Alexander Gomelsky

Alexander Yakovlevich Gomelsky (Александр Яковлевич Гомельский; 18 January 1928 – 16 August 2005) was a Russian professional basketball player and coach. The Father of Soviet and Russian basketball, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995 and the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007.

Alexander Gomelsky was awarded the Olympic Order by the International Olympic Committee in 1998. In 2008, he was named one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors.

Playing career
Gomelsky played club basketball in the Soviet Union. He played with SKIF Leningrad, from 1945 to 1948. He finished his playing career with SKA, where he played from 1949 to 1953.

Club coaching career
Gomelsky began his coaching career in 1949, in Leningrad, with the women's team of LGS Spartak. In 1953, he became the coach of Rīgas ASK, leading the team to three Soviet Union League titles (1955, 1957, 1958), and three consecutive European Champions Cups (EuroLeague), from 1958 to 1960.

In 1970, he was appointed the head coach of CSKA Moscow, leading the club to 8 Soviet Union national league championships (1971–1974, 1976–1979), 2 Soviet Union Cups (1972, 1973), and one European Champions Cup (EuroLeague) title in 1971. He also led the club to two more European Champions Cup (EuroLeague) finals, in 1970, and 1973.

He also coached in Spain and France shortly before the dissolution of the USSR.

National team coaching career
Gomelsky was the long-time head coach of the senior Soviet Union national team, leading them to 6 EuroBasket titles (1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1979, and 1981), 2 FIBA World Cup titles (1967, and 1982), and the Summer Olympic Games gold medal in 1988.

He was originally the Soviet national team head coach in 1972, and was expected to coach the team at the 1972 Summer Olympic games, but the KGB confiscated his passport, fearing that, since Gomelsky was Jewish, he would defect to Israel. The Soviet team, with Vladimir Kondrashin as their coach, won their first Olympic gold medal that year, after a controversial game against the United States.

Individual awards
For merits in the development of sports and basketball was awarded:


 * Honored Coach of the USSR: 1956
 * Master of Sports of the USSR International Class: 1965
 * 4× Soviet Union Coach of the Year: 1967, 1977, 1982, 1988
 * Honored Coach of the Lithuanian SSR: 1982
 * Order of the Red Banner of Labour: 1982
 * Order of the Red Star
 * Order of Friendship of Peoples
 * 2 Orders of the Badge of Honour
 * Honored Worker of Physical Culture of Russia: 1993
 * Silver Olympic Order: 1998
 * FIBA EuroStar: 1998
 * Order of Merit (Ukraine): 2003

Club competitions

 * EuroLeague: 4 (Rīgas ASK: 1958, 1959, 1960 & CSKA Moscow: 1971)
 * Soviet League: 12 (Rīgas ASK: 1955, 1957, 1958, Latvian SSR Team 1956 & CSKA Moscow: 1971–1974, 1976–1979)
 * Soviet Cup: 2 (CSKA Moscow: 1972, 1973)

National team competitions

 * 1963 FIBA World Championship:
 * EuroBasket 1963:
 * 1964 Summer Olympics:
 * EuroBasket 1965:
 * 1967 FIBA World Championship:
 * EuroBasket 1967:
 * 1968 Summer Olympics:
 * EuroBasket 1969:
 * 1970 FIBA World Championship:
 * EuroBasket 1977:
 * 1978 FIBA World Championship:
 * EuroBasket 1979:
 * 1980 Summer Olympics:
 * EuroBasket 1981:
 * 1982 FIBA World Championship:
 * EuroBasket 1983:
 * EuroBasket 1987:
 * 1988 Summer Olympics:

Post coaching career
In his later years, Gomelsky was the president of the Russian Basketball Federation and CSKA Moscow. In 1995, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2007, he was enshrined into the FIBA Hall of Fame. In 2008, he was named one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors.

The EuroLeague's annual Alexander Gomelsky EuroLeague Coach of the Year award is named after him, and so is Alexander Gomelsky Universal Sports Hall CSKA.

Every year the Gomelsky Cup is organized by CSKA in honor of its legendary coach.

Personal life
The Gomelsky family has been a driving force behind development of the Soviet/Russian basketball. Gomelsky's younger brother, Evgeny, is also a well-known basketball coach, and his son, Vladimir, also worked as a basketball player and coach. His son Gomelsky [Alexandre] ran a sports association school in his father name, leading to several female Olympic basketball players. He was survived by his four sons and four grandchildren. His wife Tatiana, also a basketball player and coach, died from cancer.