Kaspars Bērziņš (born 25 August 1985) 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 ...

player for

New Taipei CTBC DEA The New Taipei CTBC DEA ( zh, 新北中信特攻) are a Taiwanese professional basketball team based in New Taipei City, Taiwan. They have competed in the T1 League since the 2021-22 season, and play their home games at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium. T ...

of the

T1 League The T1 League is a Taiwanese men's professional basketball league founded in 2021. It is the third professional basketball league in Taiwan after the Chinese Basketball Alliance (CBA) and the P. League+ (PLG). In the 2022–23 season, the T ...

. He has also represented the senior Latvian national team.

Professional career

Kaspars started playing basketball in his hometown of

Ogre An ogre ( feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the wor ...

. Later he played for

Skonto Riga Skonto FC was a Latvian football club, active from 1991 until 2016. The club played at the Skonto Stadium in Riga. Skonto won the Virsliga in the first 14 seasons of the league's resumption (15 in total), and often provided the core of the Lat ...

, debuting in 2002–2003 season. His role increased in 2003–2004, when he averaged 7.3 points and 3.3 rebounds for Skonto in the LBL and 7.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in the

FIBA Europe League FIBA EuroChallenge (called the FIBA Europe League in 2003–05, and FIBA EuroCup in 2005–08) was the 3rd-tier level transnational men's professional continental club basketball competition in Europe, from 2003 to 2015. It was organized and run ...

, now known as the

FIBA EuroCup FIBA EuroChallenge (called the FIBA Europe League in 2003–05, and FIBA EuroCup in 2005–08) was the 3rd-tier level transnational men's professional continental club basketball competition in Europe, from 2003 to 2015. It was organized and run ...

. In both of those seasons Bērziņš played together with

Andris Biedriņš Andris Biedriņš (; born April 2, 1986) is a Latvian former professional basketball player. He was drafted by the Golden State Warriors with the 11th overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft. Professional career Skonto (2002–2004) Biedriņš's ...

. In 2004 both of them left Skonto. Biedriņš was drafted in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

by the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

, while Bērziņš moved to Spain where he joined

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 th ...

. He briefly played for Unicaja's first team, where he competed in one game in the

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 ...

, scoring two points, but most of his season was spent with the junior team in the

EBA Ẹ̀bà (in Nigeria) or Pinon (in Togo, Benin, and southern Ghana) is a staple food mainly eaten in the West African sub-region and other African countries. The term èbà originates from the Yoruba people of southwest Nigeria. It is a coo ...

, Spain's second division. For the 2004–2005 season Bērziņš moved back to Latvia, playing a big role for Skonto. He averaged 13.0 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 21.3 minutes in the LBL and 14.8 points and 8.3 rebounds in four

EuroCup Challenge The FIBA EuroCup Challenge was the 4th-tier level (it was the 3rd-tier level during the inaugural 2002–03 season), transnational professional continental club basketball competition in Europe. It was run and organized by FIBA Europe. The leag ...

games. After Skonto disappeared, Bērziņš moved to

ASK Rīga ASK Rīga is a former professional basketball club that was based in Riga, Latvia. "ASK" stood for "Armijas Sporta Klubs" (in English: Army Sports Club). History BK Rīga was then founded in 2004, and it got back the original name of ASK ...

, where he played the 2005–2006 season. In the following off-season Bērziņš signed with

Barons LMT BK Barons/LDz (previously Barons/LMT) was a professional basketball club which is based in Riga, Latvia. The team played in the first division of Latvian Basketball League. History Barons kvartāls was an integral part of Latvia's recent basket ...

, where he played the next three seasons and won his first Latvian league title in 2008. During that season Bērziņš won the

as well. 2008–2009 was his best season with Barons, when he was the team's top inside presence for most of the season, averaging 14.0 points, 8.rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 28 games of domestic competition. In July 2009 Bērziņš participated in the

NBA Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season competition organized by the National Basketball Association. NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regular season line-ups ...

, playing for the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

. After playing for Phoenix in Summer League competition, Bērziņš signed a contract with Spain's ACB League club

Fuenlabrada Fuenlabrada () is a city and municipality of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 193,586, making it the region's fourth most populated municipality. Placename The etymology of ''Fuenlabrada'' comes from the contra ...

. Later he also played for

Cáceres Ciudad del Baloncesto Cáceres Ciudad del Baloncesto, also named as Cáceres Patrimonio de la Humanidad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team based in Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. It plays in the LEB Oro, the second in importance in Spain after AC ...

, but in July 2010 he signed a two-year contract with VEF Rīga. He re-signed with VEF Rīga for three more years in 2012. In February 2014, he went back to Spain and signed with Río Natura Monbús for the rest of the 2013–14 ACB season. On 21 August 2014, Bērziņš signed with Russian club Krasnye Krylia for the 2014–15 season. On 16 June 2015, he signed with

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

. In January 2016, he left Nizhny and signed with

Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, acco ...

for the rest of the season. For the 2016–17 season Bērziņš started with Latvian club Ogre/Kumho Tyre, but in January 2017 he returned to Russia and signed with

Lokomotiv Kuban PBC Lokomotiv Kuban (russian: ПБК «Локомотив Кубань») is a Russian professional basketball team based in Krasnodar. The club participates in the VTB United League. The team is one of the top tier basketball teams in Russia. T ...

for the rest of the season. On February 21, 2023, Bērziņš signed with

of the

Latvia national team

Kaspars Bērziņš averaged 16.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.1 blocks for Latvia at the 2005 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. Bērziņš has been a regular member of the Latvia national team.

References

External links

ACB league profileEuroCup profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berzins, Kaspars 1985 births Living people ASK Riga players Baloncesto Fuenlabrada players Baloncesto Málaga players BC Krasnye Krylia players BC Lietkabelis players BC Nizhny Novgorod players BC Zenit Saint Petersburg players BK Barons players BK VEF Rīga players Centers (basketball) Latvian expatriate basketball people in Lithuania Latvian expatriate basketball people in Russia Latvian expatriate basketball people in Spain Latvian men's basketball players Liga ACB players Obradoiro CAB players PBC Lokomotiv-Kuban players People from Ogre, Latvia Power forwards (basketball) New Taipei CTBC DEA players T1 League imports