Dairis Bertāns announces end of basketball career

Former Latvia men's basketball national team captain Dairis Bertāns announced on Monday, in an interview with LTV1's programme "Sporta Studija", that he has ended his career as a player. He had not previously made an official announcement about retiring.

Bertāns played his final national team match on 28 November in a World Cup qualifying game against the Netherlands. In his last club season he played for VEF Rīga, and at the start of June this year he took up the role of sporting director for the Latvia men's national team.

Bertāns said that his final national team appearance, marked by the retirement announcement, had been an emotionally powerful occasion for him, and that he did not wish to repeat such an experience again.

Career path

Bertāns began his playing career with Latvian clubs - Valmiera, ASK/Juniors, ASK Rīga, Ventspils and VEF Rīga. He later played for foreign teams, including Spain's Bilbao Dominion and Sevilla's Real Betis, Istanbul's Darüşşafaka, Milan's AX Armani Exchange Olimpia, and Russian club Khimki of the Moscow region. He also played in the NBA, appearing in 12 games for the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2018/2019 season, averaging 2.8 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.

With Latvia's youth national teams, Bertāns took part in five European youth championships, winning bronze at the 2007 European U-18 Championship. He was a member of the men's national team from 2010 to 2025, during which he played 159 matches and took part in five European championships as well as a World Cup.