Len and Mykhailiuk Hooping It Up in the NBA

His first sport was gymnastics, and as a youngster he was trained by Oleksiy Stepanenko, who gained fame for working with Olympic gold medalist Ihor Korobchynsky. His mother ran track early in her life and at age 13 Alex Len began playing the sport of basketball. Born in Antratsyt, Luhansk, Alex attended high school at Dnipro Higher College in Dnipro, Ukraine and represented his country at the 2009 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship and the 2010 FIBA Europe U-18 Championship. He garnered attention in the 2010 tournament when he finished fourth in scoring, second in rebounding and first in blocked shots. Following the tournament Len signed with BC Dnipro of Ukraine’s Basketball Super League for the 2010-11 season.

Having set a personal goal of playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA) someday, Alex was pleasantly surprised when he was recruited by the University of Maryland. Despite a head coaching change in 2011, Maryland assistant coach Scott Spinelli and new incoming head coach Mark Turgeon successfully lured the seven-footer to Maryland.

Len encountered difficulties and challenges in his freshman year living in a foreign country with a language barrier and no family or friends for support. He struggled on the court, averaging only 6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks. After serving a 10-game suspension at the start of the year due to NCAA amateurism issues related to his playing for BC Dnipro, he began to show potential.

Len picked up his game big-time in his sophomore season, more than holding his own against opposing big men like Kentucky’s Nerlens Noel and Duke’s Mason Plumlee. His scoring average jumped to 11.9 points per game in 38 games, and NBA scouts noted his lottery pick potential as a center prospect. On April 14, 2013, Alex declared for the 2013 NBA draft. His decision proved to be profitable when the Phoenix Suns selected him fifth overall in the draft. Surgery on his left ankle in May 2013 resulted in him missing that year’s NBA Summer League.

Len was the highest-selected Ukrainian-born player to be drafted in the NBA, beating out Vitaliy Potapenko’s 12th overall selection in 1996 by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He made his NBA debut in a Nov. 1, 2013 game versus the Utah Jazz, playing 13 minutes and scoring 3 points with one rebound. He went on to play in 42 games and averaged 8.6 minutes, 2.0 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.

Out of his five seasons in Phoenix, Len’s production peaked in the 2015-16 campaign when he recorded 19 double-doubles and finished with averages of 9.0 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists, all career highs.

In August 2018 Alex inked a two-year, $8.5 million deal with the Atlanta Hawks. In his first year there he averaged 11.1 points per game, a new career-best. In February 2020 Len was traded to the Sacramento Kings where he played 15 games. In November 2020 he signed with Toronto, only to be waived by the Raptors after only 13 games. Two days later he signed with the Washington Wizards where he saw action in 57 games.

In August 2021 Len returned to Sacramento for a second stint as a backup big man for the club. In July 2024 he was re-signed to a one-year $3.3 million contract for a fifth season with the Kings. At this point in his career, he is a reliable substitute center who gets minutes on the court during injuries or rest days. His defensive prowess is also an important asset for the Kings.

Prior to the current 2024-25 season, Alex Len had played in 644 career regular season games, averaging 18 minutes, 7.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block per game. As per Spotrac, the 31-year-old has career earnings of $46,367,553 and will be a free agent at the conclusion of this season.

In August 2018 Len was named a member of the Ukrainian national basketball team for the first time to play at the 2019 FIBA World Cup qualifiers.

Journeyman Mykhailiuk now with the eighth NBA team

Through the present 2024-25 NBA season, Sviatoslav “Svi” Mykhailiuk will have earned very close to $16 million over seven years, having played for eight different clubs. Through the past 2023-24 season, Mykhailiuk had played in 293 regular season games and averaged 16 minutes, 6.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists. His career highlight was winning an NBA championship while a reserve member of the Boston Celtics last season. He joined Slava Medvedenko as the two native Ukrainians who have played in the NBA Finals and won league titles.

Born on June 10, 1997 in Cherkasy, Ukraine, Mykhailiuk’s mother, Inna, is a high school biology teacher, and his father, Yuriy, is a college history professor. He attended high school at Cherkasy First City Gymnasia and first started playing basketball in 2012 for the Cherkaski Mavpy in the Ukrainian Basketball Super League at the age of 15.

After considering offers from Oregon, Virginia, Iowa State and a few other schools, Mykhailiuk committed to play college basketball at the University of Kansas in May 2014 at the age of sixteen. He was the youngest player in Big 12 Conference history at 17 years old.

He paid his dues at Kansas, having to bide his time as a freshman and sophomore on one of the NCAA’s perennial powerhouse basketball squads. More playing time finally came his way in year three and he put up 10.6 points. 3.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game while shooting a robust 41.5 percent from 3-point territory. In April 2017 he decided to enter the NBA draft, but did not hire an agent, which allowed him to return for his senior year at Kansas. In the 2017-18 season he proceeded to set a school record for 3-pointers in a season with 115.

In June 2018, 6’7” (2 meters), 205-pound (93 kg) Sviatoslav was taken 47th overall in the 2018 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. He signed a three-year, $4.6 million rookie scale contract with the Lakers. In the second half of his 2018-19 rookie season, he was traded to the Detroit Pistons where he played one and a half seasons before being dealt to the Oklahoma City Thunder midway through the 2020-21 campaign. In 30 games with the rebuilding OKC squad he got minutes (23.0) and produced some offense (10.3).

In August 2021 Mykhailiuk inked a two-year deal with the Toronto Raptors for $3.6 million. Toronto waived him one year later and “Svi” landed with the New York Knicks in September 2022. After getting into only 13 games for the Knicks, he was traded to Charlotte where his talents were utilized on the court and he scored a career-best 10.6 points and 2.7 assists per outing in 19 games. In August 2023 Mykhailiuk signed a one-year deal with the Celtics where he appeared in 41 games as the last man on the bench, but produced points whenever given the opportunity.

After winning a championship ring in Boston, Svi signed a four-year contract with the Utah Jazz, worth $15.05 million, but with only $3.5 million for 2024-25 guaranteed. Through Jan. 9, 2025, he has seen action in 11 games, averaging 17 minutes and 8.1 points per game including 5 games scoring in double figures and 2 games in which he tallied 18 points.

In the summer of 2013, Svi played on Ukraine’s Under-16 national team in the 2013 FIBA Europe U-16 Championship and was selected to the All-Tournament Team, averaging 25.2 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. He played for the Ukrainian Under-20 national team in the 2016 FIBA Europe U-20 Championship and led his team in scoring with 14.9 points per game in 7 games. He again played for Ukraine’s U-20 team a year later in the 2017 FIBA Europe U-20 Championship and was the tournament’s leading scorer, averaging 20.4 points per contest.

Joint statement on Russian invasion

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and Alex Len released a statement on Twitter condemning Russia’s aggression. The statement read: “A great tragedy befell our dear homeland of Ukraine. We categorically condemn the war. Ukraine is a peaceful, sovereign state inhabited by people who want to control their own destiny. We pray for their families, friends and relatives and all the people who are in Ukraine. We hope for an end to this terrible war as soon as possible. Dear fellow Ukrainians, hold on! Our strength is in unity! We are with you!”