| Vitalii Potapenko | |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 10 |
| Weight Lb: | 280 |
| League: | NBA |
| Team: | Detroit Pistons |
| Position: | Assistant coach |
| Birth Date: | 21 March 1975 |
| Birth Place: | Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Nationality: | Ukrainian |
| College: | Wright State (1994–1996) |
| Draft Year: | 1996 |
| Draft Round: | 1 |
| Draft Pick: | 12 |
| Draft Team: | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| Career Start: | 1992 |
| Career End: | 2008 |
| Coach Start: | 2009 |
| Career Position: | Center |
| Career Number: | 52, 9, 20 |
| Years1: | 1992–1994 |
| Team1: | Budivelnyk |
| Years2: | – |
| Team2: | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| Years3: | – |
| Team3: | Boston Celtics |
| Years4: | – |
| Team4: | Seattle SuperSonics |
| Years5: | – |
| Team5: | Sacramento Kings |
| Years6: | 2007–2008 |
| Team6: | Estudiantes |
| Cyears1: | 2009–2010 |
| Cteam1: | Fort Wayne Mad Ants (assistant) |
| Cyears2: | – |
| Cteam2: | Indiana Pacers (assistant) |
| Cyears3: | 2011–2012 |
| Cteam3: | Dakota Wizards (assistant) |
| Cyears4: | 2012–2013 |
| Cteam4: | Santa Cruz Warriors (assistant) |
| Cyears5: | – |
| Cteam5: | Cleveland Cavaliers (assistant) |
| Cyears6: | – |
| Cteam6: | Memphis Grizzlies (assistant) |
| Cyears7: | -present |
| Cteam7: | Detroit Pistons (assistant) |
| Highlights: | As player:
As assistant coach: |
| Stats League: | NBA |
| Stat1label: | Points |
| Stat1value: | 3,995 (6.5 ppg) |
| Stat2label: | Rebounds |
| Stat2value: | 2,725 (4.5 rpg) |
| Stat3label: | Assists |
| Stat3value: | 418 (0.7 apg) |
Vitalii Mykolayovych Potapenko ([1] Ukrainian: Віталій Миколайович Потапенко; born March 21, 1975) is a Ukrainian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball at Wright State University and was selected 12th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1996 NBA draft, also the last pick before Kobe Bryant. Nicknamed "The Ukraine Train",[2] he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Boston Celtics, the Seattle SuperSonics, and the Sacramento Kings of the NBA, as well as MMT Estudiantes in the Spanish ACB.[3] [4]
Since retiring as a player, Potapenko has been serving as an assistant coach for several teams, among them the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Indiana Pacers, the Dakota Wizards,[5] and the Santa Cruz Warriors and later as an assistant director of player development for the Cleveland Cavaliers,[6] helping them win their first ever NBA championship.
|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland| 80 || 3 || 15.5 || .440 || .500 || .736 || 2.7 || .5 || .3 || .4 || 5.8|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland| 80 || 0 || 17.7 || .480 || .000 || .708 || 3.9 || .7 || .3 || .4 || 7.1|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland| 17 || 12 || 27.5 || .437 || .000 || .673 || 5.5 || .9 || .6 || .9 || 8.4|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Boston| 33 || 32 || 28.1 || .521 || || .547 || 7.2 || 1.8 || .7 || .6 || 10.8|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Boston| 79 || 72 || 22.7 || .499 || .000 || .681 || 6.3 || 1.0 || .5 || .4 || 9.2|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Boston| 82 || 7 || 23.2 || .476 || || .728 || 6.0 || .8 || .6 || .3 || 7.5|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Boston| 79 || 9 || 17.0 || .455 || || .742 || 4.4 || .4 || .5 || .2 || 4.6|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Seattle| 26 || 2 || 15.4 || .441 || || .759 || 3.4 || .2 || .3 || .3 || 4.6|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Seattle| 65 || 39 || 21.8 || .489 || || .641 || 4.4 || .8 || .3 || .4 || 7.1|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Seattle| 33 || 1 || 10.2 || .517 || || .871 || 2.4 || .3 || .2 || .1 || 3.5|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Seattle| 24 || 12 || 13.4 || .500 || || .588 || 2.6 || .3 || .1 || .1 || 3.1|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Sacramento| 9 || 0 || 3.5 || .714 || || || .2 || .2 || .0 || .0 || 1.1|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Sacramento| 3 || 0 || 4.3 || .000 || || || .7 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .0|- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career| 610 || 189 || 19.0 || .479 || .167 || .694 || 4.5 || .7 || .4 || .3 || 6.5|-
|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland| 4 || 0 || 17.5 || .400 || || .500 || 2.8 || .8 || .5 || .0 || 4.3|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Seattle| 5 || 0 || 7.4 || .500 || || || 1.4 || .0 || .0 || .0 || 2.0|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Sacramento| 4 || 0 || 2.4 || .500 || || || .3 || .0 || .3 || .0 || 1.0|- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career| 13 || 0 || 9.0 || .448 || || .500 || 1.5 || .2 || .2 || .0 || 2.4|-