Career
Gomelsky began his coaching career in 1948, in Leningrad, with LGS Spartak. In 1953, he became the coach of ASK Group (a software company) Riga, an army club, leading the team to five Soviet Union League titles, and three consecutive European Champions Cups (Euroleague), from 1958 to 1960. In 1969, he was appointed the head coach of CSKA Moscow, where he coached until 1980, leading the club to 9 Soviet Union national league championships (1970–1974, 1976–1979), 2 Soviet Union Cups (1972–1973), and one European Champions Cup (Euroleague) title in 1971.
He also led the club to two more European Champions Cup (Euroleague) finals, in 1970, and 1973.
He also coached in Spain, France, and the United States. He was the Soviet national team head coach in 1972, and was expected to coach the team at the 1972 Summer Olympic games, but the Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (Committee for State Security) confiscated his passport, fearing that, since Gomelsky was Jewish, that he would defect to Israel.
In his later years, Gomelsky was the president of CSKA Moscow. In 1995, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
In 2007, he was enshrined into the International Basketball Federation Hall of Fame.
In 2008, he was named one of the 50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors.