Alexey Shved is arguably the most prolific Turkish Airlines EuroLeague scorer ever, and certainly a player who has most consistently produced points over the longest period of time. His two EuroLeague Alphonso Ford Top Scorer trophies and pure numbers support that notion.
Alexey Shved, CSKA: 'I'm going to do all I can'
Shved currently ranks 10th on the all-time scoring list, but with the fewest game played of any player in the Top 25. His career scoring average of 16.4 per game ranks fifth all-time, and he ranks fourth all-time in points scored per-40 minutes (24.6 ppg.). No player ranked better in either category has played more than 56 games. Shved has tallied 176 appearances.
His numbers are even more impressive in recent years, as no player has scored more total points (2,215) nor averaged more (20.1 ppg.) than Shved since the start of the 2017-18 season.
Prolific scoring is certainly the first thing that comes to mind about the superstar guard who returned to CSKA Moscow this past summer, but his list of trophies and accolades goes way beyond that. A Turkish Airlines EuroLeague title in 2008 and Olympic bronze medal in 2012 stand out, as well as the EuroCup MVP honor from 2016.
If one wonders at the roots of such success – a journey that is always long, incredibly tough and filled with uncertainties – look no further than Shved's family. Because, if there is a definition of a basketball family, it must be the one where Alexey grew up in his hometown of Belgorod in southwestern Russia.
"My mom and my father, they're good basketball coaches, and a lot of people know them," Shved says proudly of his father Victor and mom Nadezhda, who was a professional player herself.
"And I have two sisters and they both played professional basketball, one of them played in the Olympic games."
Shved's older sister Evgeniya is a two-time Olympian, having played in the 1996 and 2000 games, while his younger sister Victoria played for Russian youth national teams, too.
"I started playing basketball when I was six years old," Shved explains.
Even before that, he had a basketball in his hands quite a lot. His dad Victor, who never played professionally himself, coached a women's team in Poland at the time, one where his sister Evgeniya played, too. His father then decided not to continue his coaching career in professional sports, but to return to Belgorod to take up children's basketball and coach Alexey.
Belgorod is not famous for basketball and would have little association with the sport if not for the Shved family.
"No, there's not a lot of basketball tradition, but one great coach," Shved says, smiling. "Actually, my CSKA teammate Alexander Khomenko, my father taught him to play, too. So we are both from Belgorod, here at CSKA."
Another player from Belgorod who is Victor Shved's pupil is Stanislav Ilnitskiy, a former EuroCup champion and the current team captain of Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar.
Alexey always loved basketball. Between his two practices a day, he played some more on the streets as he was getting better and better. And with the family ties so strong among the Shveds, it was not easy for him to leave home as a 14-year old to the sports academy in St. Petersburg where he got his professional career going.
He stayed there for a year before returning to his hometown and joining local Burevestnik for a season. Then, already considered one of Europe's top young talents, Shved joined CSKA in 2005 at the age of 16, playing for the club's youth categories. The following spring, Shved led the CSKA U18 in scoring with 14.0 points per game as it captured a third consecutive Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament title in Prague.
At 18 years and a month old, Shved made his EuroLeague debut in January 2007 home game against Zalgiris Kaunas, then returned the next season to make eight appearances on the team led by Theo Papaloukas, Ramunas Siskauskas, J.R. Holden, Matjaz Smodis and Trajan Langdon that won the 2008 EuroLeague crown. Alexey did not enter the championship game in which CSKA beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 91-77, but he fondly remembers that season when he won the EuroLeague title as a 19-year old.
"I remember that season was a great time. The coaches and players, we still talk to each other after how many, more than 10 years? It was a good time, and we played great basketball," he said.
"I think all of the players are retired now; I am the only one still playing. They had really good careers and they taught me a lot. I was young and they taught me a lot how to play, how to pass the ball, how to play defense, all that is important."
Shved did not assume a large role with CSKA until the 2011-12 season when he averaged 10.6 points on 49.3% three-point shooting, 3.0 assists and 2.6 rebounds, helping CSKA to the 19-2 record that the team held heading into the 2012 championship game against Olympiacos Piraeus.
That clash, unlike the 2008 championship game, had a heartbreaking ending for Shved and CSKA.
"It was a really good shot," Shved says about Georgios Printezis game-winner with 0.7 seconds left that lifted Olympiacos to a stunning 61-62 win in Istanbul. "We had a strong team, and I think if we played three or four more games against Olympiacos, we would beat them in all of them. But it is Final Four and you have only one game. I remember we were up by almost 20, and then we lost by one. This is the worst what can happen if you lose by one point in the final."
However, Shved still remembers that year with joy because later that summer he was on the Russian national team that went on to win the bronze medal at the Olympic Games in London. "So, it wasn't that bad a year," he adds.
Shved went on to spend the next three seasons in the NBA, before returning to Europe to join Khimki Moscow Region and start lighting up EuroLeague boxscores.
Shved averaged 15.9 points in the 2015-16 EuroLeague campaign and has posted between 19.8 and 23.3 points in each of the last four seasons. In the process, Shved set EuroLeague single-season records with 740 points and 107 three-pointers made in the 2017-18 season, when he was voted to the All-EuroLeague team. That season he earned the first of his two EuroLeague Alphonso Ford Top Scorer trophies, too. His second came in the 2020-21 campaign. Khimki made only one EuroLeague playoff appearance during that time, however, losing to CSKA in four games.
This past summer, Shved took his scoring talents back to CSKA, having in mind the same goals he's had throughout his career. He wants to win more trophies.
"I'm a guy who wants to win, any championship," he says, "because you cannot play something and not want to be first."
Winning the EuroLeague with a bigger role on a team than the one he had back in 2008 is one of the things that fuels him.
"Everybody wants to be first, but not everybody can," he says. "So, of course, I want to win EuroLeague, too."
With his return to CSKA, Shved has a bit of a new role within a team. He is averaging 10.0 points, 3.8 assists and 1.3 steals, playing the third-most minutes on the team. But the prolific scorer has been prepared to help in any way he can.
"I'm always trying to play smart basketball," Shved said. "If I am open, and somebody is more open, I will pass the ball. We just need to play smart, strong. And I'm going to do all I can to help the team."
A new role also includes playing once again for a powerhouse, rather than an underdog. But for Shved, that has no added pressure, just a bonus.
"This is the strongest club in Russia. When I was young and when I was with Khimki, I tried to play against the best teams and the hardest teams to beat. And now, I'm a part of this team, and we can be really great together because we have a great coach and great players," he says.
"We need to 'sing the same mind', so to say. Practice hard, and step by step, we can probably get closer to winning the championship. It's really hard to do, but we will try to push for it."