Center-Forward · Boston Celtics
Vitaly Potapenko
Age 51 · Ukraine · 208 cm (6'10") · 129 kg · Born Mar 21, 1975 · Wright State
6.6 PPG
4.5 RPG
0.7 APG
693 games
11 seasons
Career snapshot
11seasons
693games
4,584career pts
7.8PER (avg)
Most-played franchise:
Boston Celtics
· 273 games · 1998-99–2001-02
Position rank · 2003-04
#26PPG rank
#60PER rank
#60WS rank
Among 74 Center-Forward players (min. 41 games)
Career highs (single season)
PPG
10.8
1998-99 · BOS
RPG
7.2
1998-99 · BOS
APG
1.8
1998-99 · BOS
PER
15.1
1998-99 · BOS
WS
3.4
2000-01 · BOS
Draft
1996
Round 1 ·
Pick 12
from Wright State
Career by team
Sacramento Kings
2005-06 – 2006-07 · 2 seasons
0.8 PPG
0.3 RPG
0.2 APG
12 games
Oklahoma City Thunder
2002-03 – 2005-06 · 4 seasons
5.1 PPG
3.5 RPG
0.5 APG
148 games
Boston Celtics
1998-99 – 2001-02 · 4 seasons
7.6 PPG
5.8 RPG
0.9 APG
273 games
Cleveland Cavaliers
1996-97 – 1998-99 · 3 seasons
6.6 PPG
3.5 RPG
0.6 APG
177 games
Stats by season
| Season | Team | G | GS | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | FG% | 3P% | FT% | PER | WS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-97 | CLE | 80 | 3 | 15.5 | 5.8 | 2.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 44.0 | 50.0 | 73.6 | 9.5 | 0.5 |
| 1997-98 | CLE | 80 | 0 | 17.7 | 7.1 | 3.9 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 48.0 | 0.0 | 70.8 | 11.0 | 1.5 |
| 1998-99 | NBA | 50 | 44 | 27.9 | 10.0 | 6.6 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 49.5 | 0.0 | 58.7 | — | — |
| 1998-99 | BOS | 33 | 32 | 28.1 | 10.8 | 7.2 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 52.1 | 0.0 | 54.7 | 15.1 | 1.8 |
| 1998-99 | CLE | 17 | 12 | 27.5 | 8.4 | 5.5 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 43.7 | 0.0 | 67.3 | 10.5 | 0.4 |
| 1999-00 | BOS | 79 | 72 | 22.7 | 9.2 | 6.3 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 49.9 | 0.0 | 68.1 | 13.8 | 2.5 |
| 2000-01 | BOS | 82 | 7 | 23.2 | 7.5 | 6.0 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 47.6 | 0.0 | 72.8 | 12.8 | 3.4 |
| 2001-02 | BOS | 79 | 9 | 17.0 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 45.5 | 0.0 | 74.2 | 11.4 | 3.1 |
| 2002-03 | OKC | 26 | 2 | 15.5 | 4.0 | 3.4 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 44.1 | 0.0 | 75.9 | — | — |
| 2003-04 | OKC | 65 | 39 | 21.8 | 7.1 | 4.4 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 48.9 | 0.0 | 64.1 | — | — |
| 2004-05 | OKC | 33 | 1 | 10.2 | 3.5 | 2.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 51.7 | 0.0 | 87.1 | — | — |
| 2005-06 | NBA | 33 | 12 | 10.7 | 2.5 | 1.9 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 52.1 | 0.0 | 58.8 | — | — |
| 2005-06 | SAC | 9 | 0 | 3.6 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 71.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 8.2 | 0.0 |
| 2005-06 | OKC | 24 | 12 | 13.4 | 3.1 | 2.6 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 58.8 | — | — |
| 2006-07 | SAC | 3 | 0 | 4.3 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -22.1 | -0.1 |
Transfers & team changes
Derived from season-by-season team membership.
| Date | Move | Type | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2005 | Sacramento Kings | Oklahoma City Thunder | mid season trade | From 2005-06 to 2005-06 | |
| Jul 2005 | Oklahoma City Thunder | Sacramento Kings | season change | ||
| Jul 2002 | Boston Celtics | Oklahoma City Thunder | season change | ||
| Oct 1998 | Boston Celtics | Cleveland Cavaliers | mid season trade | From 1998-99 to 1998-99 | |
| Jul 1998 | Cleveland Cavaliers | Boston Celtics | season change | ||
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Born on March 21
About Vitaly Potapenko
Vitalii Mykolayovych Potapenko is a Ukrainian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Wright State Raiders and was selected 12th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1996 NBA draft, also the last pick before Kobe Bryant. Nicknamed "the Ukraine Train", he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Boston Celtics, the Seattle SuperSonics, and the Sacramento Kings of the NBA, as well as MMT Estudiantes in the Spanish ACB.