Carex Pensylvanica

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Dairis Bertāns (born 9 September 1989) is a Latvian professional basketball player for VEF Rīga of the Latvian–Estonian Basketball League. Bertāns also plays for the Latvia national basketball team. He is the older brother of Dāvis Bertāns. He is a 6-foot-4-inch (1.93 m), 200-pound (91 kg) shooting guard.

Professional career

Latvia (2004–2013)

From 2004 to 2006, Bertāns played for Valmiera and its junior team. In 2006, he signed with ASK Rīga. In 2006–07, he played for ASK Rīga's junior team, and in 2007–08, he made his debut for the senior squad.

In March 2009, he left ASK Rīga following the club's financial difficulties and signed a two-year deal with Ventspils.[1]

In August 2010, he signed a two-year deal with VEF Rīga.[2] VEF Rīga's coach at the time, Rimas Kurtinaitis, saw potential in Bertāns as a point guard despite primarily being a shooting guard. So, during the 2010–11 season, Bertāns developed point guard skills to a different level, and was one of the key factors in VEF Rīga's first championship.

In July 2012, he re-signed with VEF Rīga on a three-year deal.[3]

Bilbao Basket (2013–2016)

In June 2013, Bertāns parted ways with VEF Rīga to sign a three-year deal with Bilbao Basket of the Liga ACB.[4] In one of his first games with Bilbao, he scored 19 points in a preseason game against the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA.[5]

In July 2014, Bertāns joined the Boston Celtics for the 2014 NBA Summer League.[6]

In his second season with Bilbao, Bertāns helped the team to reach the 2015 ACB Playoffs as the fifth seed, but they eventually lost to Valencia in the quarterfinals.

In July 2015, Bertāns joined the San Antonio Spurs for the 2015 NBA Summer League. He averaged 11.3 points, 3 rebounds and 1.6 in three games played for the Spurs.[7]

On 20 January 2016, Bertāns recorded a season-high 27 points, shooting 6-of-11 from three-point range, along with four rebounds and two assists in a 76–78 loss to Bayern Munich.[8]

Darüşşafaka (2016–2017)

On 13 July 2016, Bertāns signed a 1+1-year deal with Turkish club Darüşşafaka Doğuş under head coach David Blatt.[9] On 12 January 2017, Bertāns recorded a career-high 29 points, shooting 10-of-13 from the field, along with five assists in a 98–89 win over Baskonia.[10] Bertāns helped the team to reach the 2017 EuroLeague Playoffs as the eighth seed, but they eventually were eliminated by Real Madrid in the quarterfinals.

Olimpia Milano (2017–2019)

Bertāns with Olimpia Milano in November 2017

On 10 July 2017, Bertāns signed with Italian club Olimpia Milano.[11] In his first season with Milano, Bertāns helped Milano to win the 2018 Italian League championship.

On 29 June 2018, Bertāns re-signed with Milano for the 2018–19 season.[12] However, on 1 March 2019, Bertāns parted ways with Milano so he can continue the season in the NBA.[13]

New Orleans Pelicans (2019)

On 2 March 2019, Bertāns signed with the New Orleans Pelicans.[14] Bertāns later made his NBA debut eight days later, recording just one assist in six minutes of action in a 128–116 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.[15] He then recorded a rebound two days later in a 130–113 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.[16] He made his first basket with a three-pointer in a 138–136 overtime loss to the Phoenix Suns on 16 March.[17] On 7 July 2019, he was waived by the Pelicans.[18]

Khimki (2019–2021)

On 8 July 2019, Bertāns signed a two-year contract with Khimki,[19] reuniting with head coach Rimas Kurtinaitis.[20] He played in 21 out of 28 Euroleague games[21] and BC Khimki won 13 games, placing them 7th place in the standings,[22] which would qualify the team to playoffs. On 25 May 2020, Euroleague Basketball cancelled its competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[23]

Real Betis (2021–2023)

On 27 July 2021, Bertāns signed with Real Betis of the Liga ACB.[24]

Return to VEF Rīga (2023–present)

On 14 July 2023, it was announced that after ten years away from home, Bertāns had returned to VEF Rīga, signing a two-year contract.[25]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

NBA

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2018–19 New Orleans 12 0 13.9 .255 .294 – .8 .8 .1 .0 2.8
Career 12 0 13.9 .255 .294 – .8 .8 .1 .0 2.8

EuroLeague

* Led the league
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2016–17 Darüşşafaka 32 7 16.1 .463 .500 .836 .7 1.3 .2 .1 6.4 5.4
2017–18 Milano 28 4 18.4 .417 .409 .857 1.0 1.4 .4 .1 7.1 5.3
2018–19 22 11 16.6 .479 .536* .824 1.0 .6 .7 — 6.4 5.1
2019–20 Khimki 21 7 16.9 .438 .429 .800 .6 1.1 .3 — 4.6 3.1
2020–21 20 6 17.2 .344 .348 .857 1.2 .9 .4 .1 5.4 2.7
Career 123 35 17.0 .429 .441 .840 .9 1.1 .4 .0 6.1 4.5

National team career

Bertāns has been member of the Latvian U-16, U-19 and U-20 national teams, as well as the senior national team. He led Latvia to a bronze medal at the 2007 U18 European Championship in Madrid, Spain. He has since represented the Latvia national team at the EuroBasket 2011. Furthermore, he was also the leading scorer (14.1 ppg) for Latvia in 2012, when he helped Latvia earn a spot in EuroBasket 2013.

Bertāns was a key player for Latvia during EuroBasket 2013 where he averaged 10.9 ppg. In his best game of the tournament Bertāns had a 28-point performance against eventual champs France.[26]

He returned for EuroBasket 2015 and 2017, helping Latvia get to the quarterfinal round on both occasions.

Statistics

Tournament Games played Points per game Rebounds per game Assists per game
EuroBasket 2011 5 8.6 1.8 2.0
EuroBasket 2013 8 10.9 1.8 2.1
EuroBasket 2015 9 10.0 2.3 3.0
EuroBasket 2017 7 11.1 3.3 5.3

Personal life

Bertāns' brother, Dāvis, is also a professional basketball player. Their father, Dainis, was a professional basketball player and is currently a youth coach. Their mother is a sports teacher and a former high-level rower. During his childhood, Bertāns was raised in Latvia's northernmost town, Rūjiena, until his parents moved to the capital city, Riga.

References

  1. ^ Carchia, E. (12 March 2009). "Hot day in Latvia". Sportando.basketball. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  2. ^ Carchia, E. (10 August 2010). "VEF Riga announce Valters, Grafs and Bertans". Sportando.basketball. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  3. ^ Carchia, E. (12 July 2012). "VEF Riga keeps Dairis Bertans". Sportando.basketball. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  4. ^ Carchia, E. (6 June 2013). "Bilbao signs Dairis Bertans to a three-year deal". Sportando.basketball. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  5. ^ "76ers 106, Bilbao Basket 104". ESPN.com. 6 October 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  6. ^ "Celtics Announce 2014 Orlando Summer League Roster". NBA.com. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  7. ^ Julian, M. (3 July 2015). "Spurs Announce 2015 Summer League Rosters for Utah & Las Vegas". NBA.com. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  8. ^ "Dominion Bilbao Basket vs. FC Bayern Munich - Game". EuroCupBasketball.com. 20 January 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  9. ^ "Darussafaka Dogus lands Dairis Bertans". Sportando.com. 13 July 2016. Archived from the original on 16 July 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  10. ^ "Darussafaka Dogus Istanbul vs. Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz - Game". EuroLeague.net. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  11. ^ Mariani, Ivan (10 July 2017). "Olimpia adds three-point shooter Dairis Bertans". Olimpiamilano.com. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  12. ^ "Olimpia Milano keeps Dairis Bertans". sportando.basketball. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2018.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ Carchia, Emiliano (1 March 2019). "Bertans: Olimpia gave me the opportunity to realize a dream that I was pursuing since I was a kid". sportando.basketball. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  14. ^ "New Orleans Pelicans sign Dairis Bertans". NBA.com. 2 March 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  15. ^ "Archived copy". NBA.com. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. ^ "Archived copy". NBA.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. ^ "Archived copy". NBA.com. Archived from the original on 17 September 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. ^ Crum, Clark (7 July 2019). "Pelicans Waive Dairis Bertans". hoopsrumors.com. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  19. ^ "Khimki inks shooting ace Bertans for two years". euroleague.net. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  20. ^ "Khimki, Kurtinaitis together until 2021". euroleague.net. 5 July 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  21. ^ "EuroLeague 2019-20 STATISTICS". euroleague.net. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  22. ^ "Standings". euroleague.net. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  23. ^ "ECA Shareholders Executive Board announces decisions regarding 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons". Euroleague Basketball. 25 May 2020. Archived from the original on 3 June 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  24. ^ Carchia, Emiliano (27 July 2021). "Dairis Bertans inks with Coosur Real Betis". Sportando. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  25. ^ Dilāns, Kristiāns (14 July 2023). "Izlases kapteinis Dairis Bertāns pēc desmit gadiem atgriežas dzimtenē un pastiprina VEF". sportacentrs.com (in Latvian). Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  26. ^ "Latvia 91 at France 102". RealGM.com. 13 September 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2019.

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