (1983, 1984), winner of the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR (1983).

Played for the following teams: Stroitel (Budivelnik) (Kiev) (1981–1986, 1988–1989), CSKA (Moscow) (1986–1988), Atlanta Hawks (Atlanta, USA) (1989–1992 ), “Calabria”/“Panasonic” (Reggio Calabria, Italy) (1992–1993), “Panathinaikos” (Athens, Greece) (1993–1994) – bronze medalist of the Greek championship (1994), bronze medalist of the Euroleague championship (1994), “Olympiacos” (Piraeus, Greece) (1994–1995) – silver medalist of the Euroleague championship (1995), champion of Greece (1995), BC “Kiev” (Kiev) (1999–2000).

Career as a coach of club teams: playing coach, coach (1999–2006), honorary president of BC "Kiev" (since 2007) - champion of Ukraine (2000, 2005), silver medalist of the Ukrainian championship (2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008) , bronze medalist of the Ukrainian Championship (2003), winner of the Ukrainian Cup (2007), silver (2005) and bronze (2006) medalist of the FIBA ​​EuroCup, silver (2005) and bronze (2006) medalist of the FIBA ​​Euroleague.

Awarded the orders: “Badge of Honor”, ​​“Friendship”, “For Merit”, III degree (Ukraine).

Born on March 29, 1964 in Omsk, Russia. In 1989 he graduated from the Kiev Institute of Physical Culture.

Family

• Wife Alla Akhmetova, born in 1960
• Daughters Anastasia, born in 1991 and Alexandra, born in 1998

Private bussiness

Alexander Volkov is considered Dmitry Firtash’s man.

Political migrations

Literally soon after receiving parliamentary powers, A. Volkov, “in company” with “our Ukrainian” deputy Vladimir Zaplatinsky and people’s deputy from the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc Valentin Zubik, joined the so-called anti-crisis coalition - as part of the Party of Regions, SPU and Communist Party. Six months later, several more “our Ukrainians” and “BYuT members” followed the example of the defectors, which ultimately provoked the early termination of the powers of the parliament of the fifth convocation and early elections. After receiving a deputy mandate on the PR list, he joined the party of Viktor Yanukovych.

Parliamentary bouncer

From February 2 to October 21, 2010, Volkov missed 39 meetings. For a deputy like him, waving his fists in parliament is his main professional activity.

As you know, a fight between deputies of the opposition and ruling parties broke out on December 17, 2010, after the opposition blocked the work of parliament for the whole day, protesting against the initiation of a criminal case against the leader of Batkivshchyna, ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Five deputies from the opposition faction "BYUT-Batkivshchyna" were injured as a result of this fight with the ruling Party of Regions, two of them were in serious condition (victims: Mikhail Volynets, Vasily Kravchuk, Yuriy Gnatkevich and Yevgeny Suslov. "Regions" hit Vladimir Bondarenko with a chair, and they broke his arm, Volynets’ jaw was broken, Yuri Gnatkevich and Vasily Kravchuk received a concussion).

At least 100 deputies from the Party of Regions took part in the fight. The incident, according to a number of opposition deputies, was planned in advance. Before the fight in parliament, the first deputy chairman of the Party of Regions faction, Mikhail Chechetov, said that his faction would “take control of the situation” on Friday.

Part-time deputies (“deputies on call”), officials Zlochevsky and Salamatin (“Ukspetsexport”), were involved in the fight on the part of the deputies of the Party of Regions.

The most brutal participants in the fight were identified as regional deputies Salamatin, Tsarev, Volkov and Zlochevsky, Petr Tsyurko

Basketball player-deputy Volkov is also a frequent participant in brawls in the Verkhovna Rada. In addition to clashes in parliament, he also takes part in fights among deputies of the Kyiv City Council. For example, during the well-known clash between deputies from the Klitschko Bloc and the Chernovetsky Bloc in October 2009, “regionals” Volkov and Tedeev came to the session hall in support of Chernovetsky’s team, who also took part in the fight.

Volkov's sports business

Alexander Volkov actually got into business in basketball, but not in the format that the Ukrainian fan expected. Why go far for examples? Suffice it to recall the FBU Presidium in 2008. The head of the federation spoke a lot and with pathos about how he wanted the national teams to be well-fed, well-fed and provided for, and then blasphemously betrayed national interests by abstaining from the vote that determined whether there would be a limit on foreign players in the domestic championship. Agree, it’s hard to understand how the top person in Ukrainian basketball can’t have his own position in resolving strategic issues?

However, the answer to the question is quite simple. Volkov needed this limit like a hare needed a stop sign. Firstly, the restriction would entail a reduction in financial flows to the FBU, because for each foreign player, clubs pay huge contributions to the federation. To understand the size of these subsidies, it is enough to do some simple arithmetic. Last season, 78 “Varangians” passed through the Super League, the application of each of them cost at least $10,000. But Alexander Volkov’s interest was not limited to this, since he also had to help his own brainchild – BC “Kiev”, which is paired with another grandee – “Azovmash”, strives to take on more foreigners to satisfy their European Cup ambitions.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg, tangible, so to speak, for the common man. What can we say about the affairs that Alexander Anatolyevich is doing in secret from the public. For example, you know why Volkov is so opposed to the creation of the Ukrainian Basketball League, which, let us remind you, has already included six clubs (Budivelnyk, Dnepr, Kryvbassbasket, Odessa, Polytechnic and Cherkasy Mavpy), those advocating for the transition of Ukrainian basketball to a professional level? This conglomerate is not making a dummy proposal, but has significant developments in all areas, including enlisting the support of the Biola brand, which is ready to allocate $5 million for the project next season.

But that's the rub. It’s one thing to have 5 “lemons” that you won’t be allowed to touch, and quite another thing to have your own interest. On the sidelines they gossip that it really exists, but in a different “garden”. Volkov seems to have received the go-ahead from one of the country's leading mobile operators for a sponsorship package for the Super League in the amount of three million greenbacks, of which, according to rumors, he will have his own percentage. The only problem is that in the Super League after the UBL revolution there are currently only seven clubs, and the conversation with patrons, they say, was initially about thirteen. But the head of the FBU is no stranger to getting out of such situations. According to the latest, naturally unofficial information, Alexander Anatolyevich promised the “networkers” active PR in the East European League, where “Kyiv” and “Azovmash” are already sleeping and seeing themselves. By the way, Volkov is concerned about the national interests of domestic basketball, as well as the domestic championship in particular...

And don't worry about the Olympic champion. He will get out of any situation, fortunately he has learned to cover up the traces of fraud masterfully. Don't believe me? Then take a look at the protocol of the scandalously memorable third quarter-final match of the 1995 Suproleague basketball between the Greek Olympiacos and Moscow CSKA.

For reference, let us recall that then five basketball players of the army club mysteriously fell ill with severe poisoning, and the Russian champion had to play a fateful game with five players! But Alexander Anatolyevich himself was a participant in that cruel parody on the part of the Greek club. But why should the public remember this? Volkov decided, and thanks to his excellent connections with FIBA, he adjusted the protocol. What is not the Ostap Bender of our time?

Born on March 29, 1964 in Omsk. Father - Volkov Anatoly Alexandrovich. Mother - Volkova Valentina Yakovlevna. Wife – Akhmetova Alla Restyamovna. Daughters: Anastasia, Alexandra.

Sasha, who was born in an ordinary Omsk maternity hospital on Maslennikova Street, had average anthropometric data: with a height of 53 centimeters, he weighed 3 kilograms 900 grams. It will be years before the world's leading sports publications call him Red Gulliver, the Hawk from Lviv Square, the Italian Express. In the meantime, it would be a stretch to call him a candidate for future giants.

A few months after the birth of their son, the Volkov family moved to Chernigov. Sasha's parents were athletic people; They had a special passion for basketball, thanks to which they met back in 1960. At that time, they worked at the Omsk machine-building plant "Polyot", which in the secret annals of the KGB was listed as numbered and was actually an aviation plant. The defense industry did not have its own gym, and the basketball players went to train at the engine builders. There were many sections, but there was only one hall, so the men’s and women's team trained together. This is how fate brought together the future parents of the future champion, who got married a year later.

The Volkovs' firstborn grew up as a bully. Since his leading role was unconditionally recognized by all his comrades, his parents called their son nothing more than the chieftain of the gnomes. This was the first “honorary title” in the life of 5-year-old Shurka.

As we know, people are not born brave. Therefore, Anatoly Alexandrovich cultivated the strength of spirit in the boy from childhood. In the evenings, the doorway in the kitchen turned into a hockey goal, and Sasha - into a goalkeeper. And although the puck was plastic, it “beat,” according to the young goalkeeper’s recollections, “quite decently,” especially when it hit the face. But my father did not allow me to wear a mask. He convinced Sasha that “you can’t find courage on the road and you can’t exchange it for a knife in the yard.” His brother also agreed with Anatoly Alexandrovich. On weekends he arranged for his nephew fist fights with the neighborhood boys. Moreover, he did not select the weak.

Basketball entered Sasha’s life only in the 3rd grade. Until the age of 7, the object of his affections were boxing gloves, then he raved about hockey - he stayed up late at the TV, watching the game legendary troika Mikhailov – Petrov – Kharlamov. Gullivers' game was broadcast infrequently in those years. Therefore, the portraits of black NBA stars, which sports publications sometimes published, evoked a special inner awe. The father did not push his son to make a choice in favor of this or that sport, but he gave him a basketball just in case.

Sasha took his first steps towards basketball Olympus at basketball training under the guidance of Alla Vergun at the Chernigov Children's and Youth School sports school? 1 (1973–1980), continued his journey at the Kiev city sports boarding school. Since 1981, Volkov became a player of the Kyiv “Builder”, and after another 2 years he won his first medals - bronze at the USSR Championship and silver at the World Youth Championship.

On the eve of the 1985 European Championship, Alexander Gomelsky was replaced as head coach of the country's first team by Vladimir Obukhov. The testing of the Obukhov team took place in Spain.

Best of the day

The match with the Spaniards started as usual: with two Gullivers - Sabonis and Tkachenko, who were supplied with balls by Khomichius, Kurtinaitis and Tarakanov. But the five that terrified Europe behaved too academically. There would be some adjustments to be made here, but Gomelsky’s experience was not enough for Obukhov. The moment came when it was almost impossible to change the course of the match - the gap in the score during the match sometimes reached 30 points.

The old-timers almost in an ultimatum form demanded to change tactics: instead of a second center, the attack should be supported by a high-speed striker, who, according to the leaders, was young Volkov. But Obukhov only gave in half. So, in the first match of the next commercial tournament against the Czechs, Andrei Lopatov entered the court in the starting five. And there would have been no happiness, but misfortune helped - in one of the first attacks Lopatov broke his finger. Here, like it or not, it was Sasha’s turn. Obukhov released Volkov onto the court and froze. The newcomer tightly shut down Krapilyak, the Czechs’ best striker, and also scored 20 points. Volkov started the next game in the starting five and never dropped out of it again in his life.

The team began the European Championship in Karlsruhe, where teams from Yugoslavia, Spain, France, Poland and Romania played. The French and Romanian bastions were taken with little loss - 118:103 and 100:85, respectively. Now, in order to assert themselves, it was necessary to defeat the Yugoslav team, in which Drazan Petrovich was beginning to shine. This match, to some extent, became a turning point in Volkov’s fate. In one of the rebounds, while reaching for the ball, he accidentally knocked out Nakich’s front teeth. And the Yugoslavs wavered. We eased the pressure a little, changed the distance a little. And they also lost a little - only 8 points, but they lost.

Then, one after another, the teams of Poland, Bulgaria, Italy and, in the final, Czechoslovakia were defeated. Important detail: here, in Stuttgart, Alexander Volkov became not only the European champion, but for the first time in his life he entered the symbolic team of the continent. Shaking his hand at Sheremetyevo-1, Gomelsky said: “Well done. Although I probably wouldn’t risk betting on you...”

“The Builder” spent the 1985 and 1986 seasons neither shaky nor shaky, and who knows what Alexander’s future fate would have been, but then he was unexpectedly invited to a cup of tea by the then coach of SKA Kiev Zurab Khromayev (now in charge of the entire Ukrainian basketball industry). Ironically, Khromaev lived in the same building as Alexander’s wife Alla.

Khromaev has already wooed Sasha into his team more than once, but if earlier the conversation was with a student, now it’s with a pre-conscript. That evening, as the main argument, Sasha was presented with “heavy artillery” in the person of the head coach of the national team and CSKA, Alexander Yakovlevich Gomelsky. But the main basketball “general” behaved surprisingly modestly, talked more and more about the weather, and not otherwise - he had his own plans for the striker. And a week later, CSKA coach Selikhov called Volkov. “Get ready,” Yuri Gennadievich did not order, but asked, “you are going to serve the Motherland.” It was stupid to hide.

Within a couple of weeks, the strong-willed newcomer became the undisputed leader of the team. And the best in CSKA most often became the best in the country. Volkov once and for all turned this “most often” into an axiom. It was in CSKA that he played the final of the USSR Championship for the first time against Zalgiris. Sasha remembers how the generals “pumped up” them in 1987: the army should not lose to “dissidents.” But she lost, and Sasha had to wait another whole year for her first allied gold medal; it happened in 1988.

The Soviet basketball team flew to the 88 Olympics in Seoul for victory. And despite the failure already in the opening match with the Yugoslavs, among the four best teams got through. The semi-finals were already awaiting the Americans, who throughout the Olympic tournament had consistently defeated their opponents with a gap of 30–40 points.

The Americans weren't just waiting for us. For 16 years, more than one generation of black “Atlanteans” dreamed of returning the favor to our team: everyone remembers how in Munich, 3 seconds before the end of the final match, Edeshko’s golden pass across the entire court and Belov’s throw put the founders of basketball into a trance. In Montreal we didn’t make it to the face-to-face meeting, and then in olympic movement Big politics intervened.

The best national collegiate team in US history to ever play in a FIBA ​​tournament was tasked with taking revenge. American leaders Danny Manning and David Robinson deliberately postponed signing multimillion-dollar contracts in the NBA in order to get Olympic gold. They were assisted under the shield by the unsurpassed JR Reed. This trio, having dashed the hopes of all competitors under the ring, hoped to rule the roost in the semi-finals. But Sabonis and Volkov stood in their way. Arvydas made 13 rebounds, and Volkov simply “ate” the legendary Manning, not allowing him to score a single point throughout the match.

The final match of the USSR - Yugoslavia Olympics was broadcast by all the leading television companies in the world. Those who believed that the Yugoslavs entered the game demoralized by the Soviet semi-final were mistaken - they do not throw out the white flag one step away from the highest step of the podium. “Yugi” took the lead from the first seconds of the match: 6:0, 20:10, 24:12... And perhaps the Yugoslavs were already mentally trying on gold medals, but then Sabonis caught the game. Over the next 4 minutes, the USSR team scores 9 points, the Yugoslavs score none. Their advantage is melting before our eyes, along with their hopes, which are finally ruined by Dran Petrovic, who went out alone to an empty ring and did not score a slam-dunk. 76:63. This is victory. Alexander Volkov is an Olympic champion!

Volkov became the champion of the Soviet Union for the second time in 1989, when “Stroitel” defeated “Zhal-giris” in a historical confrontation. The fate of the gold medals was decided in the first return match, when in Kaunas Volkov's winning throw tipped the scales in favor of the Kyivans less than one tenth of a second before the end of the match. But the judges wavered: the main referee of the match, Mikhail Grigoriev, canceled the previously counted goal. The Kyivians lost the overtime, and they flatly refused the third game and flew to Kyiv - somewhere there should be a limit to the arbitrariness of the judges!

“It must,” they decided in Moscow. After carefully watching the video of the match, the USSR Basketball Federation and the State Sports Committee Board decided unanimously: Volkov threw before the siren. And if so, Kyiv should be the first!

Obviously, Volkov’s future sporting fate was decided in a friendly match with the great Atlanta Hawks. The tour of the American professionals, who won in Tbilisi and Vilnius, ended in Moscow, where, naturally, they were given the “last fight.” And with the Luzhniki stands crowded, Sasha Volkov created the “eighth wonder of the world” - easily, as in training, he scored 37 points in 40 minutes of the match. Fantastic! It is not known for certain, of course, but perhaps it was at that very second that Ted Turner put aside a suitcase tightly stuffed with green bills to buy a successful Russian.

True, the Atlanta boss will use it only in a year and a half. Already the third game in the NBA against the Boston Celtic was Sasha’s first big victory. He played more than a third of the match against Larry Bird himself and scored his first two points. After this meeting, Fratello realized: the Russian grasps his strategy well, can implement the setup for the match and enjoys the respect of the judges. Since then, Sasha has never spent less than 15 minutes on the court in a single match, got 5-6 points per game for the team, and at the end of the season became the best in shots from behind the 6-meter line.

The moment came when Fratello shook his hand: “You are an NBA player and worth much more than the two hundred thousand dollars that Turner paid the Soviets for you.” But it’s only smooth on paper. Sasha finished his first season in the NBA with deep cracks in his hands, injections and enthusiasm. The doctors warned: “The injury is serious: you need a cast, you need rest.” Volkov shrugged it off and went as part of the USSR national team to Argentina for the world crown. He received the silver medals “complete” with fifty painkilling injections, on which he lasted the entire tournament. It’s clear that the holiday didn’t work out. Upon returning to Atlanta, Volkov could not even lift a cup of tea with his hands. When greeting, he hid his hand behind his back - any touch to it would reverberate in his head like a sheaf of sparks.

I had to lie down on the operating table. They cut out cartilage from his groin and inserted his hands into the crack, tightening them with a special system. This is not about basketball - it’s time to think about a wheelchair: the long-suffering hand was not a sight for the faint of heart. But after 10 days the hand came back to life. And everything would be fine, but then my legs gave out...

Only a year later, Sasha timidly crossed the threshold of the club. Half the players and the coach were new. And this meant that for the second time he became a newcomer in Atlanta, who was unlikely to have a place in the sun. But then the leader of the Hawks, the great Dominique Wilkins, was seriously injured. This was an opportunity. And Volkov, who had not played for more than a year, took a risk. The eyes of the player and coach met only for a moment. They believed each other. Volkov entered the game. I walked in as if there had never been a year's break. And the attack music began. No, Volkov did not become first violin. He became an orchestra, voicing all the “roles.” Rebound, pass, shot, block - it seemed that two teams were already playing for Atlanta. Statistically, he became the best. In this meeting, in the next...

But money played a role here. A new generation of yesterday’s backups, led by the still unknown Shaquille O’Neal, has entered the forefront of American basketball. Volkov had a new contract in his hands, but Sasha decided to go to Europe - Italian and Spanish clubs had been following him for a long time.

“Prime time” comes in every person’s life. For Volkov, it coincided with an Italian business trip, where in the 1992/93 season he played for Panasonic from the picturesque town of Reggio. Sasha, as if by order, time after time ensured victories for the southerners in important fights with the North. And by the middle of the season, victory for the northerners was clearly associated with the eighth number of Panasonic, which received the capacious nickname “Express” in the press.

There were no signs of trouble. “Reggio de Calabria” confidently rushed at full speed to its first peak. And then, in an ordinary game with Roma, which was then identified with the Croatian player Dino Rajo, Volkov “out of the blue” received a knee injury. The operation cost him two months of rehabilitation, and the club lost first place. The team slipped to 6th place, and all that its leader, who had not really recovered, managed to do was help reach the semi-finals, where the troublemakers in Treviso were stopped by the local Benetton.

But courage and perseverance were to be rewarded. And the sports gods gave Sasha the opportunity to go through another basketball path - “from the Varangians to the Greeks.”

Perhaps the Hellenes were the first to turn the well-known axiom on its head: “ Strong clubs“a strong team.” Their club surge was a consequence. But one way or another, in 1993, the teams of Yanakopoulos and Kokolis were clear trendsetters in European basketball, gathering the best under their banner. And to be convinced of this, it was enough to look at the application list of the Athenians. In the performances of “Panathinaikos” the main roles were played by the best center in Europe, Yugoslav Stojko Vrankovic, a magnificent point guard, the champion of Seoul, the Estonian Tiit Sokk, and the unsurpassed Greek Nikos Galis. In such a company, which was also supported by Americans from the NBA, Volkov, it seemed, could only take first place in alphabetical order. But Sasha thought differently.

Volkov’s modesty does not allow this, but we still note: the European press wrote that with all the abundance of stars, only Volkov could have won gold for Panathinaikos in the regular season, if the club had fewer soloists and Kosta Politis commanded less loudly, who led the Athenians in the middle of the season. And here too I had to limit myself to “bronze”.

But Volkov wasn’t going to Greece for her. Which means it’s a fight again. But now with his shadow - that’s what fate decided, exchanging him with the Yugoslav Zarko Pospal. The castling, invented by Kokalis, once again radically changed Volkov’s life. The season at Olympiacos will be the last in his long sports career.

But Sasha finds out about this only a year later, when in the final match of the Cup European champions will win silver medals with Olympiacos. It was in the match with Real, after a collision with Arlauskas, that Volkov felt as if a grenade had exploded in his back into hundreds of pieces. And he had to stop and ask for a replacement, but the hand surgery didn’t teach him anything. Before last game of the Greek regular championship, Olympiacos became the champion, and Volkov became disabled. He was brought home from the hall on a stretcher. The opinion of the medical council was categorical: basketball was over. A full life, by the way, too. It’s good if after a year or two you manage to take a vertical position...

The fate of Nikolai Ostrovsky persistently knocked on the door. Overnight, Volkov became a regular at American clinics. The doctors shrugged their shoulders, suggesting to be patient - it took time to restore the nerves in the spine responsible for muscle reflexes...

...We will not name the person who performed a small medical miracle in the summer of 1996, so as not to draw unnecessary attention to his today’s dedicated service Russian sports. “We will be treated by hunger. During fasting, blood will eat all the harmful particles that have accumulated in your body,” the guest told Volkov. - Do you agree?" And Sasha took a risk.

Believe me, he hardly had any idea what he was getting into. The first series of 25 days of hunger strike seemed relatively easy. The second – 60 days, of which the week is “dry” – is already for the Guinness Book of Records. For these 60 days, newspapers and television disappeared from Volkov’s life, and the indicator of human communication was approaching zero. Walks, massage, sauna, massage, walks. On the 40th day, he felt the taste of a sip of water... As a result, something happened that, according to all the laws of medicine, simply could not happen - the back pain disappeared. Sasha realized: you can seriously think about basketball.

Then Sasha opens his Basketball Support Fund in Kyiv. The dying game is receiving a new impetus for development in Ukraine, which Volkov has been supporting for several years in the Kyiv basketball club he created.

Volkov personally stood at the helm of the new basketball ship, which from the first day was destined to become the flagship of the Super League. And the team fulfilled all the tasks assigned to it: on the first try it won the gold medals of the Ukrainian championship and became the base for the national team. But Ukrainian open spaces were not enough for Volkov. In 1999, together with his friend Šarūnas Marčiulionis, he launched the North European Basketball League (SEBL).

The phone rang at dawn - the President of Ukraine L. Kuchma invited him to his place. He invited Volkov to lead the sport and guaranteed 100% support. However, Alexander was not a minister for long: after 159 days, Volkov was offered to vacate his chair due to the reorganization. He returned to his basketball kingdom, the only one of all where the king does not need to be played by his retinue.

Alexander Volkov - Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1988), Olympic champion (1988), most valuable player of the 1992 Olympics, silver medalist of the world championships (1986, 1990), European champion (1985), silver (1987) and bronze (1989) medalist of the European Championships, two-time champion of the USSR (1988, 1989), silver (1987) and bronze (1983, 1984) medalist of the USSR championships, best player of the Soviet Union (1989), champion of Greece (1985), member of the USSR national team (1984–1991) ), CIS national team (1992), Ukrainian national team (1998), symbolic world team (1986, 1990).

Member of the executive committee of FIBA ​​Europe (since 2002), member of the executive committee of the NOC of Ukraine (since 2002), vice-president of the Basketball Federation of Ukraine (since 2001), president of the Basketball Development Fund of Ukraine (since 2002), honorary president of the BC "Kyiv". Awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor (1988).

Lives in Kyiv.

Hello Sanya!
Siduna 04.06.2008 10:44:41

Hello A.V. A former colleague from Youth Sports School-1 in Zhitomir, Alyosha Sidun, is writing to you. You probably don’t remember me, but I’ve been wanting to write you a message for a long time. As soon as I see you on the TV screen, I immediately remember our teenage years, especially the competitions in Minsk in winter. How we, two teams from Zhitomir and Chernigov, lived in a class at a Minsk school. If you have time ,respond to your former colleague.Thank you.

Alexander Volkov is only 40 years old, but they contain so many victories and troubles that they would be enough for several lives.

World basketball star, versatile forward, 1988 Olympic champion, European, Soviet and Greek champion - he was one of the first Ukrainian players to break through to the NBA. Nevertheless, several times life subjected him to such tests of strength that it’s time to remember Pavka Korchagin...

In the 1993-1994 season, when Volkov played for the Greek Olympiacos, something terrible happened. Fate did not put Alexander in a wheelchair only because he could not even sit... A miracle saved him. And colossal courage. And his doctor friends - one, risking his reputation, injected Sasha, exhausted by unbearable pain, with curare poison, the other carried him over the abyss of long hunger strikes (the last was a 60-day fast, almost a week of which was “dry”).

Having lost 30 kilograms from the then 120, Volkov found the strength to overcome a severe spinal injury, recover and return to big-time sports...

President of the Ukrainian Basketball Development Fund (his own name), president and then honorary president of BC "Kiev", vice-president of the Ukrainian Basketball Federation, member of the FIBA-Europe executive committee, Alexander Volkov admits that in his youth his favorite words were the words from the diary of the Roman Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar: "23 years, and nothing has been done for immortality."

“My first car was a Zhiguli, and I fit in it just fine. Probably, my spine was bent better then.”

Sash, how does such a giant live? I can imagine what it’s like for you to get on a plane or a car (I don’t think you go on the subway), or just sleep in a bed, being two meters six centimeters tall... What inconvenience do you experience? Don't you feel like a black sheep?

Now I don’t, I act instinctively, but in childhood, of course, there were complexes, especially when I began to rapidly stretch out and instantly grew out of my clothes. The coat fit me somehow awkwardly, my arms were sticking out of the sleeves - naturally, I was embarrassed to be in sight all the time, because I had to go to training across the whole of Chernigov. I even came up with various tricks - for example, I jumped into the bus at the last stop and quickly sat down, or, if there were no empty seats, I remained standing on the bottom step so as not to stand out...

- Do you remember how old you were when you started to grow rapidly?

Probably 14-15. I was thin, long, awkward, and this, of course, attracted everyone's attention. Then other problems appeared. It was already when I entered the Kiev sports boarding school that I felt more comfortable. Kyiv is a big city, people here didn’t care about me, but how difficult it was to buy clothes and shoes... Besides, I didn’t make any money then...

- Try to get some Adidas sneakers...

Just shoes and trousers, a jacket, a coat! Some things were altered by my mother from my father’s things, some were bought with great difficulty. It’s fortunate that I got into the USSR national team and started traveling abroad. There are great big stores there, where we basketball players tried to buy everything, and for the first time I felt human.

True, when we went to games and training camps, on the way I prayed that the hotel bed would have only one back - at the head.

- What if the back was also at the foot?

Then, if the administrators did not comply with the request to change the bed or give another room, the lost night was ensured. This happened especially often in the regions - provincial hotels were terribly uncomfortable. Well, I tried to lie across - I couldn’t even put a chair under my feet. I thought: a short bed would be better, but without a back... I curled up in the fetal position, but still felt discomfort, could not relax... Now in hotels you can choose a bed upon request, spacious, without a back...

- How do you adapt on airplanes?

If possible, I always book a ticket in the first row of business class - there is more distance between the seats. These are specific tricks. People of normal height do not think about where they will sit, but we calculate in advance. If you can't get business class, I ask for a seat in economy class near the emergency exit...

You've probably flown around America on domestic flights in small airplanes, which are difficult for a person of average height to squeeze into. How did you get out of the situation there?

In hopeless situations, you just have to endure it, curled up like a bagel. Usually there are some options, and most people are compassionate - if they can help, they always help.

But with cars it’s much easier now. My first car was a Zhiguli, and I remember I fit in it just fine. The same giants sat next to us, and we rode without much inconvenience. Probably, the spine bent better back then... Now you look at the Lada and think: “Did I really ever drive in this cell?” Thank God, there is already an opportunity to choose a larger car. In America, a Mitsubishi jeep served me faithfully for many years, and in Kyiv I drive a Ford Expeditor.

Sasha, your height is two meters six centimeters. Alexander Belostenny has 2.14, Volodya Tkachenko has 2.20, and poor Alexander Sizonenko has 2.38...

Already 2.43, and the foot is size 58 - it continues to grow...

- In my opinion, this is a tragedy for the guys. Or am I overdramatizing the situation?

Well, let's say, Belostenny is still okay, from a distance his height is not very different from 2.10, but Tkachenko had constant problems. Not to mention Sasha Sizonenko, who played for Spartak St. Petersburg and Stroitel Kuibyshev (his name was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the tallest basketball player in the world) - now he lives somewhere in St. Petersburg, I don’t know in what condition. ..

In serious condition... I read about him: he had surgery on the pituitary gland twice, because of severe osteoporosis, he walks on crutches, he is plagued by arrhythmia and diabetes, he lives on the pension of a group II disabled person...

Trouble... We are called Gullivers, but few people know about the problems of big people. You don’t need to look far for examples - the former basketball player Nikolai Sushak is too serious with his legs and spine... But you can’t say that he is a supergiant - only 2.10...

Giants have complexities and certain complexes. It’s fortunate that there are sports where height provides certain opportunities, even advantages, and that people are interested in you. If the guys aged 2.17, 2.18 had no need for basketball, volleyball, handball, what would they do in life, especially now, who would need them? Thank God, they have a chance not just to make money, but to be in demand, maybe become stars recognized by the whole world.

Now a provocative question. You achieved imaginable and unimaginable medals and titles in basketball, you were a champion of Europe and the Olympic Games, you achieved success in the NBA, Greece, and a number of other countries for whose clubs you played. If, say, you were asked today: “Sasha, do you want to exchange all this for normal height?”, would you agree?

Well, of course not. By the way, I can’t say that I’m such a colossus - sometimes I can buy things even in ordinary stores and slip through somewhere unnoticed. And in recent times - in today’s life, when some kind of prosperity and financial stability have appeared - growth does not interfere.

At the end of the 80s, when, in fact, your loudest victories took place, the country was going through a transitional period: before perestroika there were one circumstances, after it - others, it was already possible to earn money and save for a comfortable old age. And although the Chinese only wish their enemies to live in times of change, do you think it’s good that you found yourself at this turning point in eras?

Perestroika was an undoubted success for our generation. In fact, we were the first - not only basketball players, but athletes in general - who tasted the joy and experience of a real professional life, decent salaries and attitude towards ourselves. We could compare what we have now and when we played for the USSR national team or our own leading clubs of the Union.

I won’t say that it was better abroad than at home - there you are generally in a different state, in a different world. It was life in two different coordinate systems - literally and figuratively. But our players were also very capable, talented - real stars of world basketball: Kievans, Muscovites, Leningraders...

- ...Vilnius people...

Residents of Kaunas, Riga... Soviet fans bought a ticket to the game for two or three rubles, well, five, and watched the best players in Europe and the world (today in the USA a front-row ticket to a Los Angeles Lakers game costs from 500 to 2000 dollars) . What a stir there was then! At that time in the USSR the concept of “empty seat in the hall” did not exist - people sat on the steps, even us basketball players sometimes did not have enough chairs.

- What were the CSKA - Zalgiris matches worth?

And this is a completely different story! At the same time, I sincerely feel sorry for the generation of slightly older guys (not to mention the winners of the ’72 Olympics), who saw our capabilities and understood that they, too, could taste all the benefits in full...

- They were heroes...

But their opportunities came too late; it was more difficult for them than for us. Of course, we had our difficulties, but we still became the pioneers of professional sports for domestic players, and they failed to do this for objective reasons. They followed our careers, saw what we could afford... I know many guys, and, in my opinion, they have developed some kind of internal complex...

- It's a shame...

Sergei Tarakanov played with me at CSKA. He is older, but was able to play a little in Belgium and Germany - not for very much money. When I was getting ready to leave the NBA, he called and said: “Sasha, if fate gave me such an opportunity, I would sit there on the bench for free! Don’t even think about leaving!” There was such regret in his voice that he did not have time...

- ...on the footsteps of this train...

If his generation were two or three years younger, he, too, would have fulfilled the dream of any basketball player - to play at least six months in the NBA and say: “I was there.” Back then it was very prestigious, almost unattainable, it’s hard to even think of what could be better...

“Sabonis once admitted to me: “I’m not afraid of anyone except Gomelsky.”

- As they say, “see Paris and die”...

Nobody wanted to become an NBA champion - just to get into the All Stars Game!

Now this is a completely surmountable path, all the guys dream of getting there, believe in luck and have already begun to think about how to become an NBA champion. For example, Andrei Kirilenko is our first representative in the “All Stars Game”...

Sasha, is the level of NBA players really much higher than those who also successfully perform in prestigious championships in a number of other countries?

I would say that in many ways it is promotion. In general, world basketball is currently experiencing a decline; it feels like a breakdown is about to occur, after which it will be forced to rise. Some clubs are emerging, new relationships are emerging... In Russia, for example, crazy amounts of money are spent on basketball, we also have a certain prosperity, even a certain excitement. Things look similar in Poland, but in Greece it’s the opposite - the financial collapse of almost all clubs. By the way, in Turkey, where there were crazy contracts five years ago, things have gotten much worse.

There is a change of leaders in Europe, and there is still an incomprehensible structure of the current European basketball... The conflict between two organizations - FIBA-Europe and the Union of Basketball Leagues of Europe ULEB, has dragged on, and they are not conducting any negotiations. At the end of World War II, the victors demanded complete and unconditional surrender from the Germans, and now both disputing sides expect the same surrender from each other. I, a member of the FIBA ​​Executive Committee, cannot understand: they seem to be adults, Europeans, friends...

- Money, Sasha, money...

Nightmare: they are stubborn and don’t want to make concessions, they are waiting to see who will give in first. As a result, all European club basketball is suffering. I feel that the NBA will come to Europe in some form from these wreckage (even though I myself am part of this association and have been in its kitchen)...

- ...and will absorb both FIBA ​​and ULEB?

This will all end! Of course, on the one hand, it’s a good option, but on the other hand, it’s their own fault: everything will happen as a result of the intractability of the Europeans.

- The title “Olympic champion” does not have the prefix “ex-”, it is for life. How did you feel when in 1988, as part of the star team of Alexander Gomelsky, you became an Olympic champion? Didn't it seem to you that this was a peak, above which it was already
can't get up?

It is impossible to convey those feelings; it really was some kind of indescribable euphoria. It so happened that we became Olympic champions, and we had to fly home only after three days. The Olympics are still ongoing, and we have already lost our heads with happiness! It all started not just weakly - even, I would say, gloomily. The very first match, and a mediocre loss to the Yugoslavs - the teams and my personal...

- It was also a terrible match with Puerto Rico...

Yes, they swayed with a creak. We expected the game to go well with Sabonis’s arrival, but it turned out the opposite: we were preparing for the summer without him, he arrived in three days, and all the game schemes broke down. It was necessary to somehow adapt, but people were already on edge - the end of preparation. We barely got used to it...

Of course, well done Gomelsky for surviving all this!

- How did he set you up for victory: did he shout, curse?

Firstly, in Seoul we somehow came together internally, everyone sincerely believed that we could win, although we didn’t admit it to others - not even to ourselves... Never before have I seen such extreme concentration of each player, and that’s all But, as usually happened in Soviet times, at the start we surrendered to the Yugoslavs - our most irreconcilable rivals. Usually in such cases, some Komsomol leaders, heads of the sports committee come to meetings to scold the players...

- ...they say, as at Stalingrad, that “there is no land for us beyond the Volga”...

And why are you traitors, we will show you where the crayfish spend the winter! And then suddenly Gomelsky calmly promised: “Guys, I won’t let anyone near you, we’re the best anyway and we’ll beat everyone here.” He very skillfully instilled in us faith in a miracle, which eventually happened.

- I wonder how such a small person can cope with giants? What keys did he pick for you?

Apparently this is a mysterious natural phenomenon. It happens, for example, that for some reason a handsome man lives with an inconspicuous woman (and vice versa), no one understands what he sees in her, but they dote on each other. Apparently, a small person knows and feels especially well what big people need...

For many years in a row, Alexander Gomelsky traditionally invited us to his birthdays, where many friends and famous people gathered. Previously, he usually organized veterans’ games, but then it became noticeable that this no longer aroused the same interest and ceased to be a beautiful sports spectacle: after all, we are slowly getting older, the level of fighting is not the same, the speed is not the same. Now we're just going to chat...

So, at one of these holidays, Sabonis lit a cigarette somewhere on the sidelines. Alexander Yakovlevich suddenly appeared, and Arvydas hastily began to hide his cigarette, although so many years had passed...

- Reflex - there's no escape...

Sabonis once admitted to me: “I’m not afraid of anyone except Alexander Yakovlevich.”

“We knew: it’s better not to joke with Belostenny”

Many years later, Gomelsky told me that during these three post-victory Olympic days, the basketball players had a terrible drinking binge. So violent that even he felt uneasy, and he threatened Belostenny that he would take away the title of “Honored Master of Sports” for the third time...

Well yes, it was... (smiles). True, I would rather call it general rejoicing...

The Olympic Village in Seoul was a specially built huge residential building, no different from our nine-story buildings (when the Olympians left, townspeople moved in there). There were two apartments on the staircase. We lived in one - number 227, and in the other - the rest of our delegation: doctors, trainers. The apartment is neat, designed for an ordinary Korean family: a hall, several bedrooms, two toilets, decent furniture, a TV...

I return in the evening after the victory - the table is already set, guests of absolutely incomprehensible nationalities, countries, sports are constantly coming...

- The fraternization has begun...

And real fun. People took turns as if in a kaleidoscope: one slept on the sofa in the hall, woke up, another lay down in his place, someone dozed off right in the bathroom...

Gradually, a mountain of used plates and glasses, empty bottles, and forgotten things grew on the floor. The atmosphere was festive and peaceful, but they complained to Gomelsky that we were rowdy...

- Didn’t he participate in the manifestation of general joy?

Alexander Yakovlevich is a very strict person: he ran a cross-country race and rests, sleeps at night and carefully looks after himself. Of course, he also always supported the holiday, not without it, but he had to react when the head of the Soviet delegation, Marat Gramov, called him and said: calm down your people, it’s a shame in front of the world. The Olympics are still going on, but the basketball players are causing a riot, yelling and not letting the rest of the athletes sleep...

Wise Gomelsky realized that he couldn’t deal with the newly-crowned Olympic champions so easily.

We laughed: “Well, what kind of blackmail is this?”, but after half an hour there was no one else in the room and there was perfect cleanliness, as if the maids had come...

- What words did White-walled find?

I don't remember anymore. We were indignant, demanded to be left alone, shouted: “Sasha, what’s the matter?! How can we break up? You’re kidding - we became Olympic champions!” But he remained adamant: “That’s it, let’s go for a walk and that’s enough!” Let's clean up all this mess." Nobody wanted to get involved with him, of course...

- Were you afraid?

That’s not the point, it’s just that if he’s set on something, it’s better not to joke with him.

- Curious, have there been situations when things came to a fight between famous basketball players?

Constantly...

- Yes? And what were they quarreling about?

Usually they could get into fights during training, where, naturally, brawls broke out from time to time. Sometimes they argued about political topics. The Baltic states, for example, opposed the Muscovites... There were no major scandals, but sometimes they balanced on the brink...

- Has self-awareness awakened?

Certainly. In addition, there was constant competition between Sabonis and Marciulionis. They are fellow countrymen, studied in the same class and always competed, trying to figure out which of them was more important in Lithuania. They were very friendly, but sometimes they fought seriously...

I remember a long tour of the USA - 40 days of constant games and flights. This is very difficult to withstand psychologically - with our overloads, seeing each other for days. Everyone knew: America is a test of whether you are fit to be bet on (not only in basketball, but also in life). Gomelsky constantly took three or four young players there to check what he could count on and what to do with them next. So it was not easy, and the final release came only on the plane on the way home, although before that... Throughout the tour we saved up money - bonuses, daily allowances, and in New York we were given two days...

- ...to rob stores?

Let's call it that. We had verified points suggested by friends - Russian-speaking emigrants. Some people bought gifts for loved ones, but mostly they took radio equipment. At this stage, all disagreements ended, the next morning fraternization began, all grievances were forgiven, and everything became completely fine on the plane. At that time, flights were long, with two landings (not like the current direct flights Kyiv - New York). First they landed in Canadian Newfoundland, then in Irish Shannon, and only then in Moscow, from where they dispersed throughout the Union. Naturally, as has always been our custom, we relaxed a little - our plane, flight attendants, finally, family members, the Russian language... And often one could observe the following scene: Sabonis and Marciulionis sat down next to each other somewhere in the back, and began peacefully talk, and after some time everyone turned around and saw that they were in a clinch (laughs).

Moreover, at the airport, in the hall for transit passengers, they could go into the toilet and fight. Then they settled down again in the adjacent seats in the aircraft cabin as if nothing had happened. They were constantly telling each other something in Lithuanian, unraveling an unclear relationship that had been going on since childhood.

- Are these disputes still ongoing?

Well, now the guys are already adults and won’t show it in plain sight.

- Will they go to the toilet?

- (Laughs). No, they behave correctly - it’s still a level, but I think they still have so much childhood left in them!

- Sasha, in the opinion of a professional, is Sabonis really a great basketball player?

I think that he is the greatest of the greatest! To go through so many injuries, play in the NBA, then break a multimillion-dollar contract, play almost for free for your native Zalgiris and practically take it to the Final Four - it’s just a miracle! Yes, the Kaunas team lost the decisive game to Maccabi Tel Aviv to reach the Final Four, after which the Israelis, who had one chance in a thousand, became champions of the ULEB Euroleague. In the last half a minute of the game, Sabonis sat on the bench for five fouls and could no longer help the team, but 15-20 seconds before the end, Zalgiris won six points and, by rights, should have made it to the Final Four.

Sabonis, at 39 (almost 40) years old, was recognized as the best player in the Euroleague! Who else, after spending five million dollars a year, can return home to take care of the image of their team, raise its level, give it a chance for the future, and attract sponsors? Such examples of nobility are extremely rare, not to mention Arvydas’ talent and fanaticism. He is a patriot, of which there are few, you can argue with him on any topic, criticize Lithuania, Kaunas a little, but if you touch Zalgiris, that’s it, that’s the end, Sabonis doesn’t forgive that.

“My first game in the NBA, I was shocked: we were losing, and suddenly the coach and the best player started fighting...”

Sasha, the NBA was generally something unattainable for a Soviet person. You not only got there, but also proved yourself to be the best. What surprised you the most there?

Of course, I dreamed about the NBA, read everything I could get my hands on, knew details about every player - probably no one else had such information as I did. I studied the language - I bought a tutorial, found a teacher who gave English lessons (for five rubles per hour) ...

When I arrived in the USA, my first impression was admiration, but also a little... disappointment...

- What?

It cannot be said that sport is a complete injustice, it is fair, but there are also elements of injustice in it... I felt that my regalia, physical and psychological data were not enough for me to prove to these guys that I could immediately join the team and be with them on equal terms in the most serious moments.

- Isn’t an Olympic champion a regalia for them?

No, this is impressive, but still a white man from Europe, especially from the Soviet Union...

- ...among the black beauties...

I can't say that I was poorly received, but the realization that in the first game you are only out for a minute is shocking. In training you are the best, in the preliminary games you are praised, but when it comes down to it, that’s it, they don’t trust you. I went through this many years ago when I first got into the sport, and with the Atlanta Hawks I had to start from scratch again. It was hard to readjust...

- What was it - tactics or politics?

There, the coach has no time to think whether you understood what he wanted to tell you. For example, today you can address our players in any language - English, Russian, Ukrainian - but this does not mean that it has reached them... And then in the NBA there was such intensity of games... Can you imagine how difficult it was for an English-speaking coach to assess the situation ? And although I spoke English quite well, I myself was not entirely sure that I fully understood what they wanted from me (at first, of course). And the coach noticed that once a misunderstanding flashed in my eyes, and he didn’t explain it the second time.

There were other unpleasant situations. At the very first game I was shocked: we were losing, and suddenly Michael Fratello and Dominique Wilkins started... fighting... Imagine, the coach and the best player! They are separated, they curse at each other... Maybe, I think this is an accident, but a minute later Moses Malone, known for his extremely aggressive style of play in attack, grappled with Fratello. This is the situation...

- Funny...

At the same time, the older generation of guys - real stars - received me very well. For example, the same Moses, who had already finished playing at the club. By the way, he was one of the first who, at 19 years old, came to the NBA right after high school, bypassing college basketball. Nowadays no one wants to go to college, because studying there is very expensive, but then it was rare.

Many different stories were told about Moses Malone: ​​the guy was born in Pittsburgh, Virginia, in a poor family, grew up without a father, his mother locked the refrigerator so that he would not eat all the supplies... Moses spoke very bad English - such Negro language slang that almost nothing could be understood, but he was extremely sociable. For me, Malone was an idol, a star, it was inconvenient for me to avoid communicating with him - so funny things happened.

In America, the life of athletes is organized differently from ours. We are used to the fact that in a restaurant or canteen the team sets tables with the same dishes - we ate together and left together. But there it’s done differently: you were given a daily allowance, and do whatever you want with it.

I got up in the morning, went down to the hotel restaurant, and ordered breakfast. I see Moses coming. He sat down at my table and started talking to me. I so wanted to answer something, to understand what he was talking about, but... Such creepy, monstrously untranslatable slang mixed with English obscenities can sometimes be heard only in humorous American films...

The next day I go out to eat again, and Moses is there again. I looked around, no one else was visible. Then I ask the guys: “Why don’t you come down for breakfast?” They responded: “We order room service so as not to talk to Moses.” And I followed their example.

I just couldn’t save him from him - he rides on the bus and constantly talks about something. I ask Cliff Livingston, who played on our team: “Why is everyone laughing?” - “No one can understand Moses”...

And he played well! At the very beginning, when the guys were getting ready for individual training before training camp, Malone called me: “Let’s play you one-on-one.” He is, of course, a center, but I was in good shape, I was quicker and beat him. Moses looked at me with respect (they said they brought a normal guy), recognized me and then always defended me. And his wife helped mine a lot - in the first year of my contract, Alla was pregnant, our eldest daughter was born in America...

Then young people came to the team, to whom we, foreigners, especially from somewhere in the Soviet Union, seemed like foreign bodies. They didn’t notice us at all; they had their own culture. The older generation of dark-skinned guys are almost my family: I still keep in touch with all of them, and I say hello to the new ones when we meet, but no more.

I once asked Valery Filippovich Borzov: “How can we explain that black athletes show such brilliant results in sprinting and almost never let whites get ahead?” He answered very interestingly. I want to ask you the same question: “Why is American basketball mostly “black”? Why are black athletes better than white ones and are they better?

Better, and I think it's in their physiology. I’m not a scientist to argue such things, but blacks are really more flexible, jumpier than us, play sharper, and grasp everything on the fly. Basketball is part of their culture; since childhood, everyone dreams of a career in this sport. American schools often administer tests. Little black boys sit on the floor and are asked one by one what they would like to be. Doctors? Lawyers (lawyers)? Several hands go up. Basketball players? Everyone is raising their hand. On the one hand, as soon as they learn to walk, they are already carrying a ball. On the other hand, these guys are closer to nature, healthier, and physically stronger. The average black person has a more athletic figure, although it cannot be said that if you are African American, you are automatically a good basketball player. Of course, among them there are also bad athletes and just losers. At the same time, there are whites who will give odds to any dark-skinned people.

-You didn’t become a racist in America?

Quite the contrary. I grew up in a provincial city and when, coming to Kyiv, I saw black people on the trolleybus or subway, it seemed to me something extraordinary. As a child, a black man was as strange to me as, say, King Kong. Today, I, my wife and children who live in the USA, absolutely do not care what color the skin of passers-by, acquaintances and friends.

“After the anesthesia, I woke up all vomited. My arm was in some kind of heavy cast. I tried to lift it, but it wouldn’t rise. I wanted to get up, but I couldn’t...”

In America you experienced a terrible trauma. In Yuri Krikun’s biographical book about you, one of the chapters begins with the words: “Volkov came to his senses covered in vomit. He couldn’t move his arms, he was paralyzed...”. What happened to you, Sasha?

- (Pause)... Imagine, just a wrist injury that happened in the first year, which was supposed to be a shock year for me - a real springboard into the future ... I was counting on a long career in the NBA, but twice in a row I seriously injured my hands and finished the season with severe pain . When I underwent a medical examination, the doctors said that I had cracks in the bones of my wrists: I needed to put on a plaster cast or have surgery. I asked if everything could heal without any intervention. They said yes, if I didn’t overexert myself too much, but the cracks not only did not heal, but in the second year they peeled off - I could no longer lift a glass of water to my mouth or shake hands...

I decided to have surgery. I imagined it something like this: they cut something off, took it out, sewed it up, and you went home.

And now from Atlanta I have to fly to Dallas to operate on my first wrist. The wife asks: “Take the necessary things with you - clothes, books.” I say: “Why? Give me a newspaper, a cosmetic bag. I’ll be back in a couple of days and start training.”

I arrive at the clinic and feel that I am starting to worry, some incomprehensible anxiety is growing...

Early in the morning I was taken to the operating room, laid on the table...

I woke up after the anesthesia all, sorry, vomited. I don’t understand anything, my hand is in some kind of heavy cast. I tried to lift it, but it wouldn’t rise; I wanted to get up, but I couldn’t.

- Did you experience shock?

Of course, this is the first operation in my life. I couldn't even imagine what was happening...

-... such helplessness?

I just thought: how do people undergo operations on the heart, brain, liver?.. After all, they only cut my hands - look at how small the scar is. It would seem, what’s wrong? But they also pulled out a piece of cartilage from my hip to attach it to the non-union bone in my wrist and stimulate this process. (When they told me about this, I realized where the bruise on half my thigh came from). Oh, it was actually a nightmare! I couldn’t step on my foot or even stand up; I had terrible pain all over my body. I thought that I would have a slight local pain in my hand, but here it’s just agony...

A week after the operation, I tried to walk, but I couldn’t (running was out of the question). Then I had to learn to walk again...

Thank God, the second surgical intervention was easier.

- Was there despair?

Yes... (Frowns). The operations were behind me, I believed that in a few weeks I would still get up and be in normal shape, but two or three months pass, and the pain does not stop, my hands do not develop...

I remember at some point I said to myself: “I need to calculate how much I earned under the contract, and, probably, it’s time to think about how I will live further... without basketball.”

Fortunately, I met Lesha Ovchinnikov, an emigrant from Leningrad, a devotee of yoga, well acquainted with oriental medicine... Thanks to him!..

Did the American basketball system throw you out or did they tell you: “Sasha, don’t worry. We will fully pay for your treatment, everything will be fine”?

Nobody threw me out. After the operation, I remained a member of the team and was paid a salary. When I could already walk, I went everywhere with the guys, sat on the bench during games... No, everything was fine. They treated me very loyally, with understanding, no one forced my entry onto the site. Over the summer I recovered and played in America for another year after the injuries...

“Sometimes I wanted to use physical force towards someone in the Cabinet of Ministers”

Several years ago, Alexander Volkov became the Minister of Sports of Ukraine, which was perceived ambiguously: how could such an intelligent, bright, charming person become an official? As far as I know, this position brought you nothing but disappointment and heartache...

Dima, I will stand up for the officials - there are many smart and bright people among them.

- I have no doubt...

But this really came as a surprise to me...

- Who proposed to take a high position?

I had heard rumors for a long time, but Leonid Danilovich directly suggested it. I was probably raised in such a way that I couldn’t answer “no” or “I’m afraid.” Of course, I was afraid of this appointment, I didn’t understand what I would do there, but to refuse, and then scold myself for the rest of my life for the missed chance?..

I won’t lie, it was hard, there were moments when I was humiliated (at least, so it seemed to me), when I felt out of place. Yes, something worked out, but let’s just say I wasn’t happy...

And what is it like for a creative, basketball-loving person who recently played to suddenly sit in a boring ministerial chair? We have to make decisions, sign mountains of papers...

It's difficult, of course. I am grateful to the assistants and in general to everyone who did not set me up, although this could have been done simply.

A lot of people helped, but there were also those who took advantage of my weakness... This is about the same situation as if I invited someone from the ministry to play basketball and mocked him: they say, you can’t be on the court just like me...

When a new player joins the basketball team, the veterans give him some resistance, test him for lice, for strength. Was there something similar when newcomer Alexander Volkov got into the Cabinet of Ministers?

Well, of course, of course...

- And how did you check?

Some bosses spoke very specific texts!

- Which?

You know, I can’t even quote them to Bulvar... (Smiles). At first I was a little dumbfounded: having lived in the West for 10 years, I got used to different relationships. “What’s going on?” I think. “Where are human rights?” (laughs). And they explained to me: Sasha, this is how it is done, here this is the normal style of communication with subordinates...

- Did you have any desire to answer in equally strong terms?

It arose, of course, not only verbally - sometimes I wanted to use physical force...

Yes! Thank God I restrained myself. In response, he simply retorted and put forward counter-arguments. If he felt he was right, he tried to defend it.

So there were both good and bad moments, but time passed, and I gained a lot of experience, met many interesting people, saw life from an unusual side...

- ...from behind the scenes...

And of course, I am grateful to Leonid Danilovich for calling me there. I don't regret for a second that I made this decision.

Recently I learned one fact that simply shocked me. Roman Grigorievich Viktyuk told me an amazing story. “You know,” he said, “there is a very talented guy who is going to become a director, but he has absolutely no money. I asked everyone: “Establish a scholarship for a man so that he can study - a real star will grow out of him.” This is the future of Ukraine!" Nobody did anything... By chance we met Sasha Volkov, I asked him and... a few days later the money was transferred."

Sasha, that’s a lot of money! What kind of emotional impulse is this? I want people to know about your action - it’s unfashionable in our country to do something nice for others, to give joy, to pay for studies...

Dima, it turned out very simple. Roman Grigorievich and I talked (by the way, on the set of your video), he said that he would like to help a former basketball player who dreams of becoming a director. The guy, they say, is from a very poor, large family... I said: okay, let the future star come see me, I’ll talk to him and, if I can, help.

After some time, a guy came - really, tall, strapping... I remembered him - he played in Rovno and Kiev CSKA, but his sporting fate did not work out... And I have a fund created to help basketball players - current and former. In general, I gave the order to transfer money - I hope Viktyuk’s “godson” will turn out to be a good director.

- Can you call yourself an accomplished person, an established personality, or is everything still ahead?

I concluded a long time ago: as soon as you decide that you have already achieved everything and are completely accomplished, that’s the end. At a certain moment, it seemed to me that I had achieved something in basketball - and my career went downhill sharply, failures and injuries began. I just stopped setting goals for myself, I became uninterested in listening to anyone, it seemed that I knew everything myself. This feeling of omniscience, the feeling that you have reached heights and can now automatically move up, leads to the fact that you really stop, or rather, roll down...

Now I think that I am at the origins, at the beginning, and am just trying to find my way. It seems to me that I found it correctly, but I’m not always sure about it. Therefore, I am interested in living, reading, communicating with bright people who will help me realize something new.

I was recently invited to a meeting with George H. W. Bush, former President of the United States. Thank God, knowledge of English allowed me to listen to him without an interpreter. You know, I didn’t even expect to get such pleasure. The man is in excellent shape (he celebrated his 80th birthday by parachuting twice from a height of 4000 meters!), everything is fine with him. He said: “If you are 80, this does not mean that you are no longer in the game. Don’t stop there, don’t sit on the couch, don’t stay in the hospital - work!” Bush advised doing noble deeds - helping children in need. This, according to him, gives a charge of youth and an incentive to live brightly...

Or the same Gomelsky - who can call him an old man? And such a thought will not arise. He has a young wife and small children. I am “retiring”, and he is seething, he has plans for 10, or even 20 years ahead. The most important thing is that Alexander Yakovlevich is not afraid to learn and change. I have been watching him for a long time and remember that at 50 he was one thing, at 55 he was another, at 60 he continued to transform, improve and is now developing further.

He was a brilliant coach, and now he has become the president of CSKA. Everyone said: “Well, Gomelsky won’t let anyone in there, he’ll run everything himself.”

- Did you let me in?

He didn’t just let him in - he made his “enemy” Dusan Ivkovic, with whom he had been fighting and arguing for decades, as the head coach, and appointed as general manager a competitor with whom he had generally fought, Sergei Kushchenko from Perm, the former president of Ural Great. Gomelsky took them to his place, realizing that these were the best people. Kushchenko entrusted the promotion of the team, and Ivkovic - everything that concerns basketball itself. I think that if a person in his eighties is able to make such decisions, it means that he thinks, analyzes, and strives to change himself.

That is why to say to yourself: they say, I have already developed as a person is a big mistake.

"Outstanding NBA players earn 20-30 million dollars a year. Michael Jordan - 60 million"

I’m not asking if you’re a wealthy person - I think this question is tactless and indecent - but is it true that there’s a lot of money in the NBA?

Huge! In my opinion, the contracts there are too big.

- Is basketball really profitable?
- Yes, everything pays off. Three or four years ago there was a slight stagnation in the NBA, but now it is on the rise again. Television pays the association crazy amounts of money, and the most interesting thing is that this happens not through the efforts of advertising managers, but through the players themselves... Do you know who significantly increased the NBA budget over the past year?

- No...

One man. You'll never guess...

- Who?

Chinese Yao Ming.

- How did he manage to do this?

Thanks to advertising television rights to his country, all of China is rooting for him and watching games with his participation. Can you imagine what kind of advertising market a state with a population of almost one and a half billion has?! Sometimes you watch Houston Rockets games in America, and there are Chinese characters on the billboards along the perimeter of the court...

- How much can American basketball superstars actually earn per year today?

Outstanding players - 20-30 million dollars each, Michael Jordan - 60 million (a monument to him was erected in front of the Chicago Sports Palace "United Center" during his lifetime)...

And what, as a rule, do they use these incredible amounts of money for? Are there any successful businessmen among basketball players?

But of course, I also know those who, even having such crazy money, will never spend an extra penny. Many athletes live modestly, as they are accustomed to - they have opened accounts in reputable banks, receive high interest rates, but do not allow themselves unnecessary luxury. There are also such specimens (forgive me if I express myself a little incorrectly) to whom no matter how much you pay, they will still pay down to the last cent. I think such different attitudes towards money are typical not only of highly paid basketball stars, but also of people in general.

- What do spendthrifts spend on - on casinos, on women?

They have 10 cars, two or three houses, apartments in different countries of the world. Much is given to relatives - this is the custom. Black people hold family values ​​in high esteem, and there are usually a lot of relatives and friends of relatives. The whole clan needs to live, so they help each other when someone escapes poverty.

By the way, it’s not for nothing that basketball players in the States used to have to spend four or five years in college after school and before their professional career. During this time, they developed as individuals, as athletes, and managed to understand: is it worth making basketball their profession or is it just a hobby.

Imagine, Dima, that they signed a contract with you, a high school graduate, for, say, three million dollars. Wouldn't you go crazy with that kind of money? Personally, I simply wouldn’t know what to do with them, and I’d probably do a lot of stupid things... I remember, having received my first salary - 140 rubles, I couldn’t decide what to spend it on. I can imagine what would happen to me if we were talking about a multi-million dollar contract...

- Now our basketball players also receive considerable contracts - are they going crazy or?..

This is a different story. Our players are... (looks for a word).

- I think I hit a nerve with you...

Products (please forgive me for calling them that) of the transition period between that and this system - they fell into a rift, everything got mixed up... The worst thing is that some of them were too focused on money. They don’t understand that you need to grow creatively, search, and the money will come by itself, they will bring it to you! No, guys measure everything in dollars, euros, hryvnias - how much per month, what bonuses, bonuses, additional benefits... Some openly declare: they say, I got mine, everything is fine, don’t touch me, I’m fine as is, no more , no less is needed...

- Thank you, is that enough?..

And this is a tragedy, because the athlete has no desire, no incentive to move forward. There were times in our clubs when we owed players several months' wages, and if they played poorly, we could not make a claim against them because we felt like debtors. And they came out onto the site as if they were doing you a favor. Once in the locker room I told them: “Guys, you will remember these times when you will have money, but you will receive your salary on time, but you will lose the habit of playing at full strength and will no longer realize yourself 100 percent. Separate the concepts of “money” and “professionalism”: either leave big sport altogether, or give your all.”

And so it happened: today salaries and bonuses are paid on time, but they can no longer give their all in the game...

Sasha, are there any bright names now - at the level of the stars of past years - or has the transition period leveled off their skills?

The bar for the average level has even risen, but I want to say: “Yes, the basketball player Name-Rek is a star,” but I can’t. We have several players in Ukraine who could be considered potential stars (I really hope so). And in Europe there are guys who also want to be given star status, but for now, alas...

- Your tongue won't turn?

Yes. Two Ukrainians play in the NBA - Stanislav Medvedenko and Vitaly Potapenko, but Slava is not the first in the Los Angeles Lakers, and Vitalik is in the Seattle SuperSonics. But they don’t play for the national team, so that at least here they can be called real luminaries of basketball... Therefore, I prefer to say that today we simply have very talented athletes.

You said that you didn’t feel happy in the chair of the sports minister. Well, now do you feel like a fully realized, calm, confident person?

Certainly. I’m not chasing something unrealistic, I just know that I’m in the right place, and I understand what to do next, I see the prospect. I try to make this path visible to those around me...

Of course, there are enough difficulties, there are depressions, failures, resentments, misunderstandings (and mutual - I don’t understand, they don’t understand me), but, thank God, here in Ukraine we no longer have to run around with our tongue hanging out looking for funds to realize our plans, But there is an opportunity to implement them...