Sergey Monia

Sergey Monia was born in Saratov and started playing basketball there. A pupil of the local Avtodor school, he spent two seasons in black and white from 2000 to 2002, and then moved to CSKA Moscow. In the camp of the army, Monia played three seasons, after which he went to the NBA — he was selected at number 24 in the draft in the status of a three-time champion of Russia.

Portland chose the forwards, but the future "Captain of Russia" did not work out there, and during the 2005/06 season he joined the Sacramento squad.

Sergey never managed to gain a foothold in the NBA, so he returned to Russia, where he played for Dynamo Moscow until 2010. During his career at Dynamo, the player was regularly involved in matches for the national team, and in 2007 — a year after returning from the NBA — Monya helped the Russian national team win the European Championship.

In 2010, Sergey moved to Khimki, where he spent the next 11 (!) years of his career. At the club level, Monia won the United League and twice won the European Cup (an analogue of the current European Cup), and at the national team level he took the bronze of the European Championship and the bronze of the Olympics. In 2016, "Captain Russia" finished his career in the national team, concentrating on club affairs.

In 2021, after the departure of Khimki from the United League, Monia began to keep in shape in the amateur league in Moscow, and in March 2022 — together with Vitaly Fridzon — joined Zenit, which in three months would win the VTB United League championship for the first time in its history.

In the summer of 2022, the club and the player parted ways, but in the fall they agreed on a new contract.