Jon Robert Holden betterknown as J.R. Holden, professional basketball player, was born on August 10, 1976 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the United States of America. His nickname is “J.R.” and is Russian name is Dzhon-Robert Kholden. He went to Linsly High School where he played basketball and continued to play the game in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I at the Bucknell University (1994-1998).
Being a business management graduate from Bucknell University, J.R. Holden was selected and waiting for a second interview with the Anderson Consulting (now known as Accenture). He got a call from an agent in Finland who offered him $500 to travel to Riga, Latvia, for four days to try out for that country's top professional team. His decision to take up basketball turned out to be a gift for a successful career.
He has been a key player in winning the national championships of each country he represented. During 1998-99, J.R. Holden won the Latvian Championship for ASK Broceni Riga. He represented BC Oostende who won the 2000-01 Belgian National Championship. He played for AEK Athens BC who won the Greek National Championship in 2001-2002.
Though an American by birth, J.R. Holden now plays for Russia (holds a Russian citizenship from October 20, 2003) and was made a member of the Russian national basketball team. His extreme quickness in ballhandling, has fetched him the point guard position (described as a coach on the floor whose job is to create opportunities for his team to score) in the Professional Football Club - Central Sports Club of Army (CSKA) Moscow team. He currently plays for CSKA Moscow of the Russian Super League, a current Euroleague champion.
J.R. Holden has earned an Import Players Honorable Mention in the 2002 Eurobasket All-Europe Rankings. For his brilliant performance at the Russian National Championship, he was named the 2003 Russian Basketball Super League Player of the Year. He went on to win the Russian National Championship for six consecutive years with CSKA Moscow team. His team has also won the Euroleague 2005-2006 and Euroleague 2007-2008 season championships.
His outstanding performance was witnessed at the 2007 European Championship game on September 16, where he played against the Spanish National Basketball Team. J.R. Holden scored the match winning basket just 2 seconds before the game ended, which fetched the gold medal and the European Championship to the Russian National Team. This event has won him a berth in the Russian team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Olympic Basketball Tournament.
In the Beijing Olympics 2008, J.R. Holden of the Russian squad participated in 5 matches of the Men’s Basketball of the preliminary round group A. He scored 19 against Iran, 25 against Lithuania, 20 against Australia, and 19 against Argentina, but despite his efforts Russia lost to Croatia, Lithuania, Australia, and Argentina. With a single victory against Iran, Russian basketball team left Beijing without a medal.
Extreme weather and living conditions, frequent travel, and cultural differences have not deterred J.R. Holden from giving his best performances. By becoming one of the highest-paid American players in Europe, J.R. Holden receives a free apartment and a free Mercedes sedan as part of the package from his club
