Last summer, former Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko set out on a new path in his career following his retirement as a player. Kirilenko was looking to rebuild the game of basketball in his native country, where the sport is declining in popularity and the national program has fallen on hard times.
“A couple of years ago, (basketball) was the fourth or third (most popular) sport; right now I think it’s seventh, something like that,” Kirilenko told the AP’s James Ellingworth at the time. “I want basketball to be popular and to be in every house in our country.