Vitaly Potapenko, Ukrainian basketball player and coach
Vitaly Nikolaevich Potapenko (Ukrainian: Віталій Миколайович Потапенко, pronounced vee-TAH-lee poe-TAH-pen-koe, born March 21, 1975) is a Ukrainian former professional basketball player who is currently an assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball at Wright State University and was selected 12th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1996 NBA draft, also the last pick before Kobe Bryant, believed by many as the best player from the 1996 draft. Nicknamed "The Ukraine Train", he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Boston Celtics, the Seattle SuperSonics, and the Sacramento Kings of the NBA, as well as MMT Estudiantes in the Spanish ACB.Since retiring as a player, Potapenko has been serving as an assistant coach for several teams, among them the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Indiana Pacers, the Dakota Wizards, and the Santa Cruz Warriors and later as an assistant director of player development for the Cleveland Cavaliers, helping them win their first ever NBA championship.
1975Mar, 21
Vitaly Potapenko
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Events on 1975
- 26Jun
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
Two FBI agents and a member of the American Indian Movement are killed in a shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota; Leonard Peltier is later convicted of the murders in a controversial trial. - 15Aug
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is killed along with most members of his family during a military coup. - 15Aug
Yasukuni Shrine
Takeo Miki makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II. - 27Aug
Dili
The Governor of Portuguese Timor abandons its capital, Dili, and flees to Atauro Island, leaving control to a rebel group. - 1Oct
Ellice Islands
The Seychelles gain internal self-government. The Ellice Islands split from Gilbert Islands and take the name Tuvalu.