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Cavaliers center is retiring after one season in the NBA, and he is going out a champion
David Richard/USA TODAY Sports
In the midst of the Cleveland Cavaliers' historic championship win, Sasha Kaun was definitely lost in the middle of all of the excitement. But the NBA international is still a champion, and he will retire as a champ after one lone season in the league, according to KUSports.
How's that for a success rate?
To be fair, Kaun spent the previous seven seasons with CSKA Moscow, winning five Russian League titles and five VTB United League titles as well as a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics.
He also attended the University of Kansas, where he won the NCAA championship in 2008, so he has accomplished quite a lot.
Still, retiring after one season in the NBA — albeit a championship-winning season — is rather peculiar, but Kaun pointed to his lingering issues with his right ankle as the reason.
"I kind of feel my ankle has been bothering me a while," he said. "With the amount of pain I was going through, I just wanted to be done. It's something I've had all my career. It was definitely getting worse and worse, year by year."
But he also pointed to the fact that he wouldn't be playing as a reason he was leaving the game. Just last month, he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, who subsequently waived him. That may have effectively ended any hope of his playing in 2016-2017.
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