The Russian basketball Superleague, which started on October 14, could well be called a contest between giants and dwarves, though not from the standpoint of the players' height. It is rather a matter of the clubs' budgets. In point of fact, the championship has already been dubbed a millionaires' competition, as never in the history of the Russian championship have six players been making a million dollars or more a year. In all, there are about fifteen players picking up annual paychecks of over $500,000, which by European standards gives the league a superstar quality.
As it befits the champion and Russia's best basketball team in the past few seasons, CSKA Moscow, which will host the Final of Four of the ULEB Euroleague next year, set the pace in the race for superstars during the off-season.
According to unconfirmed information, the club's budget for this season stands at around $20 million, which means CSKA can be considered one of Europe's richest clubs. The club's Serbian coach, Dushan Ivkovic, has retained the core of the team that won the national title last year: US guards Marcus Brown, who takes home $1.5 million a year, and John Robert Holden, who is also a Russian passport holder and earns $700,000. Forwards Antonio Granger from America ($1 million) and Dimos Dikudis from Greece ($900,000) and Australian center David Andersen ($750,000) are likely to complete the CSKA starting five. The squad's most experienced forward, Estonian Martin Muursepp ($700,000), will also figure prominently. CSKA president - the patriarch of Russian basketball Alexander Gomelsky - has informed his players that only the title is good enough.
Dinamo Moscow has done all it can to match CSKA in the market. The club's budget this year is around $15 million. Head coach Zvi Sherf has bought such high-class players as US guard Lann Greer (on $1.1 million a year), Turkish forward Mirsad Turkan ($1 million) and Lithuanian center Ksistof Lavrinovich ($750,000). US guard Ariel McDonald and Greek center Lazaros Papadopoulos are also earning about $1 million a year. It should be remembered that the Dinamo president, Alexander Gomelsky's younger brother Yevgeny, is no less ambitious than his famous sibling and will certainly try to put an end to CSKA's reign as Russian champions.
Financially, UNIKS Kazan is not far behind the two Moscow giants. The leadership of Tatarstan has set the team the task of making a befitting present to the republic's capital, Kazan, which will mark its millennium in 2005. Before the season, the club was given a budget of over $9 million, its biggest ever, some of which was used to bring in expensive foreign players. The experienced head coach Stanislav Yeryomin, under whom CSKA won nine national titles, bought guard Shammond Williams (salary $1.2 million), and two centers: Latvian Kaspars Kambal ($1.2 million) and Australian Chris Anstee ($600,000).
Two teams will represent St. Petersburg in the Superleague this season. Financial difficulties mean that the once formidable Spartak is likely to end up in the lower half of the table with such outsiders as teams from Surgut, Yekaterinburg and Samara. However, the recently established Dinamo will be in a much stronger position for its debut Superleague season. Its sponsors formed a budget of $6 million and allocated money for purchasing several impressive American players, including Ed Cota (on $700,000 a year) and John Stefansson. American David Blatt, who was a coach with ULEB Euroleague winners Maccabi (Israel), has been appointed the head coach of the new team.
The Moscow region's Khimki, under Russia's former head coach Sergei Yelevich, this year surprised the sports world with high-profile purchases on the foreign market. Despite its failure to enroll any foreign players in the past, it had invariably been a contender for the top three spots in the championship. However, this season its reliable sponsors in the form of the Moscow Region's administration (headed by retired General Boris Gromov, Hero of the Soviet Union and a great lover of sport), and a number of financial and industrial companies allocated $4 million for the club's budget and another $1.5 million especially for players' contracts. As a result, Khimki now boasts one of America's best playmakers, Melvin Booker (on $700,000 a year), and an Athens Olympic champion, Argentine center Ruben Wolkowyski ($600,000). Furthermore, the club intends to put an end to its life as a nomad traveling around Moscow's stadiums, as it plans to open its own 3,500-seater center in the Moscow suburb of Khimki by December.
Lastly, Perm's Ural Great remains one more challenger for championship's top places. Legendary Soviet basketball player and 1972 Olympic champion Sergei Belov has been coaching it for several years. The club's budget is estimated at $5 million, though in the run-up to the season the club's representatives have repeatedly hinted that team financing has experienced some problems. Direct proof of this comes in the form of transfers out of the club and only one significant purchase: Israeli forward Sharon Sason. But his annual contract ($300,000) does not look so impressive in comparison with the fabulous paychecks other players are picking up.
Russian Basketball Federation President Sergei Chernov, who recently returned from an FIBA conference in Munich, told RIA Novosti that this year's Russian championship would be the most interesting and toughest ever. "We will see many strong foreign players, and the Russian players should prove their worth in competition with them," he said. "The interests of the national team, which will play at the European championship in September 2005, demand this."
