Andrei Kirilenko spoke in a recent interview with the Knuckleheads podcast about his now-iconic AK-47 nickname. He recalled that the Jazz signed John Amaechi, who took his preferred number 13 jersey. It was another teammate, Quincy Lewis, who gave him the idea to wear 47 and dubbed him ‘AK-47’, and the rest is history.
“When I first came to Utah and played in the Summer League, I played with number 13. My mom played with 13, and for the majority of my career, I was picking this number… We picked John Amaechi, a veteran in the league. When you have a veteran join the team, they get priority. He picked 13, I was like ‘Uh oh, which number am I supposed to pick?’.”
“At that time, we had Quincy Lewis. He’s the head of the alumni program in Utah right now. Because he was young and I was young, we were hanging out. He said, Andrei Kirilenko, AK that’s your initials. AK-47 is the most famous machine gun. You have to pick 47.”
“I was like ‘Yeah, sure, what else am I supposed to pick?’. So I picked 47, and since then it’s become like a brand…”
Kirilenko’s nickname has become one of the all-time greats in the history of the NBA. What makes the nickname even more apropos is the fact that the AK-47 was a gun that was created, produced, and manufactured primarily in Kirilenko’s native Russia.
In fact, in the interview, Kirilenko mentioned that the creator of the gun was actually from his hometown. Needless to say, the nickname worked out incredibly well for Kirilenko and is still remembered as one of the best in the history of the NBA.
Andrei Kirilenko Had A Fascinating NBA Career
Andrei Kirilenko had two separate stints in the NBA. His first one comes to mind way more, as he was a star-level player for the Utah Jazz. His time with the franchise wasn’t nearly as successful as the 1990s, but he was able to lead the Jazz to a new era after the departures of John Stockton and Karl Malone.
In 2004, Kirilenko became an All-Star for the first and only time in his NBA career. He also witnessed the Jazz emerge as a powerhouse in the Western Conference thanks to Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur, and Deron Williams. The quartet would lead the Jazz to the Western Conference Finals in 2007, where they would lose to the eventual NBA champions San Antonio Spurs.
However, he would see his role diminish while the other three players emerged as the stars of the team during that playoff run. Kirilenko would stick around with the franchise, despite resentment towards his diminishing role, till 2011, when he returned to Russia to play for CSKA Moscow.
It appears Kirilenko resolved some of his prior issues with the three players whom he once resented, as he picked all of them to be part of his all-time starting five of former teammates in the same interview.
Kirilenko returned to the NBA in 2012, signing with the Minnesota Timberwolves. His one-year stint there, along with a follow-up stint with the Brooklyn Nets the following seasons were thoroughly underwhelming. But fans will always choose to remember the offensive juggernaut that was AK-47 in the Utah Jazz.
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