Dairis Bertāns publicly confirms end of playing career

Former Latvia national basketball team captain Dairis Bertāns has publicly confirmed, in an interview for the show "Sporta Studija," that his professional playing career has come to an end. He had not spoken publicly about it before, though hints emerged from his recent move into management roles — as a manager for Latvia's national teams and his work with the "Rīgas Ekselences Junioru" team.

Bertāns explained that he deliberately chose not to announce the decision right after his final game, having already experienced an emotional farewell when he left the national team. This time, he said, he wanted to do things differently — rather than announcing the end of his career, he preferred to announce the start of something new. He named age and his health condition as the main factors behind the decision.

A rich career

With 159 appearances for the national team, Bertāns ranks third in games played in the history of the Latvian national squad, behind Uvis Helmanis and Jānis Blūms. In 2007, he helped Latvia's U18 team win the country's first-ever European Championship medal in youth basketball — bronze in Spain.

Bertāns began his professional career in the 2004/2005 season with a Valmiera club, later playing for "ASK Rīga" and "Ventspils," with whom he won his first Latvian league title in 2009. After joining "VEF Rīga," he became Latvian champion three years in a row, from 2012 to 2014. He began playing abroad at age 24, representing clubs in Spain, Turkey and Italy, winning the Italian championship with Olimpia Milano in 2018. In 2019, he also played in the NBA for the New Orleans Pelicans. After returning to Spain and later to "VEF Rīga," he went on to win a sixth Latvian championship title overall.