How GOOD Was Andrei Kirilenko Actually?

a k47, in addition to having possibly the best nickname of all time, Andrei Kirilenko was one of the most underrated players of all time in the 2000s with the Utah Jazz. Kirilenko was known for being an incredibly versatile player who could guard almost anyone, from point guard to power play. forward even some crosses too with his wingspan from seven foot four to just six foot nine on the perimeter, he had the quickness and his lateral movement rivaled that of any great defensive guard combined with his long arms, agile but strong, Kirilenko was the ideal defender of his era and in any era of the original version of Draymond Green, but offensively Kirilenko was much better.

How are you doing friends? My name is Andy and in this video we are going to take a look at Andrei Kirilenko's career, how

good

was he really? He never became a legitimate superstar, what stopped him and why he suffered a major fall in the middle of his prime. Those questions will be answered in this video anyway, without further ado, let's start from a very young age. Kirilenko was interested in basketball. He played in the professional Russian league at the age of 15 and throughout his career always represented the Russian national team leading up to the 1999 NBA Draft.

Kirilenko was largely unknown to the masses of NBA scouts who had discovered his potential. , it was too

good

to pass up. and with the 24th pick in the draft, the Utah Jazz selected him, but it would still be quite some time before he came to the United States until 2001. Kirilenko continued to play for CSKA Moscow and impressed many fans at the 2000 Olympics. and in FIBA. However, at the beginning of the two 2001 seasons, the Ak-47 came into its own and arrived ready to join Utah; In this period it was a difficult task. Karl Malone and John Stockton were at the end of their careers and the motivation to chase the title was quickly rising, but with the arrival of Kirilenko it gave the franchise new hope.

As a rookie he put up modest numbers with averages of almost 11 points and five rebounds, but his main contributions weren't just that Kirilenko did a little of everything from the wing. Hustle plays until he breaks the offensive glass and defends all types of players, which also showed in his scoring numbers, as he averaged 1.4 steals and 1.9 blocks per game in just 26 minutes a night in his third season with John Stockton retiring and Karl Malone. Kirilenko, 22, went to Los Angeles and became the franchise's new player. This was his true breakout year and he showed that he could certainly take the reins to lead the franchise by making the first and only All-Star Game appearance of his NBA career.

He averaged a run. -high in points and rebounds, he led his team in both categories while developing a three-point shot, an aspect that was previously a major weakness. He recorded almost two steals and almost three blocks per game and showed off his new style before he ever had the chance. To showcase his passing skills, he was often the guy in charge. Kirilenko wowed the crowd with his unique playing style, especially during an era when people associated superstars with people who scored a lot of points. . Kirilenko wasn't your typical star, but yes. effective anyway even though everyone believed the Jazz were dead in the water Kirilenko led them to a respectable record of 42 and 40 that barely missed the playoffs by one game in his oh three 204 campaign, plus a few years Afterwards, they may not look super impressive on paper, but digging deeper, it turns out he was in an elite category of players.

He would join Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson and Julius Erving as the only players to finish the season with at least 200 blocks and 150 steals. He had a box plus/minus of plus 7.9. In the oh three 204 season, third best in the league, behind only Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan, he led his entire team in 12 different statistical categories and finished with the second all-defensive team; Unfortunately, his development stunted the following year. Kirilenko suffered numerous injuries culminating in a major wrist injury in a March 2005 report stating that Kirilenko suffered clean breaks of both the radius and ulna. He also suffered what Mason called a mild sprain to his right wrist.

It's frustrating, Kirilenko said, his left arm in a sling and his wrist in a splint, all I can do is try to recover as much as possible and heal it well, be ready to play next season. He was having a fantastic season, even leading the entire league in blocks per game, but he missed half the season due to injury issues, fortunately. He recovered well and over the next few years kept the same pace and continued to put up big numbers along the way, the Jazz quickly transformed into a playoff team once again with new additions like Kurd Moment Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams, as a result, Kirilenko's role changed.

He was no longer the main focal point of the team, but instead maximized his role as a supporting player, a very good one, although he never cared about the spotlight or fame, only about winning and that, as it happened, the Jazz would win more than 50 games. many consecutive seasons and many consecutive playoff runs and despite the team's success, there was a problem in Kirilenko's career x in the 2006 season to seven, his numbers plummeted across the board, he certainly had trouble dealing with No longer being the focal point was a tough transition that led to many arguments with his coaching staff, he was often benched at the end of games, all amidst rampant trade rumors, and he was apparently addicted to playing World of Warcraft on a travel podcast with RJ Channing and Tim Duncan. they jokingly talked about Kirilenko staying up until 3 a.m. m. before game days just playing.

Wow, apparently Kirilenko had multiple max level characters and was very involved in the game, so that's fine, but we're serious, how serious was Andrei Kirilenko? four or five players at most that he just likes and yeah, he was crazy. He was going to get a DMP and we were playing in Utah, it was 3:00 in the morning and all of a sudden it's like you see his character running, it's like Jenny, what is it? up like, don't you play murica? Yes, coincidentally around the time Wow came out, his play on the court started to decline and he became less motivated or maybe it wasn't a coincidence anyway, it ended and it wasn't spectacular.

Oh six, he's owed seven seasons. After being eliminated by Baron Davis, Kirilenko had a good run in the playoffs, although when the Jazz reached the Conference Finals losing in five games to San Antonio in 2008, he recovered somewhat, but for the most part he had no more ambitions to become. A superstar at this point, he was just a simple role player, a good role player, but easily replaceable. The hype around him quickly died down to nothing more than an afterthought and there was a slightly controversial moment in the 2013 offseason when Kirilenko opted out. After his last year with Minnesota, where he was going to make ten million dollars, he instead resorted to signing with Brooklyn for a measly two-year, six million dollar contract, many people believed that there was some kind of conspiracy behind this specifically because the owner of the Nets was Mikhail Prokhorov, a Russian national who many believed was paying Kirilenko under the table because turning down ten million dollars for six million in two years seemed very suspicious, but after numerous complaints and investigations , the signing was authorized much to the dismay of other playoff teams who really wanted him, so how good was a K47?

Actually very, very good in his prime, top 15-20 players in the league, one-time All-Star, three-time All-Defender, 2007 EuroBasket gold medalist, Olympic bronze medalist 2012. He also impressed fans nationally on defense. I would say he was one of the top three defenders in certain years. It's hard to compare his defense to someone like Duncan or Ben Wallace because they have different styles and Kirilenko was more versatile on the perimeter for some years he finished in the top five in Defensive Player of the Year voting, voting for a ridiculously underrated skill set, especially for its time. Nowadays, every team would love to have someone like Kirilenko, a strong, fast and versatile defender, as well as a jack of all trades.

Offensive player, there was nothing this guy couldn't do if he had the opportunity, if he had the motivation to keep going, he could have had his own team, but in Utah there was so much talent from top to bottom, it's reasonable that he made a decision. Over time his injuries hurt him, he developed other interests and his ambition quickly faded, maybe he never reached his full potential but at his peak he was definitely a top player anyway, that's it guys let me know what they think about Andrei Kirilenko. You think even today there aren't enough people talking about him defensively, he was an absolute stud, but it seems like he's largely forgotten.

Let me know what you think in the comments. Thank you all very much for watching it. I hope you enjoyed the video and, as always, I. See you next time peace