Valdis Valters (born August 4, 1957) is a retired 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. He played at the

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 ...

position for the senior USSR national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest players to have played the game in Europe in the 1980s. Considering his lengthy work and deep connection to the sport, Valters has been one of the most influential people in Latvian basketball history. He became a FIBA Hall of Fame player in 2017.

Club career

Valters spent most of his

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

career playing with the Latvian club VEF Rīga. In 1982, he set the USSR Premier League's all-time record for points scored in a single game, when he scored 69 points against

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (russian: МГО ВФСО «Динамо»), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (russian: Динамо Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first ...

National team career

Soviet national team

Valters first made his name in European basketball when he was named the MVP of

EuroBasket 1981 The 1981 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1981, was the 22nd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Czechoslovakia and took place from 26 May to 5 June 198 ...

, after he averaged 16.7 points per game, to lead his USSR national team to the gold medal. He was also on the All-Tournament Team of

EuroBasket 1985 The 1985 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1985, was the 24th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It took place from 5 to 16 June 1985 in West Germany. The Soviet Union defeated Czec ...

. Valters also played a key role on the USSR national team that won the gold at the

1982 FIBA World Championship The 1982 FIBA World Championship was the 9th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. The tournament was hosted by Colombia from 15 to 28 August 1982. Qualification Venues Competing nation ...

, in Colombia, where he was a starting

, and averaged 14.0 points per game. At the

1986 FIBA World Championship The 1986 FIBA World Championship was the 10th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Spain and was held from 5 to 20 July 1986. The final phase of the tournament was held at the ...

, Valters helped the Soviet Union to rally from a nine-point deficit, in the final minute of the game, by hitting a

three-pointer A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two po ...

at the end of regulation, to send the semifinal game against

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society), ...

, and eventually earn a 91–90 win.

Latvian national team

In 1992, after he had stopped playing basketball at the pro level, Valters returned to the court, and represented the senior Latvian national team at the 1992 Summer Olympic Games Qualifying Tournament.

Coaching career

After his basketball playing career ended, Valters also worked as a

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

and

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

. He founded his own basketball school, the Valtera Basketbola Skola (VBS), now known as Keizarmezs, whose alumni includes former

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 ...

player

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 p ...

, as well as other top Latvian players. He also helped to create the basketball league for Latvian youth players, the LJBL.

Other works

In 2013, Valters released his autobiographical book, called "Dumpinieks ar ideāliem" (''Rebel with ideals''). He is currently working as an analyst for the Latvian TV channel, TV6, as a host of the weekly sports show Overtime.

Personal life

Both of his sons,

Kristaps Kristaps is a Latvian masculine given name. It is a cognate of the German name Christoph and may refer to: * Kristaps Blanks (born 1986), Latvian football striker *Kristaps Dārgais (born 1990), Latvian basketball player * Kristaps Grebis (born ...

and

Sandis Sandis is a Latvian masculine given name which may refer to: *Sandis Buškevics (born 1977), Latvian basketball player * Sandis Ģirģens (born 1980), Latvian politician *Sandis Ozoliņš (born 1972), Latvian hockey player, formerly in the Nation ...

, are also professional basketball players.

References

External links

FIBA ProfileFIBA Hall of Fame Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valters, Valdis 1957 births Living people BK VEF Rīga players FIBA EuroBasket-winning players FIBA Hall of Fame inductees FIBA World Championship-winning players Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Latvian basketball coaches Latvian men's basketball players Point guards Soviet men's basketball players Basketball players from Riga 1982 FIBA World Championship players 1986 FIBA World Championship players