# 2021–22 VTB United League

The 2021–22 VTB United League was the 13th season of the VTB United League. It was the 9th season that the league functions as the Russian domestic first tier level. Two teams left the league mid-season because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

## Teams

A total of 10 teams from three countries contest the league, including eight sides from Russia, one from Belarus, and one from Kazakhstan.
BC Khimki didn't apply for this season because of the financial difficulties.
On 24 February 2022, Estonian club Kalev/Cramo terminated their membership in the VTB United League in protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The next day the league confirmed receiving declaration letter from the club. On 25 February, Polish club Zielona Góra also suspended their participation in the competition. On 1 March, VTB United League released a statement "Zielona Góra has suspended participation in the League at the moment, the next three home games have been postponed".

### Venues and locations

| Team | Home city | Arena | Capacity |
| Astana | Nur-Sultan | Arena Velotrack | 9,270 |
| Avtodor | Saratov | DS Kristall | 5,500 |
| CSKA Moscow | Moscow | Megasport Arena | 13,344 |
| Enisey | Krasnoyarsk | Arena.Sever | 4,000 |
| Kalev/Cramo | Tallinn | Saku Suurhall | 7,200 |
| Lokomotiv Kuban | Krasnodar | Basket-Hall | 7,500 |
| Nizhny Novgorod | Nizhny Novgorod | Trade Union Sport Palace | 5,500 |
| Parma | Perm | UDS Molot | 7,000 |
| Tsmoki Minsk | Minsk | Minsk-Arena | 15,000 |
| UNICS | Kazan | Basket-Hall | 7,000 |
| Zenit | Saint Petersburg | Sibur Arena | 6,381 |
| Zielona Góra | Zielona Góra | CRS Hall Zielona Góra | 6,080 |

## Regular season

In the regular season, teams play against each other twice (home-and-away) in a round-robin format.

### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | CSKA Moscow | 18 | 15 | 3 | 1596 | 1260 | +336 | .833 | Advance to playoffs |
| 2 | Zenit Saint Petersburg | 18 | 14 | 4 | 1537 | 1332 | +205 | .778 | Advance to playoffs |
| 3 | UNICS | 18 | 14 | 4 | 1530 | 1316 | +214 | .778 | Advance to playoffs |
| 4 | Lokomotiv Kuban | 18 | 11 | 7 | 1663 | 1566 | +97 | .611 | Advance to playoffs |
| 5 | Parma | 18 | 10 | 8 | 1370 | 1388 | −18 | .556 | Advance to playoffs |
| 6 | Avtodor | 18 | 9 | 9 | 1475 | 1559 | −84 | .500 | Advance to playoffs |
| 7 | Enisey | 18 | 6 | 12 | 1381 | 1474 | −93 | .333 | Advance to playoffs |
| 8 | Nizhny Novgorod | 18 | 6 | 12 | 1353 | 1418 | −65 | .333 | Advance to playoffs |
| 9 | Tsmoki Minsk | 18 | 3 | 15 | 1225 | 1543 | −318 | .167 | |
| 10 | Astana | 18 | 2 | 16 | 1212 | 1486 | −274 | .111 | |
| 11 | Zielona Góra | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Retired from the league |
| 12 | Kalev/Cramo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Retired from the league |

### Results

| Home \ Away | AST | AVT | CSK | ENI | KAL | LOK | NIZ | PAR | TSM | UNI | ZEN | ZGA |
| Astana | — | 61–84 | 48–96 | 80–87 | − | 87–83 | 49–69 | 65–82 | 64–65 | 53–84 | 60–94 | 84–70 |
| Avtodor | 83–82 | — | 86–102 | 79–80 | − | 95–108 | 100–94 | 70–86 | 95–79 | 81–76 | 75–93 | 81–74 |
| CSKA Moscow | 84–65 | 92–65 | — | 97–88 | 104–62 | 91–71 | 80–72 | 98–71 | 101–54 | 103–105 | 79–78 | 105–71 |
| Enisey | 76–65 | 95–101 | 62–87 | — | − | 82–86 | 87–79 | 61–78 | 86–79 | 80–83 | 56–79 | – |
| Kalev/Cramo | 85–67 | 93–97 | 67–56 | 81–87 | — | 66–86 | − | 53–80 | − | − | 74–75 | − |
| Lokomotiv Kuban | 109–57 | 106–83 | 69–88 | 101–93 | − | — | 97–70 | 101–74 | 92–87 | 101–94 | 79–106 | – |
| Nizhny Novgorod | 76–73 | 70–83 | 72–92 | 61–79 | 65–71 | 108–104 | — | 79–65 | 72–65 | 50–65 | 74–80 | – |
| Parma | 108–101 | 94–73 | 60–82 | 61–58 | 78–74 | 85–90 | 71–67 | — | 91–68 | 66–73 | 77–67 | 83–72 |
| Tsmoki Minsk | 66–60 | 64–72 | 44–92 | 72–68 | 93–91 | 79–104 | 53–95 | 75–78 | — | 72–92 | 74–90 | – |
| UNICS | 71–59 | 103–67 | 69–64 | 97–77 | 71–54 | 96–87 | 85–71 | 78–48 | 98–56 | — | 80–84 | 92–63 |
| Zenit Saint Petersburg | 69–83 | 74–83 | 81–68 | 89–66 | 75–60 | 91–75 | 90–74 | 82–75 | 93–73 | 97–81 | — | 97–80 |
| Zielona Góra | 91–83 | – | 59–93 | – | − | 90–98 | 77–95 | – | 96–64 | 80–85 | 52–79 | — |

## Playoffs

Quarterfinals, semifinals, and bronze medal series were played in a best-of-five format (2-2-1). Finals were played in a best-of-seven format (2-2-1-1-1).

### Bracket

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| 1 | CSKA Moscow | 3 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Nizhny Novgorod | 0 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Nizhny Novgorod | 0 | 1 | CSKA Moscow | 3 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Lokomotiv Kuban | 1 | | | |
| 4 | Lokomotiv Kuban | 3 | 4 | Lokomotiv Kuban | 1 | | | |
| 5 | Parma | 0 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Parma | 0 | | | | 1 | CSKA Moscow | 3 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Zenit Saint Petersburg | 4 |
| 2 | Zenit Saint Petersburg | 3 | | | | | | | 2 | Zenit Saint Petersburg | 4 |
| 7 | Enisey | 0 | | | |
| 7 | Enisey | 0 | 2 | Zenit Saint Petersburg | 3 | Bronze medal | Bronze medal | Bronze medal |
| | | | 3 | UNICS | 1 |
| 3 | UNICS | 3 | 3 | UNICS | 1 | 3 | UNICS | 3 |
| 6 | Avtodor | 0 | | | | 4 | Lokomotiv Kuban | 1 |

### Quarterfinals

| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 |
| CSKA Moscow | 3–0 | Nizhny Novgorod | 78–64 | 91–89 | 88–75 | — | — |
| Zenit Saint Petersburg | 3–0 | Enisey | 104–55 | 83–75 | 82–55 | — | — |
| UNICS | 3–0 | Avtodor | 106–76 | 97–59 | 88–79 | — | — |
| Lokomotiv Kuban | 3–0 | Parma | 76–70 | 100–84 | 101–78 | — | — |

### Semifinals

| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 |
| CSKA Moscow | 3–1 | Lokomotiv Kuban | 93–90 | 86–72 | 82–94 | 94–84 | — |
| Zenit Saint Petersburg | 3–1 | UNICS | 65–74 | 76–67 | 68–67 | 75–69 | — |

### Bronze medal series

| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 |
| UNICS | 3–1 | Lokomotiv Kuban | 90–75 | 81–94 | 93–87 | 94–73 | — |

### Finals

| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 |
| CSKA Moscow | 3–4 | Zenit Saint Petersburg | 83–59 | 82–73 | 79–93 | 111–110 | 95–97 | 63–82 | 75–81 |
$^†$ To be played only if necessary.

## VTB League teams in European competitions

| Team | Competition | Progress |
| CSKA Moscow | EuroLeague | Regular season (teams were suspended) |
| UNICS | EuroLeague | Regular season (teams were suspended) |
| Zenit Saint Petersburg | EuroLeague | Regular season (teams were suspended) |
| Lokomotiv Kuban | EuroCup | Regular season (teams were suspended) |
| Nizhny Novgorod | Champions League | Regular season |
| Kalev/Cramo | Champions League | Regular season |
| Avtodor | FIBA Europe Cup | Second round |
| Parma | FIBA Europe Cup | Second round |
| Tsmoki-Minsk | FIBA Europe Cup | Regular season |
| Enisey | FIBA Europe Cup | Qualifying rounds |

## Awards
### Season awards

| Award | Player | Team |
| Regular Season MVP | Mario Hezonja | UNICS |
| Playoffs MVP | Jordan Mickey | Zenit Saint Petersburg |
| Scoring Champion | Errick McCollum | Lokomotiv Kuban |
| Young Player of the Year | Andrey Martyuk | Lokomotiv Kuban |
| Coach of the Year | Dimitrios Itoudis | CSKA Moscow |
| Performance of the Season | Anthony Hickey | Astana |
| Sixth Man of the Year | Billy Baron | Zenit Saint Petersburg |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Jordan Mickey | Zenit Saint Petersburg |
| First Team | Errick McCollum | Lokomotiv Kuban |
| First Team | Alexey Shved | CSKA Moscow |
| First Team | Mario Hezonja | UNICS |
| First Team | Jordan Mickey | Zenit Saint Petersburg |
| First Team | Nikola Milutinov | CSKA Moscow |
| Second Team | Jordan Loyd | Zenit Saint Petersburg |
| Second Team | Billy Baron | Zenit Saint Petersburg |
| Second Team | Will Clyburn | CSKA Moscow |
| Second Team | Johnathan Motley | Lokomotiv Kuban |
| Second Team | Alex Poythress | Zenit Saint Petersburg |

### MVP of the Month

| Month | Player | Team |
| 2021 ||||
| September/October | Gabriel Lundberg | CSKA Moscow |
| November | Mario Hezonja | UNICS |
| December | Kenny Chery | Avtodor |
| 2022 ||||
| January | Jeremiah Hill | Parma |
| February | Alex Poythress | Zenit Saint Petersburg |
| March | Alexey Shved | CSKA Moscow |
| April | Billy Baron | Zenit Saint Petersburg |