Andrei Gennadyevich Kirilenko, nicknamed AK-47, is a Russian basketball executive and former professional basketball player. At age fifteen, Kirilenko began playing professional basketball in th…Andrei Gennadyevich Kirilenko, nicknamed AK-47, is a Russian basketball executive and former professional basketball player. At age fifteen, Kirilenko began playing professional basketball in the Russian Basketball Super League. He played for CSKA Moscow from 1998 to 2001, winning the Russian league MVP award in 2000. In 1999, the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association selected Kirilenko with the twenty-fourth overall pick of the NBA draft. He became the first Russian player selected in the first round of an NBA draft and the youngest European player ever chosen in the NBA draft. Kirilenko joined the Jazz in 2001 and played for the team until 2010. He made the NBA All-Rookie First Team, was an NBA All-Defensive Team pick three times, played in the 2004 All-Star Game, and led the NBA in blocked shots in the 2004–2005 season. During the 2011 NBA lockout, Kirilenko returned to Russia to play for CSKA Moscow, leading the team to the 2012 EuroLeague Final. That year, he was named the EuroLeague MVP, earned an All-EuroLeague first team selection and won the EuroLeague Best Defender award. Kirilenko returned to the NBA for the 2012–2013 season to play for the Minnesota Timberwolves before finishing his NBA career as a member of the Brooklyn Nets in 2014.