Joel Bolomboy

Joel Bolomboy (Джоэл Боломбой) (born January 28, 1994) is a Ukrainian-born Russian-American professional basketball player for Crvena zvezda of the Serbian KLS, the Adriatic League and the EuroLeague.

Bolomboy was invited to try out for the Ukraine national basketball team in advance of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

He was injured while practicing for the tournament and was unable to appear in any games.

While always a strong rebounder, Bolomboy increased his scoring average in the 2015–16 season, averaging 17.9 points per game to go along with 12.8 rebounds per game.

Following the season, Bolomboy was named first-team All-Big Sky Conference, as well as the league's Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

He played college basketball for the Weber State Wildcats, where he was named Big Sky Conference Player of the Year in 2016.

On June 23, 2016, Bolomboy was selected by the Utah Jazz with the 52nd pick in the 2016 NBA draft.

On August 19, 2016, he signed with the Jazz.

He made his NBA debut on October 30, 2016, recording three points, one rebound, one assist, one steal and one block in four minutes off the bench in an 88–75 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

During his rookie season, Bolomboy had multiple assignments with the Salt Lake City Stars, Utah's D-League affiliate.

In 26 games with the Stars, he averaged 16.5 points and 13.3 rebounds per contest.

On October 16, 2017, Bolomboy was waived by the Jazz.

On October 20, 2017, Bolomboy signed a two-way contract with the Milwaukee Bucks via their NBA G League affiliate the Wisconsin Herd.

Throughout the length of his deal, he would split his playing time between the Bucks and their G League affiliate.

He was named to the Ukrainian team's preliminary roster in advance of EuroBasket 2017 but did not appear on the final roster.

He was born in Ukraine but received Russian citizenship in 2018.

Bolomboy was born in Donetsk, Ukraine to a Congolese father and a Russian mother.

The family moved to Fort Worth, Texas when Bolomboy was less than three years old.

While in college, he told the Standard-Examiner that he did not "remember anything" about Ukraine and felt like he had "never been there."

He went to high school at Keller Central High School in Fort Worth, and chose Weber State for college despite interest from larger schools such as Clemson, Auburn and Florida State.

During his college career, Bolomboy became the all-time leading rebounder in Weber State and Big Sky Conference history.

However, Bolomboy would be waived from the team on January 7, 2018, after signing Xavier Munford to a two-way contract of his own accord.

On January 10, 2018, Bolomboy re-signed with the Wisconsin Herd.

Bolomboy was signed by CSKA Moscow of the VTB United League on August 8, 2018, on a three-year deal.

In November 2018, Bolomboy became a Russian citizen.

Bolomboy played for the Russia national basketball team during the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers and the EuroBasket 2022 qualifiers.

He missed the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup due to injury.

On March 2, 2020, he signed a two-year extension with the club.

On 28 February 2022, Bolomboy left CSKA Moscow for personal reasons related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On 6 July 2022, Bolomboy signed a one-year deal with Olympiacos of the Greek Basket League and the Euroleague.

In 35 EuroLeague matches, he averaged 3.8 points and 3 rebounds, playing around 11 minutes per contest.

Additionally, in 32 domestic games, he averaged 5.6 points and 4.9 rebounds, playing around 15 minutes per contest.

On July 5, 2023, he was released from the Greek club.

On 14 July 2023, Bolomboy signed a one-year contract with Crvena zvezda of the Serbian KLS, the Adriatic League and the EuroLeague.