2023 Class of FIBA Hall of Fame: Zurab Alexandrovich Sakandelidze

MIES (Switzerland) - The legendary Dinamo Tbilisi point guard is being inducted to the FIBA Hall of Fame in recognition of his outstanding career and achievements.

The life and times of Zurab Alexandrovich Sakandelidze would be a great title for a biography of the point guard would have to be required reading for every Georgian player because the legendary Dinamo Tbilisi point guard achieved it.

Born on August 9, 1945, Sakandelidze didn't play when there were three-pointers or shot clocks. In his time, players that oozed with talent suited up for the Soviet Union. Now, Georgia is an independent country and has its own national team, and a very good one at that.

It has played at FIBA EuroBaskets for more than a decade and will, for the first time, compete at the FIBA Basketball World Cup when the event is held in Manila, Okinawa and Jakarta, this year.

Sakandelidze knew something about World Cups. He won it in 1967, when 13 teams took part. That event was in Montevideo, Uruguay. Today, 32 teams play at the World Cup.

He was also in the Soviet side that clinched third place at the World Cup in Ljubljana, three years later.

EuroBaskets were stages that Sakandelidze shone on, too. He was named the best guard at the 1967 event, one of four that he won with the Soviet team. He also played on the EuroBasket title winning Soviet teams in 1965, 69 and 71, when the they also won, and in 1973 when they were third. Sixteen teams participated in the EuroBasket in 1965 and '67, 12 in '69 and '71.

Since Georgia has played at their first EuroBasket in 2011, the EuroBasket has had 24 teams.

The most famous game Sakandelidze was a part of was the 1972 Olympic Final, against the United States.

The Soviet team had claimed claimed a bronze medal four years before in Mexico City and Sakandelidze was a part of that team, but in 1972, the Soviet Union claimed a 51-50 victory. Sakandelidze had eight points in that triumph.

It was a game that went right down to the end, one the USA believed they had won and refused to accept the silver medals. It is officially recorded as a Soviet win, one achieved by a last second shot from Alexander Belov.

Sakandelidze had claimed a bronze medal four years before in Mexico City but the gold is what he what he would have treasured most. He scored eight points in that game.

Sakandelidze passed away in 2004, at just 58 years of age.

His stature was so great that people still speak of him today.

Ivan Edeshko, who was also in the 1972 Olympic gold medal winning team and was the player who made the long pass to Belov for the game-winner, was asked about Sakandelidze going into the FIBA Hall of Fame.

He told athletistic.com: "I think he deserves it. He did so much for his country, for the Soviet Union! It's good. It's a worthy assessment of his skills and what he did. And not just for Soviet basketball, but also for Georgian."

He is being enshrined, posthumously, in the Class of 2023 that includes Penny Taylor (Australia), Yuko Oga (Japan), Katrina McClain (USA), Amaya Valdemoro (Spain), Wlamir Marques (Brazil), Yao Ming (China), Liem Tjien Siong / Sonny Hendrawan (Indonesia), Angelo Monteiro dos Santos Victoriano (Angola), and Carlos Loyzaga (Philippines). The Class also includes deserved recognition for coaching duo Valerie Garnier (France) and Alessandro Gamba (Italy).

The 2023 FIBA Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place  after the conclusion of the FIBA Congress on August 23, 2023, in Manila, Philippines, ahead of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.

Name	Zurab Alexandrovich SAKANDELIDZE
Category of Inductee	Player (Point Guard)
Date of birth	August 9th 1945 - January 25th 2004
Place of birth	Kutaisi, Georgia
Nationality	Georgian
Height	1.87m - 6ft 1in
Clubs	BC Dinamo Tbilisi (1963-1974) [/unordered]
Club highlights	USSR League champion (1968) USSR Cup winner (1969) [/unordered]
National Team highlights	Two-time University Games silver medallist (1965, 1973) Four-time EuroBasket gold medallist (1965, 1967, 1969, 1971) EuroBasket bronze medallist (1973) World Cup gold medallist (1967) World Cup bronze medallist (1970) Olympic Games bronze medallist (1968) Olympic Games gold medallist (1972) [/unordered]
Individual highlights	Played in five EuroBasket competitions (1965, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1973) Played in two World Championships (1967, 1970) Played in two Olympic Games (1968, 1972) Named best Guard at European Championships (1967) Order of the Badge of Honor of Sports (USSR) Order of Vakhtang Gorgasal II degree and Honor (Georgia) Included third in the list of 25 best basketball players of the USSR after S. Belov and A. Travin (1965) [/unordered]

 

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