Andrei Kirilenko

Andrei Kirilenko

Andrei Gennadyevich Kirilenko (Russian: Андрей Геннадьевич Кириленко; born February 18, 1981) is a Russian professional basketball player who currently plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). At age fifteen, Kirilenko began playing professional basketball in his native Russia with the Russian Basketball Super League. He spent another three years with CSKA Moscow, winning the Russian league MVP award in 2000.

In 2001, Kirilenko joined the Utah Jazz, who drafted him in 1999. He became the first Russian player selected in the first round of a draft and the youngest European player drafted. He made the NBA All-Rookie Team after his first season, was an NBA All-Defensive Team pick three times and played in the 2004 All-Star Game. In 2012, he led CSKA Moscow to the Euroleague Final, being named the competition's MVP, while earning an All-Euroleague First Team selection. He also won the Euroleague Defensive Player of the Year award the same year.

Since the 2000 Summer Olympics, Kirilenko has been a regular member of the Russian national team. With Russia, he won the EuroBasket title in 2007, earning MVP honors in the process. In 2011, he won his second EuroBasket medal, this time the bronze. He was selected to the All-Tournament Team on both occasions.

Kirilenko is nicknamed AK47, because his initials are AK, and he has often worn the jersey number 47. Moreover, Andrei was born in the city of Izhevsk, in the former Soviet Union (Russia), where the weapon is manufactured. In 2011, he became an American citizen.