Joel Bolomboy

Joel Bolomboy (Russian: Джоэл Боломбой, romanized: Joel Bolomboy) (born January 28, 1994) is a Ukrainian-born Russian-American professional basketball player for Crvena zvezda of the Serbian KLS, the Adriatic League and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the Weber State Wildcats, where he was named Big Sky Conference Player of the Year in 2016. He was born in Ukraine but received Russian citizenship in 2018.[1][2]

Joel Bolomboy
Bolomboy in 2018
No. 21 – Crvena zvezda Meridianbet
PositionCenter / Power forward
LeagueBasketball League of Serbia
ABA League
EuroLeague
Personal information
Born (1994-01-28) January 28, 1994
Donetsk, Ukraine
NationalityRussian / American
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight233 lb (106 kg)
Career information
High schoolKeller Central
(Fort Worth, Texas)
CollegeWeber State (2012–2016)
NBA draft2016: 2nd round, 52nd overall pick
Selected by the Utah Jazz
Playing career2016–present
Career history
2016–2017Utah Jazz
2016–2017→ Salt Lake City Stars
2017–2018Milwaukee Bucks
2017–2018→ Wisconsin Herd
2018–2022CSKA Moscow
2022–2023Olympiacos
2023–presentCrvena zvezda
Career highlights and awards
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com

Early life and college career

Bolomboy was born in Donetsk, Ukraine to a Congolese father and a Russian mother. The family moved to Fort Worth, Texas when Bolomboy was less than three years old. While in college, he told the Standard-Examiner that he did not "remember anything" about Ukraine and felt like he had "never been there."[3]

He went to high school at Keller Central High School in Fort Worth, and chose Weber State for college despite interest from larger schools such as Clemson, Auburn and Florida State.[4] During his college career, Bolomboy became the all-time leading rebounder in Weber State and Big Sky Conference history.[5]

While always a strong rebounder, Bolomboy increased his scoring average in the 2015–16 season, averaging 17.9 points per game to go along with 12.8 rebounds per game. Following the season, Bolomboy was named first-team All-Big Sky Conference, as well as the league's Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.[6]

Professional career

Utah Jazz (2016–2017)

On June 23, 2016, Bolomboy was selected by the Utah Jazz with the 52nd pick in the 2016 NBA draft.[7] On August 19, 2016, he signed with the Jazz.[8] He made his NBA debut on October 30, 2016, recording three points, one rebound, one assist, one steal and one block in four minutes off the bench in an 88–75 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.[9] During his rookie season, Bolomboy had multiple assignments with the Salt Lake City Stars, Utah's D-League affiliate.[10] In 26 games with the Stars, he averaged 16.5 points and 13.3 rebounds per contest.

On October 16, 2017, Bolomboy was waived by the Jazz.[11]

Milwaukee Bucks (2017–2018)

On October 20, 2017, Bolomboy signed a two-way contract with the Milwaukee Bucks via their NBA G League affiliate the Wisconsin Herd.[12] Throughout the length of his deal, he would split his playing time between the Bucks and their G League affiliate. However, Bolomboy would be waived from the team on January 7, 2018, after signing Xavier Munford to a two-way contract of his own accord.

Wisconsin Herd (2018)

On January 10, 2018, Bolomboy re-signed with the Wisconsin Herd.[13]

CSKA Moscow (2018–2022)

Bolomboy was signed by CSKA Moscow of the VTB United League on August 8, 2018, on a three-year deal.[14] On March 2, 2020, he signed a two-year extension with the club.[15]

On 28 February 2022, Bolomboy left CSKA Moscow for personal reasons related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[16][17][18][19]

Olympiacos (2022–2023)

On 6 July 2022, Bolomboy signed a one-year deal with Olympiacos of the Greek Basket League and the Euroleague.[20] In 35 EuroLeague matches, he averaged 3.8 points and 3 rebounds, playing around 11 minutes per contest. Additionally, in 32 domestic games, he averaged 5.6 points and 4.9 rebounds, playing around 15 minutes per contest. On July 5, 2023, he was released from the Greek club.

Crvena zvezda (2023–present)

On 14 July 2023, Bolomboy signed a one-year contract with Crvena zvezda of the Serbian KLS, the Adriatic League and the EuroLeague.[21]

International career

Bolomboy was invited to try out for the Ukraine national basketball team in advance of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.[3] He was injured while practicing for the tournament and was unable to appear in any games.[22] He was named to the Ukrainian team's preliminary roster in advance of EuroBasket 2017[23] but did not appear on the final roster.

In November 2018, Bolomboy became a Russian citizen.[24] Bolomboy played for the Russia national basketball team during the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers[25] and the EuroBasket 2022 qualifiers.[26] He missed the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup due to injury.[27]

Career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2016–17 Utah 1204.4.563.250'.5001.4.2.1.21.8
2017–18 Milwaukee 606.3.500.000.5001.7.0.3.01.5
Career 1805.1.545.200.5001.5.1.2.11.7

Playoffs
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017 Utah 204.5.667.000.0001.0.0.0.52.0
Career 204.5.667.000.0001.0.0.0.52.0

EuroLeague
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2018–19 CSKA Moscow 2859.1.564.462.6001.9.4.1.02.62.9
2019–20 27116.5.562.325.7434.0.5.3.15.47.6
2020–21 25916.5.623.250.7713.8.3.6.55.47.2
2021–22 17416.3.609.267.7784.5.4.2.26.58.5

References
  1. "Joel Bolomboy got Russian citizenship". Eurohoops. November 13, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  2. "Игрок ЦСКА Джоэл Боломбой получил российское гражданство". Sports.ru (in Russian). November 13, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  3. Garside, Brandon (July 16, 2014). "Ukraine calling: WSU's Bolomboy gets chance to shine". Standard-Examiner. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  4. Kragthorpe, Kurt (January 30, 2016). "Weber State's Joel Bolomboy positioned to break Big Sky rebounding record". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  5. Hollis, Randy (January 27, 2016). "For Weber State's Bolomboy, who looks like an NBA prospect, rebounding is the name of the game". Deseret News. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  6. Ashcraft, Jason (March 7, 2016). "Bolomboy Named Big Sky Men's Basketball MVP, Defensive Player Of The Year". Big Sky Conference. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  7. Hollis, Randy (June 23, 2016). "NBA draft: Weber State's Joel Bolomboy selected by Utah Jazz in 2nd round". DeseretNews.com. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  8. "Jazz Sign 2016 Draft Pick Joel Bolomboy". NBA.com. August 19, 2016. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  9. "Joel Bolomboy 2016-17 Game Log". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
  10. "2016-17 NBA Assignments". NBA.com. Archived from the original on January 26, 2017. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  11. "Jazz Waive Joel Bolomboy". NBA.com. October 16, 2017. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  12. "BUCKS SIGN JOEL BOLOMBOY TO A TWO-WAY CONTRACT". NBA.com. October 20, 2017. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  13. "Herd Acquires Joel Bolomboy". NBA.com. January 10, 2018. Archived from the original on January 18, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  14. "CSKA Moscow signs Joel Bolomboy to a three-year deal". Sportando. Archived from the original on August 8, 2018. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
  15. Carchia, Emiliano (March 2, 2020). "CSKA Moscow signs Joel Bolomboy to two-year contract extension". Sportando. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  16. "Joel Bolomboy joins the list of players leaving CSKA". Eurohoops.net. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  17. "Tornike Shengelia leaves CSKA Moscow: I can't play for the Russian army club". MARCA. February 26, 2022.
  18. "5 CSKA Moscow players leave team for war between Russia, Ukraine". www.aa.com.tr.
  19. Amico, Sam (March 1, 2022). "FIBA Suspends All Russian Teams, Officials From Competition".
  20. "Olympiacos bolsters frontcourt with Bolomboy". EuroLeague. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  21. "Crvena Zvezda puts former champ Joel Bolomboy in the paint". EuroLeague. 14 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  22. Garside, Brandon (August 19, 2014). "Bolomboy injured in Ukraine, will recover for WSU season". Standard-Examiner. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  23. "Ukraine show off their talent ahead of FIBA EuroBasket 2017". FIBA. 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  24. "Joel Bolomboy becomes Russian citizen". PBC CSKA Moscow. November 13, 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  25. "Joel Bolomby 2019 FIBA World Cup European Qualifiers Stats". FIBA. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  26. "Joel Bolomboy FIBA EuroBasket 2022 Qualifiers". FIBA. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  27. "Russia's Joel Bolomboy will miss FIBA Basketball World Cup with injury". Sportando. August 21, 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
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