"It was the last chance": "The Bachelor-15" star Vyacheslav Kravtsov recalled his most painful defeat and named the strongest opponents in his career

Ukrainian basketball player and the main protagonist of the 15th season of the show "The Bachelor" Vyacheslav Kravtsov spoke about the most memorable moments of his sports career in an interview published on Instagram. Answering subscribers' questions, the athlete recalled both his most painful defeats and key victories, and also named the strongest teams and individual players he had to face on the court. The material was prepared by the entertainment project Styler by RBC-Ukraine.

The defeat that won't let go: school final at 16

When asked about the most frustrating defeat in his career, Kravtsov unexpectedly moved away from professional basketball and went back in time to a school championship match that took place when he was 16 years old. Back then, his team reached the final but lost to opponents by a margin of just one point. For the basketball player, this result was especially painful: he was in his graduating class and no longer had the opportunity to compete for a victory in the school tournament. "When you play for the national team or a club in professional basketball, you always know: if you lose, there will be the next season, there will be the next match. But when I played for the school at 16, you realize that this is the last grade, the last chance to win the inter-school championship," the athlete explained.

The main "victory" off the court

Answering the question about his most important victory, Kravtsov completely moved away from sports topics. The basketball player called the birth of his daughter the event that had the biggest impact on his life. According to him, the appearance of a child was what gave him the most sincere emotions and changed his attitude toward many things. "The birth of my daughter. It changed my life a lot. And the emotions I felt and received were the most sincere," he emphasized. Kravtsov also confessed that in his youth he often got nervous before stepping onto the court, but over time he learned to take matches more calmly.

The national team as a special mission

Performances for the Ukraine national team have always had special significance for the athlete. Kravtsov explained that the club season involves a large number of games, making it difficult to give each individual match as much attention as meetings at the national team level. "When you play for the national team, you might have two, three, four matches during the summer. And every game is very responsible, so you are tuned in to give it your all even more than in the club season," the basketball player shared.

The strongest opponent: Team USA 2014

Speaking about the strongest team he ever played against, Kravtsov recalled the performance of the Ukraine national team at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, where the Ukrainian team participated in the global tournament for the first time in history. Back then, Ukraine faced Team USA, which featured leading NBA players. Kravtsov named the American team as the strongest among all his opponents. "A truly stellar team of top NBA representatives gathered there. This team was the most powerful and strongest I ever played against," the athlete noted.

Cousins, James, and Bryant: unforgettable players

Among individual basketball players, Kravtsov singled out DeMarcus Cousins, who played at the center position just like the Ukrainian himself. In addition, the athlete recalled two legendary American players — LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. "If we take a player at my position whom I played against, it's DeMarcus Cousins. If we take players I shared the court with and played against sporadically, it's LeBron James and Kobe Bryant," Kravtsov said. Thus, in the interview, the star of "The Bachelor-15" drew a line from the school court to the world championship, showing how the scale changes over the years of a career, but the value of every match remains the same.