A Guide to the Latvia Men’s Basketball Team
The Latvia men’s basketball team made their FIBA Basketball World Cup debut in 2023 and what a coming-out party it was for Latvijas!
One of FIBA’s eight founding members, the team enjoyed their greatest period of success during the 1930s, when they made their only appearance at the Olympic Games and won the inaugural FIBA EuroBasket competition. Now led by a new generation of talent including NBA star Kristaps Porziņģis, Latvia will be hoping to embark on a new and sustained period of success.
Keen to discover more about the Latvia men’s basketball team? Check out this guide from Courtside 1891. It includes details on the side’s greatest achievements, best players and FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 performance.
2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments - another day without Porzingis
The Latvia men's basketball team are confirmed as one of the 24 nations that will compete in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments 2024, which you can stream live with Courtside 1891. The tournaments are currently scheduled for July 2-7 2024.
Four places remain to make up the twelve-team field that will compete at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. The Olympic basketball events will take place between 27th July and 10th of August 2024. The nations currently confirmed to participate are France (host), South Sudan, Serbia, Canada, Japan, Germany, Australia and the United States.
Latvia will host Brazil, Cameroon, Georgia, Montenegro, and Philippines for a shot at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Luca Banchi's team is red-hot, but yet another surgery for Boston Celtics star and fresh NBA Champion Kristaps Porzingis will mean they'll need to be without The Unicorn during the qualifiers and Summer games in case of qualification. They coped well at the World Cup, will the Latvijas do it again?
How Did Latvia Do At The FIBA World Cup 2023?
Here are the top stats from Latvia's FIBA Basketball World Cup campaign:
- → Final Standing: 5th
- → Results: Played 8 Won 6 Lost 2
- → Top Points Scorer: Andrejs Gražulis 115 PTS (14.4 PPG)
- → Top Assist Provider: Artūrs Žagars 59 AST (7.4 APG)
- → Most Efficient Player: Andrejs Gražulis 18.4 EPG
Latvia rallied from injury setbacks to Kristaps Porziņģis (pre-tournament withdrawal) and Captain Dairis Bertāns, who went down with a hamstring injury during Latvia's famous opening game shock victory over France, to make it all the way to the final weekend of play.
A 98-63 fifth-place classification game win over Lithuania saw Latvia national team head coach Luca Banchi win Best Coach honors and Artūrs Žagars make the All-Second team. Artūrs Žagars made World Cup history in that game, recording a record 17 assists.
A tremendous team spirit, solid team basketball principles and a splattering of top-level talent led to memorable performances that will last a lifetime. Watch the best plays from the 5th-place matchup below.
Latvia v Lithuania - 5-min Game
Team Presentation Video
Increase your knowledge about Latvia with the help of our handy Team Discovery Video. This bite-size package will provide you with lots of stats and facts about Latvia that was produced before the FIBA Basketball World Cup tips off.
Team Presentation - Latvia - FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023
Latvia's FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments roster - Zagars is back, Porz is out!
When Latvia unveiled their 16-man extended roster for FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments 2024, all the talk was about one man: fresh NBA champion, Boston Celtics star, Kristaps Porziņģis.
A star in the NBA and a national sporting hero - more than 11 thousand people came to watch him represent the team in a FIBA World Cup qualifying game against Türkiye.
Porziņģis joined the NBA in 2015, when he was drafted fourth overall by the New York Knicks. Once labelled ‘a unicorn’ by LeBron James, Porziņģis was named as an NBA All-Star in 2018. He’s been plagued by injuries in recent years, but he’s coming off a bounce-back year with the Washington Wizards, where he averaged more than 23 points per game and enjoyed a career-high field goal percentage (.498)
Porziņģis had been joined in the extended squad by brothers Dairis and Dāvis Bertāns, who are both dangerous and will add some much-needed scoring around Porziņģis. Dāvis, who was once traded for Porziņģis, has also enjoyed a prolonged NBA career. In eight seasons, he’s played almost 500 games in the league.
Latvia's standout player from the 2023 FIBA World Cup Arturs Zagars will also be back in action for the national team after tearing a medial collateral ligament early in the season, only returning to Wolves BC in April. Having him back to his best will be a boost for Luca Banchi but also a nice chance for the point guard to bounce back from an unlucky injury and sign off the season in style.
Legends of the Team
Leading his team during their first World Cup run means Porziņģis is well on his way towards becoming a legend of Latvian basketball. However, one man currently holds the crown as the best Latvian player of all time: Andris Biedriņš.
Biedriņš was drafted by the Golden State Warriors with the 11th overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft. A talented and powerful center, he initially struggled to adapt when he was the youngest player in the league.
He overcame his struggles when he was backed by legendary coach Don Nelson, who gave him the starting center spot. Following this, he carved out a solid 10-year NBA career where he played in more than 500 games.
Internationally, he featured for Latvia at the 2007 and 2009 EuroBasket tournaments. In 2007, he played a starring role and averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds per game.
Historical World Cup Performance
Latvia will make their FIBA Basketball World Cup debut in 2023.
Between 1950 and 1990, Latvia were part of the Soviet union that competed internationally on the sporting stage. Then, between 1994 and 2019, the Latvia basketball team failed to get past the qualification stage.
As predicted by many, the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup group that drew Latvia had the potential to be a ‘group of death. That turned out to be the case, with Latvia surviving in Group H which also featured Canada France and Lebanon. As predicted when this article was first published, Latvia did spring a few surprises and used their lack of historic results in the competition’s showpiece event to their advantage.
Previous Successes and Tournament Wins
Basketball Latvia had their most successful period almost a century ago. They made their only appearance at the Olympic Games in 1936, when they finished 15th. They also won the inaugural FIBA EuroBasket title in 1935 and claimed a silver medal at the 1939 tournament. Their best EuroBasket finish since their silver in 1939 was 5th, which they achieved in 2017.
How to Watch Latvia Men's Basketball
With Courtside 1891, worldwide fans can watch Latvia compete in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (FOQTs) 2024. We stream every game of FIBA international tournaments as well as other competitions from around the world.
As FIBA’s premium streaming partner for the World Cup, Courtside 1891 provided access to every 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup game! Watch the competition's biggest games and best moments on-demand on our FIBA Basketball World Cup page.
The best way to make sure that you never miss a single second of the upcoming action is to download our app, which is available on the App Store and Google Play, or sign up to our website platform. Please be aware that, due to broadcasting rights and restrictions, access to some games might be restricted depending on your location. See our where-to-watch page for full details of upcoming competitions.
Looking for the latest results from the world of basketball? Head over to the Courtside 1891 Game Center. Here you’ll also find matchup times in your country as well as easy-to-access game highlights you can watch when you register with Courtside 1891.
