BEIJING -- This doesn't happen very often. At the Olympic Basketball Gymnasium yesterday, there was a Pittsburgh guy celebrating his 32nd birthday by participating in the Olympics for the first time, playing for Russia against Iran in China.

Are the Games a world event, or what?

"I don't think I could have a better birthday," point guard J.R. Holden said, after Russia dispatched the Iranians, 71-49, in the first pool-play men's game of the tournament.

"I'm happy. Thank goodness we won. We got off to a good start."

That's thanks in large part to the 5-foot-11 Holden.

He scored five of Russia's first seven points and nine of its first 13, finishing with a game-high 19, to go along with five steals as part of a tight defense that was too much for Iran.

So what's a kid from Wilkinsburg doing playing for Russia at the Olympics?

That question is simple and complicated at the same time. And it raises another question that has been dogging Holden -- is he a traitor?

He certainly doesn't think so.

"It's an opportunity of a lifetime," said Holden, who has spent several years playing professionally abroad and has settled in with Russian Super League team CSKA Moscow.

"To pass up an opportunity to be in the Olympics because you're not Russian or because you're American, I think would be foolish."

From the Linsly School in West Virginia Holden went to Bucknell, finishing in 1998.

One day, sitting in Darelle Porter's office when Porter was the Duquesne University coach, Holden spotted an application on the desk for playing overseas. He started reading it while Porter was away for a minute.

"I thought, 'Well, let me fill this out real quick,'" said Holden, who relieved Porter of the paper. "I took it and stuck it in the mail. I got a call from a guy from Finland. It's amazing how things happen."

He also has played in Latvia, Greece and Belgium.

After Holden settled in with CSKA Moscow, Russian president Vladimir Putin took a shine to him and OKed a Russian passport for Holden in 2003 -- the same year he was league MVP -- so he could join the national team.

His first big international tournament was the 2005 EuroBasket in Serbia. He helped lead Russia to the title of that major championship last year and scored the title-clinching basket in the Euroleague tournament this year.

"The first time I did it in 2005, it did feel a little weird," Holden said of playing for Russia. "It's serious, representing your country. You see people crying and things like that. It makes you realize that it's an honor and a privilege. It's not just throwing on any jersey. For them to want me not just as a player but as a person representing them, means a lot to me."

The team lists him under a Russianized spelling, Dzhon-Robert Kholden. He is not the only American-born player competing for Russia in the basketball tournament. WNBA player Becky Hammon is on the women's team.

Holden has faced America in international play with no problems or funny feelings. The teams are in opposite pools here and could only meet in the single-elimination medal round.

In the game yesterday, there were no catcalls or cries of "Traitor" aimed at Holden.

Holden had an offer from Memphis to play for the NBA minimum in 2005 but turned it down.

"I wouldn't go back for the minimum," he said. "I love basketball. I love playing. I don't want to go back just to say I was in the NBA. I get to play against the best in the world. It's not just about being able to play in the States. It's more about opportunity. The right situation for me is in Russia."

One person who can't dispute that and vehemently defends Holden's place with the team is Russian coach David Blatt, who was born in Boston and has duel citizenship in the United States and Israel.

If Holden is a traitor, Blatt is, too.

"That kind of talk is just foolish, outright foolish," Blatt said. "There's a lot of reasons that people play or participate in the Olympic Games.

"He has an opportunity to play for the Russian national team because he was awarded citizenship due to several years of service in the Russian League and has become every bit a Russian player as the next guy on our team. I say all the power to him. He's a terrific kid. He's a player at the highest level of European basketball and he has the kind of qualities as a person and a player that you want to see in any sportsman."

Holden travels with his U.S. passport and has no stamps in the Russian version.

"It's just the way it works out," he said. "I'm a basketball player as a Russian. When I go home, I'm from the U.S."

And while he's here, Holden is happy to be from many places at once, but one in particular.

"It's a long way from Pittsburgh, but I'm a Pittsburghian," he said. "I love it."