and hundreds of thousands of mourners have gathered on pyongyang's main square to pay tribute to north korea's. was laid to rest on wednesday the second and former morial day kim jong il's youngest son and successor was proclaimed the supreme leader of the ruling party the military and the people. next r.t. talked to n.b.a. star. about what it takes for a russian athlete to become a sports celebrity that's in spotlight. hello again and welcome to the spotlight i'll do you know and today my guest on the

show is. kitty lanka russia supported by the world always known around the world they were always among the best in the world but after the iron curtain fell off of the soviet borders twenty years ago many russian stars started to go abroad to play in the best clubs in europe and the united states a bit later russian clubs started making big bucks and they also started hiring the best athletes in the world and sometimes recruiting the russian stars so came back so stayed abroad what does it take to make a living to make a career in big sports today we have a chance to ask a person who made it both in russia and in play united states killpack no one in the n.b.a. has a k forty seven. hundred kurylenko his musket ball korea is

a great success story he first played in russia's top league at the age of sixty but didn't stay there for long after two successful years he was drafted in the n.b.a. becoming the youngest european player in the league during the twelve years he spent with due to jazz he was one of the team's best players with an annual salary above fifteen million dollars due to an n.b.a. lockout in the vampyr he moved back to moscow to play for at serious car club which is where he wants to see. still many american teens want to recruit him and keep making generous proposals. drane welcome to the show thank you very much for being with us well first of all you play in russia today and european basketball is generally considered to be softer than in the united states do you believe that's true after that game when you suffered a broken nose and a concussion is released after that in the states well i don't believe it's softer

because you know the level of the basketball growing up every year and you know more and more. where players with the n.b.a. experience coming to europe and playing here it's different yes but i wouldn't say it's softer. so it is a tough game style games you know people people doesn't want to lose you know everybody fighting for every piece of on the floor and everybody competes hard so there's probably the same type of in terms of. problem level probably a little bit lower but you know you played. in your team here in moscow in new year two thousand now it's two thousand and eleven more than ten years have passed can you compare the level of basketball in russia well the change during these ten years on definitely definitely future. improvement.

to the russian team after ten years being an m.b.a. and. all the infrastructure of the team changed its more professional people and here way better players the league or improved so much more and more players playing professionally and the highest level right now a lot of young guys who potentially can be. playing here and that's why the level you know. well really raised and everybody stepped up. interview last time it was several years ago you told me i remember that your own club which is also in the red army club you said if we bring it to the states and give them a chance to play in the n.b.a. for one season they would level up with a level up of the n.b.a. collapse and be like the same level still true i would say the current

team if you bring the turn be their rule there would get probably fifteen twenty wins the season but if you play more and more time when you know get some time to adjust and get used to the n.b.a. style. i wouldn't say we would be a playoff team were we would be somewhere close and fighting for the spot what is the reason i don't know you ask yourself this question why why can't basketball clubs other than the united states be as good as the n.b.a. what's the main reason. well all prosper well i think it's all preparation before the n.b.a. you know the double is a huge. leap for the students where all the young talents grow up to be. you know as best as they can be and joining and be a right after their great great using.

proven and they've grown up getting you know muscles and fighting so hard. unfortunately there's not a lot of good steering basketball guys who was very talented fifteen sixteen years old they have to play for the for the senior teams and they may also be good because for the states. americas basketball is just like football for brazilians it's like a religion as well a lot of a lot of countries have a basketball as a religion likely to any of serbia but i'm saying those america have all the steps and you know with a little kid having a great talent he comes to school then he comes to the coach then he comes to the n.b.a. . those three steps you know this is why they become such a complete players in europe unfortunately you know after right after school

players have to go to the professional team and they skip that part. with their student basketball with a coed university basketball and i think there's a huge loss but even the best machines break down we had this lockout this is the reason why i came here to play what was the reason for this and for the previous lockout only greed or something else i mean we only see the one part you know all the fans want to see the basketball everybody thinks it's agreed and you know everybody mad on the players everybody made their own errors and you know i can understand that but you should understand one thing you know it's a huge huge business. which is broadcast in a three hundred contracts everybody likes to watch everybody likes to. be around basketball and you know be involved somehow so so that's why you should have rules you should have agreement between two sides one little things so in the future you

don't have problems and when you don't have that agreement that's why the problem is all the problems comes out so right now there was a time when two sides cannot reach that agreement you know fortunately right now everything is set up you know and players can play basketball owners can own and you know enjoy the basketball and all the fans can enjoy it no no no when the lockout is finished it's over who's the winner is there a winner the players of the orders i think they have their winners as the fans really your friends you've lost. i don't think you know both most sides cannot win because this is number one is the way. it should be compromised have to stand there for one hundred compromise before without the lockout because there is not enough time for you know they only have like two or three months to reach that agreement and unfortunately there wasn't enough time to reach it so there's why

happened that's why you know for three months almost four months lockout was happened you know the season didn't start in the right time you tell me that in russia basketball is progress and it's moving toward becoming better and better well do you think that the police here the russian players should also defend their rights and defend their rights the same way they do that in the united states it's impossible because because players in europe they don't have a leverage. and b. it's a profitable league which is making money and you know if the players stop playing and stop making money you know europe. usually i would say ninety nine percent of the team's not profitable and not making my last month's are sponsored you know the reason guys who live storm the basketball team or football team they pay money just to support it and they're not making money so

that's why i was the only reason why the players cannot step up and say look we're not going to play complex someone else. if you know. you know this is the reason so listen so that means that players in the league they i mean they they they feel themselves freer because because the they're in business i mean i mean they know that somebody needs them well there's definitely you know i think there's an n.b.a. there on the stand they're part of the product you know they know if they're not play well they're going to lose money so you know every time they step on the court they have to give their best to have to give hundred percent they have to make people into the game of basketball like themselves like a bit well organized because you know they're working on the same side with their own arse and. basketball as a product very attractive. you are

a russian you are a guy born in the soviet union and just before before this interview you just told me i make a decision for my future and money isn't everything you know there are things that matter more than money you well what is it in russia that matters so much for the for the players what they can get in the states. i mean when you play in russia from when. you know you're playing with the guys he grew up with you know we have nine russian guys on the team right now and you know every day you just pay so much time when the locker room. for the chemistry you know when you have your guys coming every day and you know joking around you know having fun with together and playing together you know you always on the same page you always kind of have same mentality and this is worth a lot you know we all want to play in the best leave definitely you know n.b.a.

is the best league for this and we want to play there but you can't through plays that. in a locker room because it's just a little different so this is the. locker room stuff we're talking about i understand that it's maybe even more important than the game itself. well it's not important in the game but what i'm saying is this part of the life. you want to feel as comfortable as you want because you can be and i think. through a a locker room playing in the russia and play and i want to be a little different it's just a more easy for myself because i'm russian. to feel the chemistry here rather than in america says. the russian n.b.a. basketball spotlight will be back shortly after the break so stay with us.

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listing all over. me.

welcome back to spotlight i'm al gore and just a reminder that my guest on the show today is under a kiddie langkow the famous russian basketball player known in the n.b.a. as a k forty seven hundred well there we started talking about the ability of russians to play abroad the sort of comfort of this comfort that you have when you play well when you play in a fairly well this is true not only for basketball this is also true for for hockey players in the n.h.l. this is also true it might sound funny for the russian girls in the modeling business the last of them or are working work it's also a kind of sport yeah broad well why do you think what's the reason that russians

do really often they do really fit into that for the environment though they may be very good professionally. well oh i know a lot of examples for the athletes who plays in america and you know they feel very comfortable and i know a lot of examples of people who doesn't look good but there's a language barrier i think it's all individual language probably psychologically you know people get used for the russia and for the russian friends you know they don't want to miss their family their friends you know they get to use for the you know you know sort of co. food i think it's important sometimes and. the chinese are different from russian but america is american food so different. it is different you know you have to get used to it and i think when the people come into america alone you know i was a little bit lucky because i came there with my wife and i have

a support on my side. good cook. so so she supported me and i feel like you know i have somebody on my side but you know a lot of a lot of athletes they come in alone and now that's why they always alone you know they suffer they feel lonely and they want to know that. you know bring them back home kids. oh the american do they feel themselves american or recession or what i have two boys who was born and salt lake city and i bet they feel america . you know would be this big both languages they they know they have russian they have american. pretty free normal and. very comfortable in russia or ecstacy and i like it like that you know they don't have a problem to leave moscow or leave and solve lake city or live in france i think it

helps them in the future you know a bit they want to feel and. any bad nights you know being in and out of contract. i've heard pinioned from from russian fleet trying to to work can broaden the came back to russia that working abroad especially in the states in the best leagues and the channel and the in the n.b.a. requires who are self disciplined more sacrifice if you want then when you play here way can be more relaxed is that true. maybe partially because if you want to be on the highest level you have to have it anyway it doesn't matter where you play in n.b.a. or you play in the russian elite if you want to be at the top when you want to be a successful clip. you have to you have to have some discipline you have to be you have to work hard you know to reach your goal. you have to sacrifice some some some

things in your life to get there and i don't think it's particularly go to the amateur n.b.a. . you know american sports when you personally enjoy a k forty seven when you come back now to play in the early club and are you different from the other guys i mean because you've got your good tattooed forehand so does that make you different does that make you special. well i think be experience is definitely helps. players look at your little bit different. know that you have a great experience but it gives you way more responsibility because you can. misstep you have to be on the same level every day and you have to. give the good example for everybody a bit here i'm here but i'm here to relax i'm here to work i'm here to show you the

example how it's supposed to be and you know it takes some problem external just sometimes because if you play in the n.b.a. you already did everybody knows that you know you're in the team and you play and how you can but it is no more than here you're more like a symbol of n.b.a. and you know you can't really have you know. they would allow you the usual mistakes and many of the reason it's not a lot to me. because you mentioned that only knowing in. russians this is only fifteen guys that really. well now you are here but you are a foreigner when you play in the states what's your opinion there's a huge discussion now in russia about about attracting foreigners to play for russian teams in football and ice hockey and basketball your opinion that for is it

good or bad should we limit the number of foreigners i think i think it's a different situation. in russia. you know and it is the best league and everybody will support it doesn't matter if the whole team is foreigners you know because there is a lot of examples like when a lot of foreigners play there in russia i think it's a little different situation because. we. have a very big institute of national teams and we all want to be successful. or there are to be successful we have to have russian players to play well and if we have every team you know to bring a lot of foreigners and the russian players in a play we're going to lose our national team. that's why i think we should. you'd have a restriction so you are in favor of i think we should have a reason for. what it should be like a crazy you know it should be balanced what would you say how many how many is

a pretty in first person journey for first to be honest well you know you never know the cause you know that you don't have an answer you know and there will be involved and a wiser should be it should be analyzed because you know they're for the relationship don't wise and see how the season goes how many russian players played well and you know monitor the situation so next year because change it or keep it the latest you know keep it the same way. it's not my job right now maybe in the future when i finish my career. somebody in a federation will do it ok listen well speaking about your career you definitely want to take part in the london olympics you were pretty successfully personally at least at the previous olympics the olympics even with the flag bearer for the russian team so what can you say about that london i years sort of trying to look forward to to learn the work is about the future russia would definitely

looking forward to be an olympics and a lot and we know there are you know you know we july second we're going to have a qualification tournament and three teams going to go to london so we're going to do our best to be there and you know being a russian delegation team. in two thousand and twelve what do you say today this winter the future russian national team isn't something to really be afraid of you can compare the teams i mean they're actually the american team you know a lot about oh i don't think we should be afraid of you know well i think we have a very promising team a last european championship we get the bronze medal two thousand so i want to get the gold medal and we play in pretty well you know we have a younger. he's the most famous go if you know he plays him better and i gets right now he improved a lot and we'll get another guy from a bit which is pretty good for the team you know for the experience and the rest of

the guys we have a great young guys from brother army club. and i think we're i think we have very very good young talented team so this is. do you think that that basketball is one of the one of the rushes go the expectations for the and are not really. here in the first of all we have to be there we can jump ahead you know and think about the gold medal before we even you know we're going to fight for that for the invitation and. then i think our main goal will be to get from the group for the quarterfinal and try to be nice top and try to get the best for five for the medal if we talk about the quality of qualifying for the for the olympic tournament who do you consider your main rival. was the what i.

always been pretty successful in pretty good greek team always tough. you know solid teams much don't much you going to show the great chorus last year about. the teams from south america's puerto rico and new zealand team will be tough cookie so . there's going to be probably five six teams who is really going to be great contenders for three spots thank you thank you very much and graeme that just to remind you that my guest on the show today was kind of a killer because of the famous russian basketball players that are in the n.b.a. as a k forty six and that's what they're from all of the spotlight will be back with more for them to comment on what's going on in and outside pressure if you want to send me a letter if you have so what the let me turn to next right just took me a lot of al good out and r.t. if you need are you let's keep spotlight and we'll be back until then stay on r.t.

and take. witnesses. to history in the making. of testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and eleven on our t.v. .

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