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Vitaly Potapenko

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Ukrainian basketball player

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Mykolayovych and the family name is Potapenko.
Vitalii Potapenko
Vitaly Potapenko in 2016.
Detroit Pistons
PositionAssistant coach
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1975-03-21) March 21, 1975 (age 49)
Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
NationalityUkrainian
Listed height6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight280 lb (127 kg)
Career information
CollegeWright State (1994–1996)
NBA draft1996: 1st round, 12th overall pick
Selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers
Playing career1992–2008
PositionCenter
Number52, 9, 20
Coaching career2009–present
Career history
As player:
1992–1994Budivelnyk
1996–1999Cleveland Cavaliers
1999–2002Boston Celtics
2002–2006Seattle SuperSonics
2006–2007Sacramento Kings
2007–2008Estudiantes
As coach:
2009–2010Fort Wayne Mad Ants (assistant)
2010–2011Indiana Pacers (assistant)
2011–2012Dakota Wizards (assistant)
2012–2013Santa Cruz Warriors (assistant)
2013–2017Cleveland Cavaliers (assistant)
2018–2024Memphis Grizzlies (assistant)
2024–presentDetroit Pistons (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
As player:
  • 2× Ukrainian champion (1993, 1994)
  • 2× First-team All-MCC (1995, 1996)

As assistant coach:

Career NBA statistics
Points3,995 (6.5 ppg)
Rebounds2,725 (4.5 rpg)
Assists418 (0.7 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Vitalii Mykolayovych Potapenko (/poʊˈtɑːpɛŋkoʊ/ poh-TAH-peng-koh, Ukrainian: Віталій Миколайович Потапенко; born March 21, 1975) is a Ukrainian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball at Wright State University and was selected 12th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1996 NBA draft, also the last pick before Kobe Bryant. Nicknamed "The Ukraine Train", he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Boston Celtics, the Seattle SuperSonics, and the Sacramento Kings of the NBA, as well as MMT Estudiantes in the Spanish ACB.

Since retiring as a player, Potapenko has been serving as an assistant coach for several teams, among them the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Indiana Pacers, the Dakota Wizards, and the Santa Cruz Warriors and later as an assistant director of player development for the Cleveland Cavaliers, helping them win their first ever NBA championship.

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1996–97 Cleveland 80 3 15.5 .440 .500 .736 2.7 .5 .3 .4 5.8
1997–98 Cleveland 80 0 17.7 .480 .000 .708 3.9 .7 .3 .4 7.1
1998–99 Cleveland 17 12 27.5 .437 .000 .673 5.5 .9 .6 .9 8.4
1998–99 Boston 33 32 28.1 .521 – .547 7.2 1.8 .7 .6 10.8
1999–00 Boston 79 72 22.7 .499 .000 .681 6.3 1.0 .5 .4 9.2
2000–01 Boston 82 7 23.2 .476 – .728 6.0 .8 .6 .3 7.5
2001–02 Boston 79 9 17.0 .455 – .742 4.4 .4 .5 .2 4.6
2002–03 Seattle 26 2 15.4 .441 – .759 3.4 .2 .3 .3 4.6
2003–04 Seattle 65 39 21.8 .489 – .641 4.4 .8 .3 .4 7.1
2004–05 Seattle 33 1 10.2 .517 – .871 2.4 .3 .2 .1 3.5
2005–06 Seattle 24 12 13.4 .500 – .588 2.6 .3 .1 .1 3.1
2005–06 Sacramento 9 0 3.5 .714 – – .2 .2 .0 .0 1.1
2006–07 Sacramento 3 0 4.3 .000 – – .7 .0 .0 .0 .0
Career 610 189 19.0 .479 .167 .694 4.5 .7 .4 .3 6.5

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1998 Cleveland 4 0 17.5 .400 – .500 2.8 .8 .5 .0 4.3
2005 Seattle 5 0 7.4 .500 – – 1.4 .0 .0 .0 2.0
2006 Sacramento 4 0 2.4 .500 – – .3 .0 .3 .0 1.0
Career 13 0 9.0 .448 – .500 1.5 .2 .2 .0 2.4

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Vitaly Potapenko Bio". NBA. Archived from the original on April 5, 2008.
  2. "2023-24 start of season NBA pronunciation guide" (Press release). National Basketball Association. October 24, 2023. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
  3. MMT Estudiantes former players
  4. "What the Hell Happened to...Vitaly Potapenko?".
  5. Dakota Wizards Hire Potapenko As Assistant Coach
  6. "Vitaly Potapenko returning to Cleveland Cavaliers as player-development coach". June 4, 2013.

External links

Detroit Pistons roster
Cleveland Cavaliers 2015–16 NBA champions
1996 NBA draft
First round
Second round
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