Jānis Timma (2 July 1992 – 17 December 2024) was 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 (appro ...

player. Standing at , he mainly played at the

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

position. He also represented the senior Latvia national team. A native of

Krāslava Krāslava (; , , , , ) is a town and the administrative centre of Krāslava Municipality. The town lies on the Daugava, upstream and to the east of the city of Daugavpils. Most of the town is situated on the right coast of the Daugava. As defined ...

, Timma started his career in 2008 with ASK Riga and had stints with several

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

teams, including Khimki Moscow, Baskonia and

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

. In his youth, he was regarded as one of the top prospects of his generation in Europe.

Professional career

Timma grew up playing basketball in his hometown of

, but at age 15 moved to

Rīga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

. At first he joined ASK Rīga's youth system, and made a few appearances for its senior team, during the end of the 2008–09 season. The following year, ASK Riga was dissolved and he played with DSN Rīga, a team that consisted of young Latvian talents. Timma helped DSN Rīga to win the Latvian 2nd division in the 2009–10 season. He also spent the majority of the next season playing with DSN Rīga. Timma joined Liepājas Lauvas for the 2011–12 season. That can be considered his first real season at the pro level. After a decent season in Liepāja, Timma made the next step in his career. On 1 August 2012, he signed a multi-year contract with

Ventspils Ventspils () is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It is situated on the Venta River and ...

. In April 2013, he led Ventspils to the

Baltic Basketball League Baltic Basketball League (BBL) was the Baltic states basketball league founded in 2004. The league mainly focused on teams from the Baltic states, but teams from Sweden, Russia, Kazakhstan, Finland, and Belarus Belarus, officially the Rep ...

championship, and he won the Finals MVP award. In his second season with Ventspils, Timma won his first Latvian League championship, and he was named the MVP of the playoffs. On 28 July 2014, he signed with the Latvian club VEF Rīga, where he played for the first time in such quality competition as the European-wide secondary league, the EuroCup, and the

VTB United League The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...

. Timma was named the MVP of the 2015 Latvian Basketball League All-Star Game, after he scored 41 points, and set a new scoring record. On 5 May 2015, he was named the VTB United League Young Player of the Year. He finished the season with VEF Rīga, by winning the Latvian League (LBL) championship. In total, he played in 58 games with VEF Riga, averaging 12.6 points per game, in all the competitions that his team participated in. On 30 June 2015, he signed a two-year contract with the Russian team Zenit St. Petersburg. On 8 June 2017, Timma signed a three-year deal with the Spanish club Baskonia. On 18 July 2018, Timma parted ways with Baskonia and signed a two-year deal with the Greek club

of the

. His stint in Greece proved unsuccessful and he was loaned to fellow

club Khimki Moscow on 12 March 2019 for the remainder of the 2018–19 season. On 27 June 2019 Timma signed on to continue playing for the Russian team with a two-year contract. On 15 November 2021 Timma signed a temporary deal with UNICS Kazan of the

. On December 6, he was waived by the Russian club. On 31 January 2022 Timma signed with the

Lakeland Magic The Osceola Magic are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Kissimmee, Florida, and are affiliated with the Orlando Magic. The Magic began play in the 2017–18 season as the Lakeland Magic, and now play their ho ...

, as they held his draft rights. On 23 December 2022, Timma signed with Grises de Humacao of the Puerto Rican

Baloncesto Superior Nacional The Baloncesto Superior Nacional, abbreviated as BSN, is the first-tier-level professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1929 and is organized by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation. T ...

(BSN) until the end of the season. On 22 September 2023, Timma signed with Darüşşafaka of the

Basketbol Süper Ligi The Basketball Super League (; TBSL), also known as the Türkiye Sigorta Basketbol Süper Ligi for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional basketball division of the Turkish basketball league system. It replaced the former Turkish Bas ...

(BSL). On 18 February 2024, Timma signed with Monbus Obradoiro of the

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

NBA draft rights

In 2013, Timma declared for the

2013 NBA draft The 2013 NBA draft was held on June 27, 2013, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including internation ...

. He was selected with the last pick (60th overall) by the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the ...

. On 24 June 2015, the Memphis Grizzlies traded Timma's draft rights to the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

in exchange for

Luke Ridnour Lukas Robin Ridnour (born February 13, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player who played 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Oregon Ducks. Early life Ridnour was born ...

. In 2021, Timma was a part of the Magic's Summer League team in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, scoring 11 points in his debut on August 10. As a 29-year-old rookie, his distinct blonde tattooed look drew attention online and led to jokes from fans.

National team career

With Latvia's junior national team, Timma won a bronze medal at the

2010 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship The 2010 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was the 27th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. 16 teams featured the competition, held in Lithuania from July 22 to August 1. Serbia was the defending champion. Lithuania won the title a ...

. In 2013, he first appeared with the senior Latvian national team. With Latvia's senior team, he has played at the 2015 EuroBasket, the 2016 Belgrade FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the 2017 EuroBasket, and the 2024 Summer Olympics – Men's qualification. In 2024, he joined the Russian basketball club "Alikson Team" to participate in a

3x3 basketball 3x3 basketball (stylized as ''ƐX3'', pronounced ''three-ex-three'') is a Variations of basketball, variation of basketball played three-a-side, with one Backboard (basketball), backboard and in a basketball court, half-court setup. This basketba ...

tournament organised by bookmaker Liga Stavok, losing the opportunity to play for the national team in the future.

Personal life and death

Timma married his long-term girlfriend Sana Strādniece in 2016. Their son was born in 2018. The couple divorced in late 2019. Timma married Russian-Ukrainian pop singer Anna Sedokova in 2020. On 16 October 2024, Sedokova filed for a divorce and they were legally divorced on 9 December. On 16 December he wrote an

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

post with her birthday as his death date (16 December), but the post was later deleted. Timma died on 17 December 2024, at the age of 32. His body was found at the entrance of a high-rise building in the centre of

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Police stated that they presumed Timma's death to be suicide and that no criminal leads were being pursued. His remains were transported to Latvia where a funeral took place on 27 December in Riga.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;", Baskonia , 33 , , 27 , , 22.8 , , .483 , , .412 , , .767 , , 2.3 , , 1.2 , , .9 , , .1 , , 7.6 , , 7.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 23 , , 9 , , 11.3 , , .474 , , .404 , , .500 , , .9 , , .7 , , .3 , , .1 , , 3.4 , , 2.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2,

Khimki Khimki (, ) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It is located approximately northwest from central Moscow, and is part of the Moscow metropolitan area. History Origins and formation Khimki was initially a railway station that had existed sin ...

, 21 , , 20 , , 29.5 , , .540 , , .375 , , .682 , , 3.1 , , 2.0 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , 15.5 , , 11.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2020–21 , 16 , , 10 , , 24.8 , , .364 , , .350 , , .727 , , 2.8 , , .9 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 7.1 , , 5.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;", UNICS , 3 , , 2 , , 9.5 , , .167 , , .167 , , .000 , , .7 , , 1.0 , , .7 , , .0 , , 1.0 , , .3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 96 , , 68 , , 21.5 , , .428 , , .382 , , .704 , , 2.2 , , 1.2 , , .8 , , .1 , , 7.4 , , 5.9

NBA G League

Source , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;", Lakeland , 20 , , 3 , , 20.2 , , .354 , , .304 , , .750 , , 3.4 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , .3 , , 6.4