By ANDREW SELIGMAN, Columbian staff writer

April 4, 2005

It was a sprain, he thought. Nothing serious. Certainly not something that would jeopardize his rookie season.

Viktor Khryapa went for a rebound during a summer-league game in Salt Lake City on July 16. He landed and an opposing player came down on his left foot.

"I just thought it was a little sprain," Khryapa said eight months later.
Another game was more than an hour away and Khryapa was talking about how far he had come in his recovery process. And how far he had come, period, to get to the NBA.

The Blazers selected him with the 22nd pick in the draft last spring, and then, everything seemed on hold.

Initial X-rays showed no damage. A specialist in Portland diagnosed several fractures and, on July 28, inserted five screws into Khryapa's foot.

It's a procedure, Khryapa said, that a doctor would not perform on an average person because, at worst, the arch flattens, and that condition does not prevent someone from walking.

But Khryapa relies on his feet for a living. He needs to be able to run and jump, so the doctor recommended surgery.
Khryapa's most serious injuries before this were a broken finger and a twisted ankle, so he had little experience in this area. He didn't know how strong his recuperative powers are. Instead of missing the season, as expected, Khryapa played his first game on Feb. 1.

Instead of rehab, he's taking charges. He's diving for loose balls. He's hitting the occasional jumper. Instead of spending the year on the injured list, he's averaging 4.3 points and 3.2 rebounds a game.

And, more than anything, he's impressing the Blazers.
"He's a kid you can win basketball games with," interim coach and director of player personnel Kevin Pritchard said.

"This process has been enlightening in that it confirms what we thought of Khryapa as a player in that he is ready to make a contribution," general manager John Nash said. "And that he can be a terrific role player."

Khryapa was billed as a player similar to Ruben Patterson: someone who's defensive minded, who hustles, who contributes without necessarily filling the stat book. But his jump shot is better than Nash anticipated.

Khryapa has a hitch in his foul shot, in which he bends his knees and straightens his legs before releasing the free throw, and Nash said the Blazers will address that in the summer.

For now, they're just glad and amazed he's able to play.

Khryapa hasn't experienced any lingering pain from the procedure, except slight discomfort when he jumps off his left foot.

"It's still strong," he said. "I can still jump on it, but not as high as before."



Khryapa's wife Kate came to the U.S. after the surgery, and they're thinking about renting a house in Tigard at some point. For now, they live in a hotel in Gresham. The couple met four years ago through Viktor's older brother Nikoliy, and they have been married six months. Nikoliy, like Viktor, is a basketball player.

Khryapa lived in the Ukraine until he was 14. Nikoliy, who is three years older, signed with a program in Saratov, Russia, and Viktor and his mother moved there. His father died seven years earlier.

"(Nikoliy) was so young to be making another city his home," Khryapa said.

The younger Khryapa could not play for the team until he was 15, but he practiced. A year later, he played well enough that the organization put him on the first team.

Basketball clubs are, in a sense, the overseas answer to high school and AAU programs, only the players are paid. They go to school in the day and basketball school in the evening.

When he was 14, Khryapa earned about $200 a month. The next season, his salary jumped to $1,000 a week.

It's good money "if you play good," Khryapa said. "But if you play bad, you don't (earn) that. It's not that much. You have to still buy food, everything."

It was a start, though, and nearly three years ago, Khryapa began thinking about a career in the NBA. He was the youngest player on a Russian national team that competed at the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis, and he was playing for CSKA Moscow, one of top Euroleague teams.

"I was 19 and growing, and I saw I was doing something," Khryapa said. "I knew I could try to play."

One advantage Khryapa has over other foreign players is his grasp of the language.

Khryapa studied German growing up, but didn't start learning English until about two years ago after being prodded by Kate, who attended an English school. That's surprising, considering how well he speaks the language now.

"It's huge," Nash said. "(Center Ha Seung-Jin) will make a quantum leap forward once he learns the language. You can just imagine what it's like being out there on the floor, having people bark instructions at you."

Nash remembers when Gheorghe Muresan arrived in Washington in the early 1990s, not knowing a word of English.

"Somebody had told him how to say 'baggage' so he would know how to get to the baggage claim," said Nash, who was the GM there. "Ha is only slightly ahead of Muresan."

"I know my English is not perfect, but I try to listen to how people say some words here," Khryapa said. "Because in the book, it's different (from) how people speak here."

He has come too far, though, to let a language barrier block him.

Learn more about Viktor Khryapa

Viktor visits IRCO

Click here to purchase a Khryapa jersey

Of note: Was the youngest player (19) on the Russian National Team that competed at the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis.