He could play the NBA, but chose a criminal path. The mysterious death of the Russian champion

The 70s in the Soviet Union were rich in great sports stories, but a lot of unpleasant, and sometimes even criminal, happened. Unfortunately, some stars of the national basketball team “distinguished” in this. Against the backdrop of the gold of the Olympics in Munich and bronze at the Games in Montreal, stories from which it became uneasy occurred. The hero of one of these was the talented Vladimir Arzamaskov, who, in its capabilities, could easily perform in the NBA, but chose a luxurious and dangerous life, which mysteriously interrupted in Moscow.

Great talent and gigantic possibilities

Arzamaskov was born and raised in Volgograd, where his extraordinary skills of playing basketball were manifested. Having decided to enter the Institute in Leningrad, Vladimir, after some time, ended up in the local Spartak, for which the famous Alexander Belov, one of the future creators of the Victory in Munich in 1972, was already speaking. They quickly became close friends and really loved to walk beautifully after matches, and sometimes before them.

The passion for luxury was manifested in clothes. Arzamaskova was generally considered the main fashionista of the Soviet basketball. For a long time, the parties left him and Belov with his hands, because on the site they were unconditional stars and in the 1974/75 season led Spartak from Leningrad to the first and last title in history within the framework of national championships. In the decisive meeting, the team defeated CSKA with a score of 78:77, and Belov and Arzamaskov made the main contribution to this historical triumph.

This victory finally allowed Vladimir to get into the USSR national team, in which his friend Alexander was already a long time and managed to become an Olympic champion. The path of Arzamaskov was longer, although he still got to the games in Montreal. Soviet basketball players went to Canada to protect the title, but lost in the semifinals of Yugoslavia. Nevertheless, our athletes did not stay without a medal and in the match for third place destroyed the owners of competitions with a difference of almost 30 points.

Fraud instead of the NBA

It would seem that after such successes, Vladimir, including the prospects for the game abroad, opened up to Vladimir, although it was very difficult to leave the country and get to the NBA at that time. In terms of the level of talent of Arzamasks and Belov, they exactly took place there. However, instead, both turned out to be defendants in a loud business. Vladimir persuaded Alexander to Arrange the icons through customs for subsequent resale to Italy.

Alexander Belov / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Rudolf Kucherov

Both were then famous farmers, and if Belov could be called the first star at the Belov basketball court, and Arzamaskova was the second, then in this illegal business the opposite was true. It was Vladimir that was a generator of many such ideas and persuaded partners in the club and the national team. A rare foreign trip took place without transportation through customs of some things.

They took away caviar, vodka, Zenit cameras from the USSR, and fashionable jeans, raincoats, watches and much more imported back into the country. A large number of people knew about this, but for a long time a lot of goodbye to the basketball players said goodbye. The story with the icons became a real trigger, and Arzamaskov actually framed Belov when he asked him to carry them on his own. As a result, Alexander was removed from basketball for some time than broke his career, and later life.

Arzamaskov escaped quite easily. Perhaps it was also helped that he was married to a girl Jeanne, who, by a successful coincidence, was the daughter of the General of the police. By the way, in the early 70s, Vladimir for some time was a disorderly, but all the restrictions were removed just after the wedding with Zhanna.

Tragic and mysterious end

True, then he fell in love with the beauty of Valentine, and the first marriage on this soon ended. And then there was largely a forced transition from Spartak to CSKA. In the new club, Vladimir managed to once again become the champion of the USSR, but it was no longer at all the Arzamasks who had the prospects for becoming an absolute world star. The training of the Army, Alexander Gomelsky quickly sent the player for rent to Kyiv SKA, where Vladimir was actually playing.

In those years, he was much more interested in the so -called business, in which, he believed, there are real chances to earn and succeed. The eloquence and charm allowed him to frave, but also for the time being. And then Valentina also began to change him, which was a strong blow to the basketball star.

Arzamaskov began to drink a lot, and then moved from Leningrad to Moscow. The body of a 34-year-old athlete was found under the windows of a high-rise building, where he then lived. The death of Vladimir is shrouded in secret. Someone believed that the KGB could somehow intervene in the case, someone assured that he became a victim of bandit showdowns, but the main version was suicide. We hardly already find out what really happened, but the fact is that one of the most talented players of his generation did not achieve 30 percent of what he could.