talent. They have a large population, lots of tall people, and at one point they were considered to be a world basketball power — as the Soviet Union, they won Olympic gold in 1972 (first to win it other than the US) and again in 1988, plus they have a bunch of other Olympic medals (most recently bronze in 2012).

Yet, they don’t seem to produce much elite world-class basketball talent. Andrei Kirilenko was their best NBA player I can recall. Meanwhile, the rest of Europe produces all sorts of good players. Not sure what’s up with that.