Jaak Lipso

Jaak Lipso (18 April 1940 – 3 March 2023) was an Estonian professional basketball player who competed for the Soviet Union. He is the only Estonian basketball player who has won two medals at the Olympic Games.^[1] Lipso also won two medals at the FIBA World Championship and was a three-time Eurobasket champion with the Soviet Union national basketball team.^[2] He was a member of the Soviet Union national team from 1961 to 1970. After his active career Lipso became a basketball coach,^[3] and was elected to the Estonian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.^[4]

Jaak Lipso

Personal information
Born	(1940-04-18)18 April 1940 Tallinn, Estonia
Died	3 March 2023(2023-03-03) (aged 82) Tallinn, Estonia
Listed height	200 cm (6 ft 7 in)
Listed weight	209 lb (95 kg)
Career information
Playing career	1956–1981
Position	Center
Career history
1956–1960	TRÜ
1960–1962	Rīgas ASK
1962–1969	CSKA Moscow
1969–1975	Kalev
1975–1981	Harju KEK
Career highlights
2× EuroLeague champion (1963, 1969) 6× USSR League champion (1962–1966, 1969)
Medals Men's Basketball Representing  Soviet Union Olympic Games 1964 Tokyo Team Competition 1968 Mexico City Team Competition World Championship Uruguay 1967 USSR Yugoslavia 1970 USSR EuroBasket Poland 1963 USSR USSR 1965 USSR Finland 1967 USSR

Lipso died on 3 March 2023, at age 82.^[5]

Club career

Lipso's career started at the age of 16 when he joined TRÜ basketball team (now Tartu Ülikool/Rock) in 1956. He played there for four seasons winning two Soviet Estonian titles (1958, 1959). After that he played a season with Rīgas ASK in Soviet Latvia before moving to European powerhouse CSKA Moscow. He spent the next eight years with the team winning two Euroleague titles (1963, 1969) and six USSR League championship titles (1962–1966, 1969). Lipso then moved to Tallinna Kalev for two years and then to Harju KEK winning two more Soviet Estonian titles (1974, 1979).

Achievements

National Team

• Olympic Games: 1964, 1968
• World Championships: 1967, 1970
• European Championships: 1963, 1965, 1967

Club

• Euroleague Championship: 1963, 1969
• Soviet Union League Championship: 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1969
• Estonian SSR Championship: 1958, 1959, 1971, 1974, 1979