Long before NBA teams commonly started drafting foreign-born players, the New Orleans Jazz used their 10th round pick in 1975 on the Soviet Union's Alexander Belov.
With the Cold War raging, the Jazz surprisingly drafted Belov, whose basket gave the Soviets a controversial win over the U.S. in the gold medal game at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Belov never played in the NBA, of course.
After the draft, the Soviet Basketball Federation sent a telegram to the Jazz , informing them that Belov had "rejected" their offer to play for the team.
Three years earlier, the U.S. took a 71-0 Olympic record into its historic game against the Soviet Union. Doug Collins' two free throws with three seconds left gave the Americans a 50-49 lead. The Soviets inbounded the ball and didn't get off a shot, giving the U.S. the gold medal.
Or not.
The officials ruled the Soviets had called a timeout and gave them the ball back with three seconds left.
Again, the Soviet Union inbounded. Again, it failed to score. Again, the U.S. celebrated. Again, officials gave the ball back to the Soviets after ruling the clock had not been properly reset.
On the Soviet Union's third attempt, Belov took a court-length pass and scored to give the Soviets a 51-50 win.
To this day, members of the U.S. team have refused to accept their silver medals. Kenny Davis even put a clause in his will that prevents any descendant from ever accepting the silver medal.
After the Olympics, Belov continued to build his reputation as one of the world's best players. But he died of a rare disease -- cardiac sarcoma -- in 1978 at the age of 27.
luhm@sltrib.com
