Dairis Bertāns
Bertāns with Latvia in 2023
No. 9 – VEF Rīga
PositionShooting guard
LeagueLEBL
Personal information
Born (1989-09-09) September 9, 1989
Valmiera, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union
NationalityLatvian
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
NBA draft2011: undrafted
Playing career2004–present
Career history
2004–2006Valmiera Lacplesa Alus
2006–2009ASK Rīga
2009–2010Ventspils
2010–2013VEF Rīga
2013–2016Dominion Bilbao Basket
2016–2017Darüşşafaka Doğuş
2017–2019Olimpia Milano
2019New Orleans Pelicans
2019–2021Khimki
2021–2023Coosur Real Betis
2023–presentVEF Rīga
Career highlights and awards
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Latvia
European U-18 Championship
Bronze medal – third place2007 SpainU-18

Dairis Bertāns (born September 9, 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.

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, 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 Philadelphia 76ers.[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, where he averaged 11.3 points, 3 rebounds and 1.6 in three games played for the Spurs.[7]

On January 20, 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 July 13, 2016, Bertāns signed a 1+1-year deal with Turkish club Darüşşafaka Doğuş under head coach David Blatt.[9] On January 12, 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 July 10, 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 June 29, 2018, Bertāns re-signed with Milano for the 2018–19 season.[12] However, on March 1, 2019, Bertāns parted ways with Milano so he can continue the season in the NBA.[13]

New Orleans Pelicans (2019)

On March 2, 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 March 16.[17] On July 7, 2019, he was waived by the Pelicans.[18]

Khimki (2019–2021)

On July 8, 2019, Bertāns signed a two-year contract with Khimki,[19] reuniting with the 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 May 25, 2020, Euroleague Basketball cancelled its competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[23]

Real Betis (2021–2023)

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

Return to VEF Rīga (2023-present)

On July 14, 2023 it was announced that after ten years away from home Dairis has 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 12013.9.255.294-.8.8.1.02.8
Career 12013.9.255.294-.8.8.1.02.8

EuroLeague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2016–17 Darüşşafaka 32716.1.463.500.836.71.3.2.16.45.4
2017–18 Milano 28418.4.417.409.8571.01.4.4.17.15.3
2018–19 221116.6.479.536.8241.0.6.7.06.45.1
2019–20 Khimki 21716.5.438.429.800.61.1.3.14.63.1
Career 1032916.9.447.462.836.81.2.4.06.24.7

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. He was also the leading scorer (14.1ppg) 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 Dairis 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

TournamentGames playedPoints per gameRebounds per gameAssists per game
EuroBasket 201158.61.82.0
EuroBasket 2013810.91.82.1
EuroBasket 2015910.02.33.0
EuroBasket 2017711.13.35.3

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. In childhood Bertāns was raised in Latvian most northern town Rūjiena until his parents moved to capital city Rīga.

References

  1. ↑ "Hot day in Latvia". Sportando.basketball. March 12, 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  2. ↑ "VEF Riga announce Valters, Grafs and Bertans". Sportando.basketball. August 10, 2010. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  3. ↑ "VEF Riga keeps Dairis Bertans". Sportando.basketball. July 12, 2012. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Bilbao signs Dairis Bertans to a three-year deal". Sportando.basketball. June 6, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  5. ↑ "76ers 106, Bilbao Basket 104". ESPN.com. October 6, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Celtics Announce 2014 Orlando Summer League Roster". NBA.com. July 1, 2014. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Spurs Announce 2015 Summer League Rosters for Utah & Las Vegas". NBA.com. July 3, 2015. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Dominion Bilbao Basket vs. FC Bayern Munich - Game". EuroCupBasketball.com. January 20, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Darussafaka Dogus lands Dairis Bertans". Sportando.com. July 13, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Darussafaka Dogus Istanbul vs. Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz - Game". EuroLeague.net. January 12, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  11. ↑ "Olimpia adds three-point shooter Dairis Bertans". Olimpiamilano.com. 10 July 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  12. ↑ "Olimpia Milano keeps Dairis Bertans". sportando.basketball. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  13. ↑ "Bertans: Olimpia gave me the opportunity to realize a dream that I was pursuing since I was a kid". sportando.basketball. March 1, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  14. ↑ "New Orleans Pelicans sign Dairis Bertans". NBA.com. March 2, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2020-08-13. Retrieved 2019-03-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-12-26. Retrieved 2019-03-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2020-09-17. Retrieved 2019-03-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. ↑ "Pelicans Waive Dairis Bertans". hoopsrumors.com. July 7, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  19. ↑ "Khimki inks shooting ace Bertans for two years". euroleague.net. July 8, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  20. ↑ "Khimki, Kurtinaitis together until 2021". euroleague.net. July 5, 2019. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
  21. ↑ "EuroLeague 2019-20 STATISTICS". euroleague.net. August 28, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Standings". euroleague.net. August 28, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 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. ↑ "Dairis Bertans inks with Coosur Real Betis". Sportando. July 27, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  25. ↑ {https://sportacentrs.com/basketbols/lbl/14072023-izlases_kapteinis_dairis_bertans_pec_desm Izlases kapteinis Dairis Bertāns pēc desmit gadiem atgriežas dzimtenē un pastiprina VEF]
  26. ↑ "Latvia 91 at France 102". RealGM.com. September 13, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
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