Alexey Shved -- a Russian-born basketball player who hooped in the NBA -- was hospitalized after he was attacked outside of a Moscow restaurant ... but thankfully, he's on the road to recovery.
According to Shved's Russian basketball team, CSKA Moscow, the 34-year-old was attacked by a "hooligan" on Monday night ... and "suffered a serious head injury as a result of the fall."
Alexey --- who played for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Philadelphia 76ers, Houston Rockets, and New York Knicks -- was transported to the hospital by ambulance.