Jānis Krūmiņš (30 January 1930 – 20 November 1994) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

- 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. Helped by his height (about 220 cm, or 7'3"), he was the first giant

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

that dominated under European baskets, for years. As a player of the senior

Soviet Union national basketball team The Soviet Union men's national basketball team ( rus, сбо́рная СССР по баскетболу, r=sbórnaya SSSR po basketbolu) was the national basketball team that represented the Soviet Union in international competitions. After t ...

, Krūmiņš won 3 gold medals at the

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

, and

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

s, as well as 3 silver medals at the

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

, and

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

. A Russian poll that was conducted in 2006, named Krūmiņš as the 3rd most popular Soviet men's basketball player of all time, after

Arvydas Sabonis Arvydas Romas Sabonis (; born December 19, 1964) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player and businessman. Recognized as one of the best European players of all time, he won the Euroscar six times and the Mr. Europa Award twice. He ...

and

Vladimir Tkachenko Vladimir Pyotrovich Tkachenko (alternate spelling: Vladimir Tkatchenko) (russian: Владимир Петрович Ткаченко; born September 20, 1957 in Sochi, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Union) is a retired Sovie ...

Early life and career

Jānis Krūmiņš was born on 30 January 1930, in Raiskums Parish,

Cēsis District Cēsis District ( lv, Cēsu rajons) was an administrative division of Latvia, located in the Vidzeme region, in the country's north-east. It bordered the former districts of Valmiera and Valka to the north, Limbaži and Riga to the west, Gulbene ...

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 ...

. His father was a big strong man, who died when Jānis was still a boy. At the age of 13, Krūmiņš had to start working, as a collector of tree resin. Very soon, he became an efficient worker, partly because his height (he was 2 meters (6'7") tall by the age 14) allowed him to reach where others failed. He liked his work, and later was hesitant to turn into a professional basketball player, saying that he could always get injured and lose his job as a basketball player, but not as a resin collector. As a well-built giant, Krūmiņš attracted the attention of many

sports coaches Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

, who tried to get him into

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

, and

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

. Famous Soviet athletics coach Viktor Alexeyev even brought him in for a month to an athletics training camp. All of those attempts failed, because of a lack of interest from Krūmiņš. In 1953, Krūmiņš was discovered by

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...

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 ...

Alexander Gomelsky Alexander Yakovlevich Gomelsky (russian: Александр Яковлевич Гомельский; 18 January 1928 – 16 August 2005) was a Russian professional basketball player and coach. The Father of Soviet and Russian basketball, he was i ...

, and he was brought to the basketball

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 ...

Rīgas ASK Rīgas Armijas Sporta Klubs was a professional basketball club that was based in Riga, Latvia. History Rīgas ASK was founded in 1931, and started playing in the Latvian Basketball Championship. In the years that Latvia was controlled by the Sovi ...

. Gomelsky was struggling to make ASK the top Latvian basketball club of the time, and he needed a strong player at the

position. Although Krūmiņš had never played basketball before, Gomelsky intuitively believed in his potential, and spent up to 2 hours personally training Krūmiņš before each of the team's training sessions. Gomelsky considered Krūmiņš to be his only apprentice in his whole basketball career — all the other players that he coached were well-established before he had coached them. Physically, Krūmiņš had good coordination and extraordinary strength, but he was slow. His height was exceptional for that time, and was variably reported between 2.18 m (7'2") and 2.23 m (7'4"). The variation was mostly due to his body's natural contraction during the day, and over the length of his playing career. With a weight of 141 kg (312 pounds), he was described as, "well built and dry". He was not a talented pupil, but he was exceptionally persistent, and performed all the drills that were set by his coach. His strongest point, according to Gomelsky, was his mental balance and reliability. On the other hand, he was too shy for a team leader. Seeing a 2.20 m (7'3") giant, most defenders did not hesitate to step on his toes, or to push or punch him. Krūmiņš patiently took all abuses, and when once asked why he didn't fight back, replied that he was afraid he might accidentally kill someone. Later, when Krūmiņš became a star, his modesty brought another problem — he was instantly recognized by people on the streets, and cheered and touched by the crowds, which made him feel uncomfortable. As a result of that, he stopped using public transportation, and drove a car instead. Another mundane daily problem was his height, which hindered his ability to find clothes and shoes that fit properly. Luckily, Krūmiņš was spotted by

Soviet Marshal Marshal of the Soviet Union (russian: Маршал Советского Союза, Marshal sovetskogo soyuza, ) was the highest military rank of the Soviet Union. The rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union was created in 1935 and abolished in 19 ...

Hovhannes Bagramyan Ivan Khristoforovich Bagramyan,; russian: Ива́н Христофо́рович Баграмя́н, link=no also known as Hovhannes Khachaturi Baghramyan; russian: Оване́с Хачату́рович Баграмя́н, link=no ( – 2 ...

. Bagramyan, who was a big man himself, was favorable to tall sportsmen, and after meeting Krūmiņš, he ordered a 3-meter-long (9'10") bed to be custom built for Krūmiņš, as well as for custom shoes and clothes to be made for him.

Club career

All of the long and intense training efforts of Krūmiņš and Gomelsky paid off. Krūmiņš quickly developed into a smart

and a team leader of

. He won the USSR Premier League championship in 1955, 1956 (with the Latvian SSR Team), 1957, and 1958. He also won the FIBA European Champions Cup ( EuroLeague) championship in 1958,

, and

. He also played in the

EuroLeague Finals The EuroLeague Finals are the championship finals of the EuroLeague competition. The EuroLeague is the highest level tier, and most important professional club basketball competition in Europe. Title holders * ......1958 Rīgas ASK * 1958� ...

in 1961. Krūmiņš finished his

career playing with VEF Rīga. Krūmiņš remained a laid back player over all of those years, as he continued to spare smaller and weaker opponents from his best. However, he was quite emotional and active in the key games that his teams played, and he played with full effort against players that were similar to him in size. Krūmiņš had a rare

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the Key (basketball), restricted ...

shooting style — as he shot free throws underhanded, rather than the usual overhanded free throw technique. However, he was still able to make 90% of his free throw attempts on average.

National team career

Krūmiņš was included into the senior

USSR national basketball team The Soviet Union men's national basketball team ( rus, сбо́рная СССР по баскетболу, r=sbórnaya SSSR po basketbolu) was the national basketball team that represented the Soviet Union in international competitions. After t ...

in 1955. He was a dominant center for the Soviet Union at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

, and he helped the Soviet national team to reach the tournament's finals, and earn a silver medal. He played with the senior Soviet national team for about 10 years, and with them he won

gold medals in

, and

; and

silver medals in 1956,

, and

. He also played at the

1959 FIBA World Championship The 1959 FIBA World Championship was the 3rd FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Chile from 16 to 31 January 1959. Amaury Antônio Pasos was named the MVP. The hosting citie ...

Personal life

Krūmiņš was shy around people, including women. He met his wife, Inessa, by chance. In 1960, while she was working as a

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, she was ordered to make a

bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places * Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazin ...

of Krūmiņš, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the

Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Latvian SSR), also known as Soviet Latvia or simply Latvia, was a federated republic within the Soviet Union, and formally one of its 16 (later 15) constituent republics. The Latvian Soviet Socialist Rep ...

. The couple had two sons, and a daughter. After retiring from playing basketball, Krūmiņš worked within his family business, and became a renowned

metalworker Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on every scale ...

, molding metal art from sketches done by his wife. Krūmiņš died on 20 November 1994, at the age of 64.

References

External links

FIBA Profile 1Photo: Krūmiņš (left) vs. Jean-Claude Lefebvre
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Krumins, Janis 1930 births 1994 deaths ASK Riga players Basketball players at the 1956 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1960 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1964 Summer Olympics BK VEF Rīga players Centers (basketball) FIBA EuroBasket-winning players Latvian men's basketball players Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic basketball players of the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in basketball Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union People from Pārgauja Municipality Soviet men's basketball players 1959 FIBA World Championship players