Player Spotlight: Viktor Khryapa - Main page - Welcome to EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL

May 22, 2013

Player Spotlight: Viktor Khryapa

Veteran forward Viktor Khryapa of CSKA Moscow comes to his fifth Final Four in Istanbul looking for a second Euroleague trophy to lift. A former All-Euroleague First Team selection and Best Defender Trophy winner, Khryapa is the total package, a true star on both ends of the floor. He has teamed with Andrei Kirilenko to form a forward tandem that strikes fear into the hearts of CSKA's opponents.

Khryapa was born in Kiev and started his career with the Ukrainian club Khimik. He also played for Saratov in Russia before joining CSKA as a teenager and helping the Moscow powerhouse make the Final Four in 2003 and 2004. Khryapa returned to Moscow from the NBA in early 2008 to help his old club claim the Euroleague crown, his first and the team's second in three seasons. Later that summer, he was a key performer as Russia won the EuroBasket gold medal.

Khryapa's breakout season was 2009-10. He led both the offense and defense as CSKA extended its record-stretching Final Four run to eight in a row. Euroleague head coaches made him the winner of that season's Best Defender Trophy, while fans and media voted him to the All-Euroleague First Team.

On offense, Khryapa's talents are highlighted by court vision that has let him dish the third-most assists of any Euroleague forward this century. On defense, he can guard any position and ranks 10th all-time among Euroleague players in blocked shots. In short, Khryapa is a serious game changer and a triple-double threat. On CSKA's star-studded squad, he's the glue that brings it all together and a main factor as CSKA looks to take the title back to Moscow.

Euroleague.net