Just kept typing this question into my browser like a hundred times, you know? “Was anybody from Ukraine went to the NBA.” Realized the grammar was probably wonky, so switched it up, tried “Ukrainian players in NBA history,” “NBA players from Ukraine.” Had to dig, man. It wasn’t popping up easy.
The Starting Point – Google Wrestling
Started simple. Opened up [some search site], typed in my messy question. First results were mostly useless – forum chatter about LeBron or some Ukraine basketball league news. Annoying. Refined the search, added terms like “list” or “history.” Finally hit on a [well-known sports site] page listing international players. Scrolled down… down… past Germany, France, Russia… kept scrolling. Felt like forever.
Boom, hit something! Saw a name: Svi Mykhailiuk. Bio said Born: Cherkasy, Ukraine. Played for the Lakers, Pistons, Thunder… buncha teams! Okay, first confirmed one!
Going Deeper – The Rabbit Hole
Got curious. Were there more? Went back to that international list, scrolled super carefully. Another name popped out: Alex Len. Heard of him, sure, big guy. Bio said born in Antratsyt, Ukraine! Played for years, still active I think. Two down! Started feeling pumped.
Tried digging even further. Checked basketball-reference sites manually. Searched players born in Ukraine, filtered NBA experience. Came up with these two dudes mainly. Saw Triston Bluiett mentioned somewhere? But nah, born in the US, just played in Ukraine during lockout or something. Didn’t count. Found some old forums talking about Kyrylo Fesenko – another Ukrainian center, played for the Jazz! Older guy, didn’t last long, but hey, that’s three!
Hitting a Wall – Trying to Find More
Went down a detour reading about that Ukrainian league. Strong? Weak? Saw stuff about the national team. Maybe some guys got drafted but never played? Nada. Mykhailiuk, Len, Fesenko seemed like the main ones. Kept googling variations: “Has any Ukrainian been drafted into the NBA?” Found Mykhailiuk drafted by the Pistons, Len drafted by the Suns. Reinforced the list.
Wrapping It Up – Why So Few?
So, concluded: Yes, guys from Ukraine have played in the NBA. At least three for sure that I could solidly pin down: Svi Mykhailiuk, Alex Len, Kyrylo Fesenko. Mykhailiuk and Len are the more recent, recognizable ones.
Got thinking why more haven’t made it. Big names don’t come to mind like other European countries. Factors? Maybe the basketball culture focus is elsewhere? Development paths different? Plus, recent events… gotta make things way harder. Infrastructure and resources strained, young athletes facing huge challenges.
Main takeaway: The answer is definitely YES, but the list is pretty short, especially compared to giants like Serbia or Croatia. Finding solid info on it took more digging than I thought it would. Learned some names though!
