Armands Šķēle (born 4 September 1983) 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 (appro ...

player. He was a member of Latvian National Team. He earned praise from fans for his artistic style of play that thrived on creativity and unorthodox moves. During his career Šķēle was nicknamed "Big Time", mainly due to his skills and personality.

Professional career

Šķēle started his professional career playing for Brocēni which at the time was the top team in

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. In 2001, he moved to Poland signing a multi-year contract with

Anwil Włocławek Anwil is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Sissach (district), Sissach in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. History Anwil is first mentioned in 1276. Geography Anwil has an are ...

. Under the guidance of head coach Andrej Urlep, Šķēle developed rapidly and became one of the most attractive players in Europe - his game was compared to Serbian star Aleksandar Đorđević. In 2004, he was pursued by

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

as they sought talented player to back-up

Louis Bullock Louis "Lou" Bullock Jr. (born May 20, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. Although his records have officially been vacated, due to the University of Michigan basketball scandal, his vacated records are unsurpassed for mos ...

, but the deal fell through as both sides couldn't find an agreement. In the same year Šķēle declared for the

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

. Despite having a contract with Anwil, Šķēle didn't return to his former team and was loaned out. Thus, for the next two seasons he played in two different Belgian clubs. In the summer of 2006, he was bought out from contract with Anwil by Latvian side Barons LMT. He played three seasons with Barons. In 2008, Šķēle led his team to the FIBA EuroCup and the Latvian Basketball League championships. In October 2009, he moved to Lega A club

Basket Napoli Napoli Basket may refer to: * Napoli Basket (2016) Napoli Basket, known for sponsorship reasons as GeVi Napoli, is an Italian professional basketball team of the city of Naples. It's the ''de facto'' successor of the Basket Napoli which was diss ...

. However, the team from Naples had financial trouble and after a few months it went bankrupt. Šķēle finished the season with BK Ventspils. The next season, he waited eight months till early 2011 when he signed with Ferro-ZNTU from Ukraine. After a single game, the Ukrainian club broke the agreement citing fears about Šķēle's health. Soon after his short stint in Ukraine, Šķēle moved to Estonia by signing with

BC Kalev/Cramo BC Kalev, also known as BC Kalev/Cramo for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Tallinn, Estonia. The team plays in the Korvpalli Meistriliiga (KML), the Estonian-Latvian Basketball League and the FIBA Europe Cup. Their ...

. Šķēle went on and played three seasons for Kalev/Cramo, winning the Estonian championship in each year. In April 2012, during Estonian League playoff game he made a behind-the-back shot that became a very popular video amassing multiple-million views online. In September 2013, after playing for Latvian National Team in

EuroBasket 2013 EuroBasket 2013 was the 38th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It took place from 4 September until 22 September 2013 in Slovenia. The number of participating teams was 24. France men's national basketball ...

, he joined Kalev/Cramo for the fourth season. On 25 November 2013 he signed with Turkish team Gamateks Pamukkale Üniversitesi. For the 2014–15 season, he returned to Kalev/Cramo. In October 2015, Armands joined Valmiera/ORDO, uniting with his younger brother Aigars. Armands led underdog Valmiera to its first ever Latvian championship in 2015–16. He won one more Latvian championship with VEF Rīga in 2016–17 and was a key player to help his team make the VTB League playoffs.

Latvian National Team

Armands Šķēle made his Latvian National Team debut in 2002. He has played at EuroBasket 2003, EuroBasket 2005,

EuroBasket 2007 The 2007 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2007, was the 35th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics – ...

EuroBasket 2009 The 2009 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2009, was the 36th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. The tournament, which was hosted by Poland, began on 7 September and concluded with the ...

and

. In total, he made 99 appearances for the National Team.

Family

His younger brother, Aigars, is also a professional basketball player.

Autobiography

In December 2020, Šķēle's autobiography, ''Starp dzīvi un basketbolu'', was published. In it, Šķēle talks about his career and various events that took place in his life.

Honours

*1998–99 Latvian League ( BK Brocēni) *2002–03 Polish League (

) *2004–05 Belgian Cup ( Liège Basket) *2004–05 Belgian SuperCup (Liège Basket) *2007–08 Latvian League ( Barons LMT) *2007–08 FIBA EuroCup (Barons LMT) *2010–11 Estonian League (

) *2011–12 Estonian League (BC Kalev/Cramo) *2012–13 Estonian League (BC Kalev/Cramo) *2015–16 Latvian League ( Valmiera/ORDO) *2016–17 Latvian League ( VEF Rīga)

References

External links

Euroleague ProfileAmazing Three-Point Shot by Armands Šķēle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skele, Armands 1983 births Living people S.S. Basket Napoli players BC Kalev/Cramo players BC Zaporizhzhia players BK Barons players BK Valmiera players BK VEF Rīga players BK Ventspils players Latvian expatriate basketball people in Estonia KK Włocławek players Latvian men's basketball players Liège Basket players Point guards Shooting guards Spirou Charleroi players Basketball players from Riga Korvpalli Meistriliiga players