National Basketball Association

Fesenko fights for NBA job to get family out of Ukraine

Published Oct. 9, 2014 12:36 p.m. ET

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MINNEAPOLIS -- Kyrylo Fesenko's boisterousness evades him for a moment, and he's shy to tell the story.

Unprompted, he relents. It stems from his inaugural encounter with Flip Saunders, at a Pistons pre-draft workout in 2006.

Fesenko, all 7-foot-1 and 280 pounds of him, posts up a smaller defender. Coaches presiding over the session instruct him to "put the ball on the floor."

A Ukraine native and professional basketball star, Fesenko was very unfamiliar with the English language then, particularly its basketball-related idioms. So he did exactly what he was told. He set the ball down on the hardwood and left it there.

"That day was -- I'm not going to say," Fesenko said sheepishly.

His English, though coming through a thick, Eastern European accent, is much better now. It allows him to engage media, fans, teammates, anybody who will talk to him, in what usually amounts to a fun, lighthearted exchange.

Currently with the Timberwolves on a preseason contract, Fesenko's brought that efficacious persona to the Twin Cities. He's outgoing and honest with a stroke of good humor in almost everything he says.

But behind the smiles, the stories, the friendliness, there lies deep, vexing consternation.

See, when Fesenko has a ball in his hands, he's in control. Find him on the block, and he's apt to drop-step around his defender for a two-handed jam.

He's one of those bigs who can use his gigantic frame to complete the most tedious of athletic tasks.

But as he strives to crack an NBA roster, he can't pick up a gun and stand guard outside his family's home. He can't take back the destruction that's rocked his homeland. And he can't quell the political turmoil he feels threatens his wife, mother and friends every day.

"I hate being helpless," Fesenko told FOXSportsNorth.com after practice earlier this week.

***

Born on Christmas Eve in 1986, Fesenko was always the largest boy among his peers -- and thus naturally drawn toward basketball. But when 9-year-old "Fez," as he's known around the NBA, attended his first organized practice, he left crying.

"Everything was so strict, you could not fool around," Fesenko recalls. "I was like 'I'm not going back.'"

But his parents made him. Again and again. Once his coordination caught up with his size, things clicked.

He began playing professionally at the age of 17 in the Ukrainian SuperLeague. Since then, he's bounced back and forth between his home country and the United States. The 76ers took him with the eighth pick in the 2007 draft -- he'd pulled out of the draft the year before -- and traded him to Utah. From 2007-11, he went to and from the Jazz and the NBA Developmental League's Utah Flash. His last NBA action came in 2011-12 -- three games with the Pacers.

Once scouts got a hold of his name, they fell in love with his size and his post moves. Twenty years ago, there'd have been more NBA opportunities for him. But centers today stretch the floor, and that's not in Fesenko's repertoire. Rarely will you see him take a jump shot.

Fesenko spent last season in the D-League. In January 2013, he returned to Ukraine to play in Donetsk.

Much of that city, including its airport, now lies in ruins.

Although Russian-backed separatists and Ukraine troops in the war-stricken country have committed to a ceasefire, fighting continues in Donetsk and other Ukrainian countries. More than 331 deaths have been reported since the ceasefire, with the conflict killing at least 3,660 people over six months of fighting.

"I saw the pictures (of Donetsk)," Fesenko said, "and it just like some places that I love to go or just go for a walk, they're ruined. . . . It was devastating how great was that city, and now it's pretty much deserted. Everybody moved away from there."

But a city is bricks and mortar. About a 3 1/2-hour drive away, his wife Inna and mother Irine reside in Dnipropetrovsk, where Fesenko was born. Surrounded by refugees but no fighting, they're safe. For now.

"There's not much I can do from here," said Fesenko, who married Inna on June 5 -- shortly before joining the Wolves for summer league play in Las Vegas.

"I'm worried about it. It really stresses me out. Focusing on basketball is the only thing that keep me in line. I'd probably go crazy worrying about my family, my wife, my mom."

Skype-ing with his family members daily helps. But there's only one solution Fesenko sees.

Which is why he's at the Target Center today practicing with the Timberwolves.

***

Get an NBA contract again, and Fesenko will have the means to bring his family to the United States. Away from the fighting. Away from potential harm.

"That's my ultimate goal," Fesenko said. "I was out, and I desperately want to go back in."

His longstanding relationship with Saunders helped. The Wolves' president and coach was in charge of the Pistons when Fesenko first worked out in Detroit. While playing for the Canton Charge last season, Fesenko ran into Saunders in his hometown of Cleveland and worked out for him at a local health club.

"He killed me in about 40 minutes," Fesenko joked. But he impressed enough that Saunders held onto his name and added him to the team's summer league roster. In five games (three starts), he averaged 8.4 points on 58.6 percent shooting and 5.2 rebounds per game.

That was enough for Saunders to bring him in for training camp.

Readjusting to the NBA grind hasn't been easy, Fesenko said. "When you play somewhere not in NBA, you kind of get used to maybe going not as fast, maybe jumping not as high. Here, you play with the best players in the world. Sometimes, muscle memory, try to do the same move as (former Jazz coach) Jerry Sloan would say 'half-ass,' and then you get blocked or get carried away off the court. And then you're like 'Hey, I'm back.'"

Saunders and the team are aware of Fesenko's situation but obviously can't make any special concessions. With centers Nikola Pekovic, Gorgui Dieng and Ronny Turiaf under guaranteed contracts, Fesenko's chances are slim.

But if he doesn't make the Oct. 27 roster-deadline cut, he can at least put some good preseason performances on film for other teams to see. Playing somewhere else overseas might allow him to get his family out of Ukraine, too.

But his focus is here. Because that's the only place it can be, he says.

"I'm a player," Fesenko said. "I have agent. He's dealing with that (other) stuff. Obviously, this is my probably best option here. I like the team. I spent a lot of time here. I like the city. I like the coaching staff, everybody -- administration, office. I see myself here.

"But if not going to happen, then we're going to move forward."

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