VEF Rīga is a Latvian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team that is based in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. VEF Rīga is a nine-time

Latvian Basketball League Latvian may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Latvia **Latvians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to what is modern-day Latvia and the immediate geographical region **Latvian language Latvian ( ), also known as Lettish, is an Easter ...

champion.

History

Early years

The club name VEF came from the

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...

manufacturing company VEF which created the basketball club in 1958. VEF Rīga has been home to some of the best Latvian players for more than five decades. At the beginning with legendary Alfrēds Krauklis as head coach and players like Cezars Ozers, Oļģerts Jurgensons, Bruno Drake,

Juris Kalnins The Juris were a tribe of South American Indigenous people The Indigenous peoples of South America or South American Indigenous peoples, are the pre-Colombian peoples of South America and their descendants. These peoples contrast with South ...

, Edmunds Dobelis, Juris Merksons, Visvaldis Eglitis and others, VEF soon started to compete in the Soviet Union League. Back in those days, Latvia was a reference in Soviet and European basketball, as ASK Rīga was the best team in the continent, winning three consecutive European Cup titles from 1958 and 1960 with stars like

Jānis Krūmiņš Jānis Krūmiņš (30 January 1930 – 20 November 1994) was a Soviet Union, Soviet-Latvian people, Latvian professional basketball player. Helped by his height (about 220 cm, or 7'3"), he was the first giant Center (basketball), center th ...

Maigonis Valdmanis Maigonis Valdmanis (September 8, 1933 – October 30, 1999) was a Soviet and Latvian basketball player and coach. He was born in Riga. He played for Rīgas ASK and won three Euroleague titles (1958, 1959, 1960) and four Soviet national league c ...

and head coach Aleksander Gomelskiy. ASK's tremendous success overshadowed VEF's achievements such as finishing third in the very competitive USSR championship in 1960. VEF's star player Cezars Ozers made it to the Soviet Union national team that reached the Olympics title game against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

1960. VEF Rīga confirmed its status as a Soviet Union League regular, keeping its name in the first division and becoming a hard-to-beat team at any level. The lack of a second continental club competition, however, prevented VEF from proving its value against teams all around Europe. VEF had its first golden age throughout the 1960s, with Merksons, Kalnins, Jurgensons Ozers, Eglitis and Drake as its core players. A major addition had taken place, too, as Krumins, the most dominant player in Europe for many years, decided to finish his legendary career at VEF, joining the club in 1964. Olgerts Altbergs replaced Krauklis as head coach and had a sudden impact, helping VEF to finish fourth in 1965. Kalnins won a silver Olympic medal with the Soviet Union in 1964, becoming the second VEF player to do so. The team did even better in 1966, finishing third in its domestic competition for the second time in club history. In 1969 team went down to the second division of Soviet league and it took some time to rebuild as the team got back into the Soviet Union elite in 1977 led by legendary player

Valdis Valters Valdis Valters (born August 4, 1957) is a retired Latvian professional basketball player. He played at the point guard position for the senior USSR national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest players to have played the game in Europe in ...

. Valters was a true superstar, the starting point guard in the Soviet Union national team that won the 1982 World Championships and also lifted the EuroBasket trophy in 1981 (Valters was named tournament MVP) as well as in 1985. Valters was also part of team that reached Eurobasket title game in 1983 and 1987. Valters left the national team when Sarunas Marciulionis took over, but still played for the VEF until 1990. In later years Valters got some help as VEF added young talents like

Igors Miglinieks Igors Miglinieks (born 4 May 1964) is a retired Soviet and Latvian professional basketball player and coach. He played at the point guard and shooting guard positions. Professional club playing career Miglinieks was a member of the World Basketba ...

Gundars Vētra Gundars Vētra (born May 22, 1967) is a Latvian former professional basketball player and a current coach. He most recently served as a head coach of Spartak St. Petersburg. Standing at , he played at the shooting guard and small forward positio ...

Raimonds Miglinieks Raimonds Miglinieks (born July 16, 1970 in Riga, Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR) is a retired Latvian professional basketball player and basketball coach. Standing at a height of 1.90 m (6'2 ") tall, he was a point guard with excellent co ...

Kārlis Muižnieks Kārlis Muižnieks (born March 17, 1964 in Riga, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union) is a former basketball player and currently is the head coach of Prometey Kamianske of the UA SuperLeague. Career in basketball Muižnieks had solid career as player, ...

and

Ainars Bagatskis Ainars Bagatskis (born 29 March 1967) is a Latvian former professional basketball player and coach, who currently works as the head coach of CSO Voluntari of the Liga Națională and the senior Ukraine national team. Playing career Club care ...

. With arguably its best roster ever VEF was fifth in the Soviet Union League in 1985 and ranked sixth in 1987 and 1988. Vētra and Miglinieks led VEF to finish third in the 1991 Soviet Union League, a historical season in which the club made its debut in European club competitions. VEF downed ICED Bucuresti but fell against Iraklis in the 1991 Korac Cup second preliminary round. VEF went one step higher in 1992, taking part in the Saporta Cup. The club knocked off Braunschweig but VEF registered two narrow losses against

Union Olimpija Košarkarski klub Olimpija ( en, Olimpija Basketball Club) was a men's professional basketball club based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Olimpija has won 23 National League championships, including eight consecutive titles between 1992 and 1999. They ...

in the next round to step down before the group stage. Despite its good season, VEF stopped to exist in 1992.

Re-foundation

The club was re-founded in 2007 with Valdis Valters as the head coach. VEF Riga started by competing in the Latvian League and the

Baltic League The Baltic League (officially known as the Triobet Baltic League) was a Baltic men's football club tournament held four times between the top club sides from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Launched in 2007 inspired by the now defunct Scandinavi ...

second division. VEF Riga was made of young and talented players, so the team was improving gradually. It all paid off right away, as VEF Riga made it to the Baltic League second division title game in 2008 and 2009, earning the right to join the first division in 2009-10. In the same season VEF returned to European competitions as it played in FIBA Euro Challenge. Also, VEF Rīga took part of

VTB United League VTB United League (russian: Единая Лига ВТБ) is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2008. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it ...

's inaugural regular season. In 2010, led by

Alex Renfroe Gregory Alexander Renfroe (born May 23, 1986) is an American-born Bosnian professional basketball player for Covirán Granada of the Liga ACB. College career Renfroe played college basketball at Belmont University. He was named Atlantic Sun Co ...

and

Sandis Valters Sandis Valters (born 31 August 1978) is a retired professional basketball shooting guard, who last played for BK Ventspils. He is member of Latvia national basketball team. His father is a former Soviet basketball star, Valdis Valters, and his y ...

, VEF Riga reached Latvian League finals for the first time, where they lost 3-4 to Barons Riga. In the 2010 off-season VEF Riga made another step forward as they got chance to play in Eurocup. VEF Riga named

Rimas Kurtinaitis Rimas Kurtinaitis (born May 15, 1960) is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach, and a retired professional basketball player, who was a member of the senior Soviet and Lithuanian national basketball teams during his playing career. He won ...

as the head coach and made some key roster moves like re-signing

along with acquisitions of other top Latvian players such as Kristaps Janičenoks,

Kaspars Bērziņš Kaspars Bērziņš (born 25 August 1985) is a Latvian professional basketball player for New Taipei CTBC DEA of the T1 League. He has also represented the senior Latvian national team. Professional career Kaspars started playing basketball in hi ...

and

Dairis Bertāns Dairis Bertāns (born September 9, 1989) is a Latvian professional basketball player for Real Betis of the Spanish Liga ACB. Bertāns also plays for the Latvia national basketball team. He is the older brother of Dāvis Bertāns. Professional ca ...

. During the season Kurtinaitis left Riga for Russian powerhouse

BC Khimki BC Khimki (russian: БК Химки) is a Russian professional basketball team that is based in Khimki, Moscow Oblast. The club's senior men's first team participates in the Russian Basketball Super League 1. The club's full official name is BC ...

and he was replaced by another Lithuanian Ramūnas Butautas, who already had experience in Latvia having won the 2007 Latvian league championship with ASK Rīga. VEF Riga finished season as the winners of

BBL A barrel is one of several units of volume applied in various contexts; there are dry barrels, fluid barrels (such as the U.K. beer barrel and U.S. beer barrel), oil barrels, and so forth. For historical reasons the volumes of some barrel units ...

regular season. Later in BBL play-off stage VEF Riga caused surprise where they eliminated the

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

n club

Lietuvos Rytas ''Lietuvos rytas'' (lit. 'Morning of Lithuania') is a Lithuanian daily newspaper. History and profile "Lietuvos rytas" was established in 1990 on a basis of newspaper "Komjaunimo tiesa". The paper is printed in Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also ...

at the

semi-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

, beating them 79:68. This made it the first time that one of the

finalists wasn't Lietuvos Rytas. However, VEF Rīga lost in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

n basketball club Žalgiris, with a final score of 69:75. In the Latvian League VEF Rīga returned to finals where they faced

BK Ventspils BK Ventspils is a professional basketball club that is located in Ventspils, Latvia. The club competes in the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League. History BK Ventspils was founded in 1994. In first years Ventspils proved themselves as relevant p ...

. During intense series VEF Rīga managed to beat Ventspils, 4-3, winning first Latvian championship.

Rise under Butautas

Before the 2011-2012 season VEF Rīga for the first time got opportunity to participate in Euroleague qualification round where they lost to

ALBA Berlin Alba Berlin is a German professional basketball club that is based in Berlin, Germany. The club was founded in 1991, and is today the largest German national basketball club by membership figures. Alba Berlin hosts its home games at the Mercedes ...

. It meant VEF Rīga had to play in Eurocup where for the first time they reached Last 16 round. In Baltic League they finished in third place while in Latvian league VEF Rīga repeated as champions defeating Ventspils, in finals, 4-1. During the following off-season VEF Rīga got lucky by getting E.J. Rowland who was loaned from

Unicaja Málaga Unicaja is a Spanish savings bank based in Málaga and chartered as a caja de ahorros providing retail banking services. The banks full name is ''Monte de Piedad y Caja de Ahorros de Ronda, Cádiz, Almería, Málaga y Antequera'' after the n ...

with favorable conditions. Rowland turned out to be huge part of upcoming success. Rowland, surrounded with strong core that consisted of Latvian players, helped VEF Rīga to get wins over strong teams. Culmination of the season was on 15 January 2013 when VEF Rīga trashed

Bilbao Basket Club Basket Bilbao Berri S.A.D., commonly known as Bilbao Basket (), also known as Surne Bilbao Basket for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Bilbao, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB. Their home arena is the Bilba ...

at Arēna Rīga, 99-76. However, VEF Rīga couldn't fulfill its entire potential that season as team was left one win short of reaching Eurocup Quarterfinals. In the VTB United League VEF Rīga stopped after Quarterfinals, but in Latvian League they won third title against Ventspils 4-1 series). After very good season VEF Rīga lost its top players as Dairis Bertāns was bought out by Bilbao, E.J. Rowland signed lucrative contract in Turkey, which was followed by other departures as well. Season turned out to be disaster as VEF Rīga had bad luck building new team. One of the biggest signings of the summer,

Gani Lawal Gani Oladimeji Lawal Jr. (born November 7, 1988) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player for Trotamundos in the Venezuelan SuperLiga. He played college basketball for Georgia Tech. High school career During his time at Norcross H ...

, couldn't find common language with VEF Rīga's head coach Ramūnas Butautas and left the team in the preseason. VEF Rīga had first round exit in Euroleague qualification round which was followed by unsuccessful performance in Eurocup as they couldn't make second round. In the end, affected by injuries and some unexpected events like Derrick Nix leaving the team on the eve of the Latvian League finals, after three years of dominance VEF Rīga lost the domestic championship, losing to Ventspils 1-4. In the 2014 off-season, VEF Riga went through rebuilding as several new faces (

Jānis Timma Jānis Timma (born 2 July 1992) is a Latvian professional basketball player for Grises de Humacao of the Puerto Rican Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). He also represents the senior Latvian national team. At a height of , he plays mainly at t ...

Mareks Mejeris Mareks Mejeris (born 2 September 1991) is a Latvian professional basketball player for Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Basketball Premier League, who plays the small forward and power forward position. Professional career He started his pro care ...

) joined the team. VEF struggled in the international tournaments and failed to make the playoffs, but finished the season by winning Latvian championship. After a departure of Nikolajs Mazurs, VEF hired Carlos Frade as the next head coach. Spanish strategist tried change the philosophy of the basketball VEF has played under previous coaches, but it didn't turn out well, and on 12 December 2015 VEF fired Frade. Long time assistant Jānis Gailītis was promoted as a head coach and took the teeam to Latvian League finals, but lost to Valmiera/Ordo. Gailītis continued as head coach. The following season VEF signed Latvian NT captain

Jānis Blūms Jānis Blūms (born 20 April 1982) is a former Latvian professional basketball player. Standing at , Blūms played both point guard and shooting guard positions. He also served as the captain of the Latvian national basketball team. Player care ...

and another veteran

Armands Šķēle Armands Šķēle (born September 4, 1983) is a former Latvian professional basketball player. He was a member of Latvian National Team. He earned praise from fans for his artistic style of play that thrived on creativity and unorthodox moves. Du ...

. They helped to regain Latvian championship and VEF got back to the VTB League quarterfinals for the first time in four years. In 2016-17 season both veterans left the team, but VEF signed another two experienced players in Kristaps Janičenoks and

. Alex Pérez was also signed, giving him his first experience in European basketball. Team again qualified for the VTB League quarterfinals, but failed to win Latvian championship.

Leaving VTB League and joining Champions League

In 2018-19 season VEF joined newly created

Latvian-Estonian Basketball League The Latvian-Estonian Basketball League is the highest professional men's club basketball league in Latvia and Estonia; it has been organised since 2018, run by the Latvian Basketball Association and the Estonian Basketball Association. History ...

. They lost in the final to biggest rivals

Ventspils Ventspils (; german: Windau, ; see other names) is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It ...

, but revenged in Latvian League finals, winning Latvian championship for the 6th time. It was Janičenoks' last season in his professional career.

had become a star player of the team, and VEF wasn't able to keep him in the 2019 off-season. Mejeris signed with Parma Basket. Team's budget became smaller and the management decided to leave

. Instead, VEF returned to international competition stage, joining

Basketball Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL) is an annual professional basketball competition for European clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the top-level competition organised by FIBA Europe, therefore the champion participates in the FIBA Intercontin ...

, organized by

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its na ...

. In 2019 off-season VEF signed back veteran

and promising Latvian talent Artūrs Kurucs, loaned by Spanish Euroleague team Saski Baskonia. Kurucs used the opportunity, becoming one of the best young players in

. Debut in Champions League was rough, VEF won only one of 14 games in regular season and was dead last in the standings. End of the season was interrupted by

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. VEF was awarded Latvian championship, so they could get back to Champions League the following season. Second participation in the Basketball Champions League was way better, as VEF qualified for the playoffs round, and also won the Latvian championship. However, team again failed to win the 2020–21 Latvian–Estonian Basketball League, losing to Estonian Kalev/Cramo in the final. Many players used the platform to rise their name and got better contracts for the next season: Kyle Allman signed with

Paris Basketball Paris Basketball is a French professional basketball club based in Paris. The club currently plays in the LNB Pro A, the first division of basketball in France, and the EuroCup. The club was founded in 2018 by David Kahn and Eric Schwartz. T ...

Michale Kyser Michale Kyser (born November 26, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for Surne Bilbao Basket of the Liga ACB and the Basketball Champions League. He played college basketball for Louisiana Tech. High school career Kyser played h ...

signed with

Hapoel Holon Hapoel Holon Basketball Club ( he, מועדון הכדורסל הפועל חולון), known for sponsorship reasons as Hapoel Atsmon Playgrounds Holon (), is a professional basketball club based in Holon, Israel. The team plays in the Israeli ...

, Isaiah Piñeiro signed with Darüşşafaka. Kristers Zoriks became a Latvian NT starter. On 7 March 2022 VEF won the Latvian Cup for the first time ever. It was first Latvian Cup organized since 1994.

Alexander Madsen Alexander Madsen (born January 26, 1995) is a Finnish professional basketball player for AEK Athens of the Greek Basket League and the Basketball Champions League. Club career In Finland, Alexander Madsen played for Kouvot from 2012–2016.

was named the Latvian Cup MVP.

Honours

League

* Latvian League: ::Winners (9): 2011, 2012, 2013,

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

:::''Runners-up (4)'': 2010,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Latvian Cup The Latvian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Latvian football. Since 2021, its full name is Responsible Game Latvian Football Cup (''Atbildīgas spēles Latvijas kauss'') due to the sponsorship by sports betting company Wil ...

: ::Winners (1): 2022 *

::Winners (0): :::''Runners-up (1)'':

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

::::''Bronze (1)'':

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

BBL Cup The British Basketball League Cup, often shortened to the BBL Cup, is an annual cup competition for British basketball teams organised by the United Kingdom's top professional league, the British Basketball League. It is one of two peripheral c ...

::Winners (1):

* Latvian–Estonian League ::Winners (1):

:::Runners-up (1):

* USSR Championship ::Winners (0): :::''Runners-up (0)'': ::::''Bronze (3)'': 1960, 1966, 1991

Other competitions

*Atgāzene, Latvia Invitational Game ::Winners (1): 2010

Season by season record

Players

Current roster

Depth chart

Squad changes for the 2022–23 season

In

Out

FIBA Hall of Famers

Notable former players

Artis Ate Artis Ate (born 29 July 1989) is a Latvian professional basketball player, who plays the shooting guard and small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball gam ...

Artūrs Bērziņš Artūrs Bērziņš (born June 12, 1988) is a Latvian former basketball player, who plays the power forward position. For the 2017–2018 season he is signed with the BK Ventspils of the Latvian Basketball League. He is now youth basketball coach a ...

* Jānis Bērziņš *

Rolands Freimanis Rolands Freimanis (born January 21, 1988) is a Latvian professional basketball player for Trefl Sopot of the Polish Basketball League. He plays at the power forward and center positions. Professional career Born in Gulbene, Latvia, Freimanis star ...

Raitis Grafs Raitis Grafs (born June 12, 1981) is a Latvian professional basketball center. Born in Riga, Latvia, he is a member of the Latvia national basketball team. In kindergarten, Grafs met Kristaps Valters and they became fast friends. Since then, th ...

Andrejs Gražulis Andrejs Gražulis (born 21 July 1993) is a professional Latvian basketball player for Dolomiti Energia Trento of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). Early career Andrejs Gražulis started playing organized basketball at age of 16. In 2009, Gr ...

* Māris Gulbis * Gatis Jahovičs * Ingus Jakovičs * Kristaps Janičenoks * Edgars Jeromanovs * Verners Kohs *

Rihards Kuksiks Rihards Kuksiks (born July 17, 1988) is a Latvian professional basketball player for Pieno žvaigždės Pasvalys of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL). He is also a member of the senior Latvia national basketball team. College career 200 ...

* Artūrs Kurucs *

Rodions Kurucs Rodions Kurucs (born 5 February 1998) is a Latvian professional basketball player for SIG Strasbourg of the French LNB Pro A. At tall, he plays the small forward position. Professional career Early career In March 2014, Kurucs signed a multi-y ...

* Mārtiņš Laksa *

Andris Misters Andris Misters (born April 8, 1992) is a Latvian professional basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of ...

Mārtiņš Meiers Mārtiņš Meiers (born 30 March 1991) is a Latvian professional basketball player for Rīgas Zeļļi of the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League. Professional career Meiers had a breakout year in his second season with VEF Rīga averaging 13.7p ...

Cēzars Ozers Cēzars Ozers (born 11 February 1937) is a retired Soviet and Latvian basketball player. He played as a point guard. Ozers won a silver medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officiall ...

Anžejs Pasečņiks Anžejs Pasečņiks (; born 20 December 1995) is a Latvian professional basketball player for Real Betis of the Liga ACB. Professional career Europe He made his professional debut in the Latvian League with VEF Rīga in 2012. In August 2015, ...

Žanis Peiners Žanis Peiners (born 1 August 1990) is a Latvian professional basketball player. He is 2.05 m (6 ft in) tall shooting guard-small forward. Professional career In 2009, he started pro career with VEF Rīga. After that season, he ...

* Artūrs Strēlnieks *

Aigars Šķēle Aigars Šķēle (born December 4, 1992) is a professional basketball player for Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski of the Polish Basketball League (PLK). Playing career Šķēle spent couple of seasons in Spain, playing for Baloncesto Fuenlabrada youth te ...

* Andrejs Šeļakovs *

Kaspars Vecvagars Kaspars Vecvagars (born 3 August 1993) is a former Latvian professional basketball player and currently an assistant coach for Valmiera Glass ViA. Professional career On 25 January 2023, Vecvagars signed a 5-week contract with Heroes Den Bosch ...

* Ričmonds Vilde *

Ronalds Zaķis Ronalds Zaķis (born July 8, 1987) is a Latvian professional basketball player who plays for Donar of the BNXT League. Career Ronalds Zaķis started his career playing for BK Ventspils. In early 2008, he was loaned to VEF Rīga and after the ...

Jamar Abrams Jamar Abrams (born June 21, 1989) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball at East Carolina from 2007 to 2011. Professional career Abrams spent the 2018–19 season with Science City Jena and averaged 12.2 point ...

* Andrew Andrews * Kyle Allman * Glenn Cosey * Josh Bostic * Dee Brown *

Da'Sean Butler Da'Sean Butler (born January 25, 1988) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach for the College Park Skyhawks of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for West Virginia University. ...

Tyler Cain Tyler Cain (born June 30, 1988) is an American basketball player for Derthona Basket of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He played college basketball for the University of South Dakota (USD). He is best known for being the inaugural winner o ...

* Paul Carter *

Justin Cobbs Justin Cobbs (Serbian Cyrillic: Џастин Кобс; born March 16, 1991) is an American-born Montenegrin professional basketball player for Alvark Tokyo of the Japanese B.League. He played college basketball for the University of Minnesota the ...

* Vincent Council * Ron Curry * Will Daniels * Kevin Dillard *

Abdul Gaddy Abdul Gaddy Jr. (born January 26, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Washington Huskies. College career Gaddy was a highly sought after recruit ...

Josh Harrellson Josh Douglas Harrellson (born February 12, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for Fukushima Firebonds of the Japanese B.League. Standing , he played center for the Kentucky Wildcats from 2008 to 2011. He was selected by the New O ...

* Justin Hamilton * C. J. Harris * Baden Jaxen *

Speedy Smith Kenneth J. "Speedy" Smith Jr. (born January 28, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He was named Conference USA Men's Basketball Player of the Year in 2015. Early l ...

* Trevon Hughes *

* Robert Lowery *

Austin Luke Austin Luke (born October 27, 1994) is an American basketball player for Helios Suns in the Slovenian League. He primarily plays as point guard. College career Luke played four years of college basketball for Belmont. He was named to the All- ...

* Quinn McDowell * Lester Medford * Anthony Miles *

Curtis Millage Curtis Millage (born May 4, 1981) is an American professional basketball player for who last played for AZS Koszalin of the Polish Basketball League. He played college basketball for Arizona State. At and , he usually plays as a point guard, but ...

* Keaton Nankivil *

Derrick Nix Derrick Nix (born December 11, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Windy City Bulls of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for Michigan State. High school career Nix attended Pershing High School where he aver ...

* Marque Perry *

* Antywane Robinson * Gerald Robinson * LaQuinton Ross * E. J. Rowland * Patrick Sanders * Courtney Sims * Stephen Zack * Devondrick Walker * Xavier Thames * Kristijan Krajina *

Artsiom Parakhouski Artsiom Parakhouski (born October 6, 1987) is a Belarusian professional basketball player for Śląsk Wrocław of the PLK. Standing at , he plays at the center position. He finished his American college career in 2010 with the Radford University ...

* Kenan Bajramović *

Siim-Sander Vene Siim-Sander Vene (born 12 November 1990) is an Estonian professional basketball player for Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Basketball Premier League and the Basketball Champions League. Standing at 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in), he plays both the small ...

Antanas Kavaliauskas Antanas Kavaliauskas (born September 19, 1984) is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach and former player. He serves as the director of player development for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). He played co ...

Arnas Labuckas Arnas Labuckas (born December 28, 1987) is a former professional Lithuanian basketball player. Most of career spent in home country, he also played abroad for Russian, Spanish, Austrian and Latvian clubs. He was also member of youth and students' ...

Martynas Mažeika Martynas Mažeika (born 29 January 1985) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Neptūnas Klaipėda of the Lithuanian Basketball League. He is 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) tall. He can play point guard or shooting guard, preferring the ...

Donatas Zavackas Donatas Zavackas (born 23 April 1980) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. He played college basketball at University of Pittsburgh. Standing at , he plays the power forward position. College career During his successful career a ...

Tomas Delininkaitis Tomas Delininkaitis (born June 11, 1982) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player. He was a member of the Lithuanian national basketball team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship . He is 1.90 m (6 ft 2 in) and weighs 82 kg. Profe ...

Bojan Bakić Bojan Bakić (Serbian Cyrillic: Бојан Бакић; born January 8, 1983) is a Montenegrin professional basketball player for Barsy Atyrau of the Kazakhstan Basketball Championship. Professional career The Montenegrin guard started his profe ...

* Nemanja Bezbradica * Evgeny Kolesnikov * Bamba Fall * Ludvig Håkanson *

Francisco Cruz Francisco "Pako" Javier Cruz Saldívar (born October 3, 1989) is a Mexican professional basketball player who last played for Manisa Büyükşehir Belediyespor of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi. He also represents the senior Mexico national ba ...

* Alex Perez *

Guille Rubio Guillermo "Guille" Rubio Vergara (alternate spelling: Guillem) (born October 14, 1982 in Barcelona, Spain) is a Spanish professional basketball player for Covirán Granada of the LEB Oro. Professional career After playing 15 years in Spain, Ru ...

* Kris Richard * Isaiah Piñeiro

Coaches

Notable former coaches

Alfrēds Krauklis Alfrēds Krauklis (8 December 1911, Jumprava – 20 November 1991, Riga) was a former Latvian basketball player and coach, one of the leaders of the Latvian national basketball team in the 1930s, and winner of the silver medal in FIBA EuroBa ...

Alvils Gulbis Alvils Gulbis (17 April 1936 – 27 February 2021)

Armands Krauliņš Armands Krauliņš (August 16, 1939 - July 1, 2022) was a Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, ...

* Ramūnas Butautas * Nikolajs Mazurs * Carlos Frade * Jānis Gailītis

References

External links

Official VEF Rīga Site

VEF Rīga VTB-League.com

VEF Rīga LBL.lv

VEF Rīga BBL.net

VEF Rīga EuroCupBasketball.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vef Riga 1958 establishments in the Soviet Union 1992 disestablishments in Latvia 2007 establishments in Latvia Basketball teams established in 1958 Basketball teams established in 2007 Basketball teams in Latvia Basketball teams in the Soviet Union Sport in Riga Sports clubs disestablished in 1992