Joel Bolomboy is a Russian basketball player who plays at the center position. He had Ukrainian citizenship, but later renounced it in favor of Russian. Because of this, a scandal erupted between the sports officials of the two countries.
Biography: early years
Joel Bolomboy was born on January 28, 1994. He is a mestizo: his father Joseph is from the Congo, and his mother Tatiana is Russian. The parents met in Donetsk, where Joel was born. The family left Ukraine immediately after the birth of the child.
At first, Joel lived with his parents in France, with his father's sister. In 1998, the family moved to the States. Bolomboy lived there for 20 years.
The family settled in Texas. As a child, Joel played football, athletics and tennis. He even played in the orchestra, but in the seventh grade he settled on basketball. His mother wanted to see him as a surgeon. The father supported his son's sports hobby.
After high school, Joel entered Weber State University, and upon graduation became a local basketball legend. Bolomba was the best in terms of the number of “thefts” of the ball from an opponent, not only in the history of this university, but in the entire Big Sky league.
In 2014, the Ukrainian basketball team challenged Bolomboy to a preparatory camp for the World Cup. He then returned to his homeland for the first time in many years. However, Joel was injured in training and never played for the Ukrainian national team.
Career
In 2016, Bolomboy was selected by the Utah Jazz club in the NBA draft. He went under the general number 52. In his debut game, Joel scored three points in four minutes, and also made a spectacular pass, rebound and blocked shot. Competition among the players at the club was fierce, and Bolomboy often played for the reserve teams of the Utah Jazz.
A year later, the club terminated the contract with him. Joel soon became a player for the Milwaukee Bucks. However, even there he often played for the reserve teams, and not for the first team.
In 2018, Bolomboy was invited to CSKA Moscow. He immediately accepted the invitation, because he had long dreamed of playing in this Russian club and things in the NBA were not going well for him.
In December 2018, Joel renounced his Ukrainian passport. Ukrainian fans, like the sports leadership, were quick to condemn the basketball player for this step. Joel now has dual citizenship: Russian and American. He plays for the Russian national team.
Personal life
Joel is married to Nicole Catoa. He met her in the States when he played in the student basketball league. Nicole has a medical degree and then worked at a burn center. During one of the matches, Joel was injured. Nicole was a spectator, but as a medic volunteered to help. The young people made friends, and soon began to meet. When Bolomboy was called to CSKA, the girl went with him.
Joel and Nicole got married in 2018. And on February 25, 2019, their firstborn son Trey was born. He was born in Moscow.
