On Monday, shocking news became known: the former president of Saratov Avtodor, Vladimir Estafievich Rodionov, died.
He was a man of difficult character who loved basketball with all his heart, a heart that could not withstand the operation. Many called him the patriarch of Russian basketball. “Championship” he has prepared material about one of the most brilliant people we have lost.
Related materials
Exclusive
Stockton’s son reacted to the death of Avtodor president Rodionov.
Preface
Vladimir Rodionov
Photo: VTB United League
Vladimir Rodionov was president of Avtodor for 41 years. All victories, achievements and development of the Saratov club are inextricably linked to its name. Vladimir Evstafievich invariably paid special attention to the training and development of young players, making an invaluable contribution to the development of the entire domestic basketball.
Under the leadership of Rodionov, Avtodor twice won the regular Super League championship, became a silver medalist at the Russian championships four times and a bronze medalist twice, and also represented the country in European club tournaments for 17 seasons. In 2005, as general manager, Vladimir Rodionov led Dynamo St. Petersburg to victory in the Challenge Cup and a bronze medal in the national championship.
Two lives of one person
Vladimir Rodionov
Photo: BC Avtodor
Vladimir Rodionov was born in Kazan on May 31, 1947, but was never associated with basketball in Tatarstan. He joked: “Born in Kazan, he fled the Tatar-Mongol yoke to Saratov.”
Not much is known about him, not even a Wikipedia page. In this sense, it is necessary to collect information little by little from open sources.
Until 1982, Rodionov played as a player for Spartak Saratov and then became the head coach and president of the club. The team was later renamed Avtomobilist, then Avtodorozhnik, and in 1996, Avtodor.
At the same time, Rodionov was a businessman. In fact, his life was divided into two parts: one on the basketball court and the other in business matters.
Offsite, he was involved in, among other things, oil, factories and real estate. The Avtodor uniform was sewn in a factory that belonged to Rodionov. There was also a hostel where young talents that the coach liked were taken. Avtodor’s successes were celebrated in the coaches’ and president’s restaurants.
In 1996, Rodionov practically became the governor of the Saratov region, but, according to various sources, at the last moment “external forces intervened.” Three years later he tried to enter the Duma, but he did not succeed either. After all, in parallel with all this, it was necessary to dedicate time and effort to basketball.
Vladimir Rodionov
President of BC Avtodor
“In the 90s, the funding fell apart and I started supporting the team on my own. Before the government started giving me money, I wasted a lot of mine… How did I manage to do everything? Now I remember it and I don’t understand it. I got up at 6:00 in the morning and could return home at 2:00. “So I didn’t know what fatigue was.”
Rodionov was the main person in the local oil business. His scale helped him win a state tender for the development of fields in the Samara region. Rodionov bypassed Mikhail Khodorkovsky* himself (* – an individual performing the functions of a foreign agent), who tried to sue, challenging the decision of the tender commission. However, the court recognized that Rodionov’s interests were legitimate.
“It’s good that he survived. In those days people were shot normally. “The oil business is a terrible business,” Rodionov said.
Vladimir Estafievich admitted that his sports experience also helped him in business: speed of decision-making and health helped him at big parties, during which key issues were resolved.
Almost all the time, at least since the mid-90s, there was more news on Avtodor about budget deficits than about sports achievements. The media and Vladimir Rodionov himself scared the fans by moving the team to another region. In particular, Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow, Samara, Moscow Region and Rostov were named.
As a result, in 2004 Rodionov moved the main team, which was called Dynamo, to St. Petersburg. David Blatt was invited to the club and then they even won the Challenge Cup, the third most important European tournament under the auspices of FIBA. However, the team lasted only two years and was disbanded due to budget constraints.
De jure Avtodor did not cease to exist. After Rodionov moved to St. Petersburg, the Saratov Club was voluntarily relegated to Super League B. The organization, through thorns, was tested by the lower leagues, including with Rodionov, who returned to his native club and, 10 years later , became part of the VTB United League.
And yet, Avtodor is known not only for its budget problems, but also for the fact that many Russian basketball stars began their professional careers with Rodionov. In particular, Evgeny and Zakhar Pashutin, Victor Khryapa, Sergey Monya, Vladimir Veremeenko, Semyon Antonov, Artyom Klimenko, Nikita Mikhailovsky and others.
Rodionov was a leader and a special person, everyone who interacted with him in one way or another speaks about this. At some point he could be harsh and cruel, but it was all for an idea, a result. It is safe to say that he was very worried about the fact that he never led Avtodor to the championship, and found it difficult to accept how the team had changed in recent years.
To some extent, he was the last of a galaxy of such leaders, the last of the Mohicans. Of course, an era has passed with him, the era not only of Avtodor, but of all Russian basketball.
THE NAIS IS OFFICIAL EDITOR ON NAIS NEWS