American J.R. Holden, who has played for Moscow’s TsSKA basketball team as a guard since 2002, said on Thursday he will retire at the end of the 2010/2011 season.
Holden, who turns 35 in August, helped his Moscow team win Russian Champions eight times and the European League twice during his career in Russia after leaving the Greek AEK basketball team.
“This was probably my last basketball match, I’ve decided to end my career,” Holden told his teammates in the locker room after winning the final series playoff against Khimki with a total series score of 3:1.
He said that he is still unsure if he will play for Russia during the European Championship and said he promised head coach David Blatt he “would think about it,” adding: “I plan to keep my word, so far I can’t say exactly if I’ll play in the European Championship or not, I still have a week to think about it.”
Holden said that a player needs to end his career when he’s on top and did not wish to be “like Michael Jordan from Washington.”
Holden helped his Russian team win the European Basketball Championships in 2007.