Jānis Blūms (born 20 April 1982) is a former 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 ...

player. Standing at , Blūms played both

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

and

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

positions. He also served as the captain of the

Latvian national basketball team The Latvia men's national basketball team ( lv, Latvijas basketbola izlase) represents Latvia in international basketball. They are organized and run by the Latvian Basketball Association. Latvia has reached the European Basketball Championship ...

Player career

Blūms started his career with

Brocēni Brocēni (; german: Brotzen) is a town in Saldus Municipality in the Courland region of Latvia. The town is situated along the river Ciecere, near lake Cieceres, which contains a large deposit of limestone, which is used in the manufacturing of c ...

and later continued to play in their successor Skonto. In 2003, he signed with Polish club

Anwil Włocławek Anwil is a municipality in the district of Sissach in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. History Anwil is first mentioned in 1276. Geography Anwil has an area, , of . Of this area, or 63.6% is used for agricultural purposes, whil ...

, where he spent one season before returning to Latvia, where he joined BK Ventspils. After two years in Ventspils, Blūms joined Lithuanian powerhouse

BC Lietuvos rytas Rytas Vilnius is a Lithuanian professional basketball club based in Vilnius, Lithuania. The club was founded in 1997 from another club, Statyba, and has become one of the most successful Lithuanian basketball clubs. Rytas have won two EuroCup Ba ...

. In 2007, Blūms accepted offer from Italian side

Eldo Napoli S.S. Basket Napoli was an Italian professional basketball club that was based in Naples, Campania. The club's full name was Società Sportiva Basket Napoli. The team ceased activities in 2009. For past club sponsorship names, see sponsorship nam ...

where he had a decent season. In 2008, Blūms signed a two-year contract with

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 ...

of Spain's

ACB League The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

. Totally he played four very good seasons in Bilbao. Some of highlights with Bilbao includes making

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

finals, Euroleague quarterfinals and Eurocup Final Four (twice). During his tenure with Bilbao Blūms developed reputation as a fierce competitor who can be deadly from three-point range and can play lock-down defense, because often he would guard best player of the opposite team. Due to his passion and effort he became one of the city's fan favorites. After his experience in Basque Country, Jānis moved back to Lietuvos Rytas, which played Euroleague that season. In July 2013, Blūms signed a one-year contract with

BC Astana Astana Basketball Club ( kk, Astana Basketbol Kluby), commonly referred to as BC Astana, is a Kazakh professional basketball club that is based in Astana, Kazakhstan. Founded in 2011, it has competed in the Kazakhstan Basketball Championship a ...

. On 1 October 2014 he signed with the Greek club

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

. On 5 April 2015 he won the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most im ...

. In July 2015, Janis signed with the Italian team

Sidigas Avellino S.S. Felice Scandone was an Italian professional basketball club based in Avellino, Campania. Founded in 1948, the team has been a regular in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), the first tier of basketball in Italy, for 19 years (2000/01 to 2018/19). ...

, making a comeback to Italy after seven years. On 23 August 2017 he signed with Spanish club Tecnyconta Zaragoza. On 28 July 2020 he signed with

Pallacanestro Reggiana Pallacanestro Reggiana, also known for sponsorship reasons as UnaHotels Reggio Emilia, is an Italian professional basketball team based in Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna. It plays in the LBA as of the 2022-23 season. History 1970s Pallacanestr ...

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier le ...

(LBA) but, by mutual agreement with the team, resigned after eight games played after the start of the season. On 30 August 2021 Blums announced his retirement from professional basketball.

Career statistics

Euroleague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , style="text-align:left;",

, 17 , , 6 , , 16.2 , , .413 , , .400 , , .706 , , 0.9 , , 0.9 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 6.0 , , 3.4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, style="text-align:left;",

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 ...

, 9 , , 5 , , 19.8 , , .309 , , .316 , , .875 , , 1.9 , , 1.8 , , 0.6 , , 0.1 , , 5.9 , , 4.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

, 27 , , 0 , , 11.6 , , .410 , , .424 , , .714 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 3.8 , , 1.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 53 , , 11 , , 14.6 , , .384 , , .390 , , .744 , , 1.0 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 4.8 , , 2.7

Trivia

Blūms has said that his favorite players and idols growing was

Roberts Štelmahers Roberts Štelmahers (born November 19, 1974) is a Latvian retired professional basketball player, who played the point guard position. Štelmahers was a member of the Latvia national basketball team from 1992 to 2005 participating in four EuroB ...

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 career ...

. Later on he played together with Štelmahers in

and in Lietuvos Rytas (2006-07 season). In 2010-11 season Blūms didn't miss a single practice or game with Bilbao Basket. He reported to training camp by mid-August and his season ended in mid-June. That was one of his best seasons as his team made

finals.

Latvian national team

Blūms also plays for the

and serves as the captain of the team.

International stats

References

External links

ACB.com ProfileEuroleague ProfileProfile: Janis Blums, Panathinaikos Athens
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blums, Janis Living people 1982 births Basket Napoli players BC Astana players BC Rytas players Bilbao Basket players BK VEF Rīga players BK Ventspils players Latvian expatriate basketball people in Greece Latvian expatriate basketball people in Italy Greek Basket League players KK Włocławek players Latvian expatriate basketball people in Lithuania Latvian expatriate basketball people in Poland Latvian expatriate basketball people in Spain Latvian men's basketball players Lega Basket Serie A players Liga ACB players Panathinaikos B.C. players People from Saldus Point guards S.S. Felice Scandone players Shooting guards