Kaspars Kambala (born December 13, 1978) is a Latvian semi-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, currently for BK Jūrmala, and a former professional boxer. Standing at , he plays at the position of

forward-center Forward–center or bigman is a basketball position for players who play or have played both forward and center on a consistent basis. Typically, this means power forward and center, since these are usually the two biggest player positions on an ...

High school

A 1997 graduate of Homestead High School in

Mequon, Wisconsin Mequon () is the largest city in Ozaukee County, in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, and the third-largest city in Wisconsin by land area. Located on Lake Michigan's western shore with significant commercial developments along Interstate 43, the comm ...

and a native of Riga, Latvia. He averaged 21 points and 12 rebounds in his senior season (1996–97) and earned All-Wisconsin honors, all-state, MVP of the Northshore Conference and all-county. Homestead compiled a 16-9 overall record and finished second in conference. Kambala played in the Eddie Jones Classic All-Star game, which was held at the Pyramid in

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, California, on April 15, 1997.

College

Kambala played college basketball at

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

from 1997 to 2001. He led the team in scoring in 1999-2000 (18.5 average) and 2000-01 (16.9). He finished up in 2001 as the program's 10th all-time highest scorer and ranks fourth on the school's all-time rebounding list, leading the team in boards in three of his four seasons on campus.

Professional career

Kaspars Kambala actually played professional basketball as a teenager in Latvia before going to America where he attended high school in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and played college basketball at

. He continued his career in Europe, playing for such high-level clubs as Efes Pilsen,

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

UNICS Kazan BC UNICS (russian: БК УНИКС) is a professional basketball club in Kazan, Russia, that plays in the VTB United League, and formerly played in the EuroLeague. On February 28, 2022, EuroLeague Basketball suspended the team because of the 2022 ...

, Fenerbahçe. In December 2006 he was suspended for doping. His suspension in basketball ended on December 12, 2008. When his sanction from playing basketball ended, Kas, as he is often called by fans, stated that he was in great shape and that he was once again ready to play at the highest level of European basketball. For few games he joined

ASK Riga 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 R ...

, but soon after went to Russia to play for

Enisey Krasnoyarsk BC Enisey (russian: БК Енисей) is a Russian professional basketball team from the city of Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia. Since the 2011–12 season, Enisey plays its national domestic league games in the VTB United League. The team colors ...

, where he spent next year and a half. In September 2010 Kambala joined Bulgarian team

Lukoil Academic BC Academic Metropol Region ( bg, БК "Академик" Метропол-Рийджън) is a reestablished Bulgarian professional basketball club based in the capital Sofia. In April 2022, Academic has been reborn and rebranded by the new ow ...

. In the middle of the season Kambala returned to Turkey and joined

Aliağa Petkim Aliağa Gençlik S.K., known as Aliağa Petkim for sponsorship reasons, was a professional basketball team from the district of Aliağa in İzmir, Turkey. Their home arena was the Enka Sport Hall with a capacity of 2,500 seats. The team competes p ...

. In July 2011 he signed with

Türk Telekom B.K. Türk Telekom Basketbol Kulübü (English language, English: Turk Telekom Basketball Club) is a professional basketball team that is based in Ankara, Turkey. The team is currently playing in the Turkish Basketball Super League. It is a branch of t ...

for one season. On July 11, 2015, Kambala signed with

Adanaspor Adanaspor is a Turkish professional football club based in Adana, currently performing at the TFF First League. The club is founded in 1954 by the middle-class merchants and artisans in response to the alienation within city's then most popular c ...

. On June 7, 2016, he signed with Yakın Doğu Üniversitesi Spor Kulübü for a one-year $48000 contract.

Latvian national men's basketball team

In 2001 was Kaspars Kambala's first appearance for 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 ...

when he participated in the European Championship. He also participated in two more Eurobasket tournaments (2003, 2009).

Trivia

During his suspension from basketball Kaspars decided to become a professional boxer. Kambala shares the Euroleague's single-game scoring record for last decade - 41 points against

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

on October 30, 2002 - with three players,

Bobby Brown Robert Barisford Brown (born February 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. Brown, alongside frequent collaborator Teddy Riley, is noted as one of the pioneers of new jack swing: a fusion of hip hop and R&B. Brown started h ...

Carlton Myers Carlton Ettore Francesco Myers (born 30 March 1971) is an Italian former professional basketball player that played in the Lega Basket Serie A, Italian league and the EuroLeague. Myers was initially raised in the United Kingdom. One of the best ...

and the late

Alphonso Ford Alphonso Gene Ford (October 31, 1971 – September 4, 2004) was an American professional basketball player. A 1.92 m (6 ft 3 in) tall, 98 kg (216 lbs.) shooting guard, he was one of the greatest scorers in college basketball histor ...

. In April 2014, Kambala released his autobiography "Kambala..., āmen!" that became a bestseller in Latvia.

Honors and awards

* 1998:

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

Tournament Champions (UNLV) * 2000:

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

Regular Season and Tournament (UNLV)

Professional boxing record

References

External links

Kaspars Kambala
at euroleague.net

at unlvrebels.cstv.com

at fiba.com
Kaspars Kambala
at tblstat.net * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kambala, Kaspars 1978 births Living people Adanaspor Basketbol players Aliağa Petkim basketball players Anadolu Efes S.K. players ASK Riga players BC Enisey players BC UNICS players Centers (basketball) Doping cases in basketball Fenerbahçe men's basketball players Latvian men's basketball players Latvian expatriates in Spain Latvian expatriate basketball people in the United States Latvian sportspeople in doping cases Liga ACB players Mahram Tehran BC players PBC Academic players Power forwards (basketball) Real Madrid Baloncesto players Basketball players from Riga Türk Telekom B.K. players UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball players Latvian male boxers Heavyweight boxers