Jaak Lipso
Quick Facts
Biography
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. Lipso also won two medals at the FIBA World Championship and was a three-time Eurobasket champion with the Soviet Union national basketball team. He was a member of the Soviet Union national team from 1961 to 1970. After his active career Lipso became a basketball coach, and was elected to the Estonian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.
Lipso died on 3 March 2023, at age 82.
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