The VTB United League will hold the annual Friends of Basketball Game on June 5 at 5:00 PM on CSKA's home floor. The game will feature two ambitious teams: VTB United League (featuring VTB United League, CSKA and Khimki executives and staff) vs. Basketball Media (leading basketball and sports journalists). The game will feature two 15-minute halves.

Several basketball legends will also take part in the festivities. Basketball Media will be coached by 1988 Seoul Olympics champion Sergei Tarakanov. The VTB United League team will be coached by Olympic medalist and two-time European champion Ilona Korstin. VTB United League president Sergey Kushchenko and league executives Tomas Pacesas, Jiri Zidek andPavel Astakhov as well as TV commentator Roman Skvortsov will also participate. As in previous years, the game will be reffed by the legendary Mikhail Davydov who will be joined by his sonAlexey Davydov.

The first Friends of Basketball Game was played at the 2011 Final Four in Kazan. Featuring fans vs. journalists, the game ended in a 25-25 tie. During the 2012 Final Four in Vilnius, Lithuanian journalists faced Russian journalists, with the Lithuanians enjoying a 22-10 win. Fans and journalists played each other in 2013 in Krasnodar, with the media picking up a 30-28 victory in overtime. Last season, the journalists defeated the fans by a score of 55-40.

Entry to the 5th-ever Friends of Basketball Game is free (enter through the USH CSKA service entrance). See you there! 

vtb-league.com