Viktor Zubkov (basketball)


Viktor Alekseyevich Zubkov was a Soviet professional basketball player and coach. At a height of, he played at the center position. He is considered to be one of the most distinguished players of Soviet and European basketball in the 1950s and 1960s.
He won two silver medals at the Summer Olympic Games, while representing the senior men's Soviet national team. He was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991.

Club playing career

Zubkov played at the club level with CSKA Moscow, with whom he won 8 Soviet national league titles, and two FIBA European Champions Cup titles.

National team career

As a member of the senior men's Soviet national team for seven years, he won two Olympic silver medals, one FIBA World Cup bronze medal, in 1963, and three EuroBasket gold medals.

Post-playing career

Zubkov retired from playing basketball in 1966, and after that, he worked as senior instructor and deputy chief of the military-engineering academy, named after Valerian Kuybyshev, and as the head coach of the senior Mozambican national team.

Death

Zubkov died on 16 October 2016.