Following his June retirement announcement, former Utah Jazz star Andrei Kirilenko launched a campaign to become the new president of the Russian Basketball Federation. The organization had fallen on hard times in recent years, prompting the former NBA All-Star into action.
Kirilenko was announced as the new president at a conference in Moscow; his official nomination is expected later this week. After rumblings that Russian national team general manager Dmitry Domani would also run, Kirilenko found himself unopposed in Tuesday’s election.
The former Jazzman will now be tasked with rebuilding the sport in his home country, where its popularity has waned in recent years.