Jon Robert Holden

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Jon Robert Holden (born October 8, 1976 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), also known as J. R. Holden, is a naturalized Russian professional basketball player, originally from the United States. He played NCAA Division I college basketball at Bucknell University (1994-1998). He currently plays for CSKA Moscow of the Russian Super League, which is the current holder of the Euroleague title. He is also a member of the Russia national basketball team.

1 Professional career
2 Personal
3 Trivia
4 Notes
5 External links

[edit] Professional career

After graduation from Bucknell, Holden received a call from a basketball club in Riga, Latvia offering him $3,000 a month to join their team. He accepted and began a long and very successful career in European basketball.^[1]

Holden has played for teams in Latvia (1998-99), Belgium (Telindus Oostende, 1999-2001), and Greece (AEK Athens BC, 2001-2002) as well as Russia (2002-present).^[2] He was won national championships in each country. He was named 2003 Russian Super League Player of the Year. He earned an Import Players Honorable Mention in the 2002 Eurobasket All-Europe Rankings.^[3]

[edit] Personal

On October 20, 2003, Holden became a Russian citizen by decree of President Vladimir Putin. This move was brought about by new Russian Basketball Federation regulations restricting the number of foreigners, and specifically Americans allowable on Russian League teams. In response to the move, CSKA Basketball CEO Sergei Kushchenko hatched the idea of Holden acquiring citizenship. Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov and the Russian State Sports Committee both wrote letters in support of the decree. Holden currently maintains dual American and Russian citizenship.^[1]

[edit] Trivia

Holden started for CSKA Moscow against the Philadelphia 76ers in an exhibition game in October 2006 in Cologne, Germany as part of the EA Sports NBA Europe Live 2006 promotional event.^[4]. Coincidentelly, Holden played college basketball in the state of Pennsylvania, where the 76ers are based.