Joel Bolomboy

One collector is trying to find a single signature from every man who ever played for the Jazz — all 370 of them, from the 1974 New Orleans team to today. For many of them, this page is the only one on the internet. Here is Joel Bolomboy: what he did on the floor, a few things most people never knew, and every card that carries his name. If you own something he signed — or you know who might — there is a note at the foot of this page.

Born in Ukraine to a Congolese father and a Russian mother, Bolomboy was raised in Fort Worth from before age three and became the all-time leading rebounder in Weber State and Big Sky Conference history, the league's 2016 Player of the Year. The Jazz drafted him 52nd that June, and he spent his rookie season between Utah and the Salt Lake City Stars, where he averaged 16.5 points and 13.3 rebounds.

His later career traced the era's fault lines: he took Russian citizenship in 2018 and played for Russia's national team, then left CSKA Moscow in February 2022 over the invasion of Ukraine, the country of his birth. He now plays for Crvena zvezda in Belgrade.

HOW HE CAME & WENTUtah took him 52nd overall in 2016, keeping the Weber State product barely an hour from campus, and waived him in October 2017.

Utah Jazz tenure

2016–17

Position

Forward

Born

1994, Donetsk, Ukraine

Height

6′9″ (206 cm)

Weight

236 lb (107 kg)

College

Weber State

Drafted

2016, 2nd round (No. 52), Utah