Ronalds Zaķis (born 8 July 1987) is 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 who plays for

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 ...

of the

Latvian–Estonian Basketball League The Latvian-Estonian Basketball League (, ); known as Optibet Latvian-Estonian Basketball League for sponsorship reasons, is the top-tier men's basketball league in Latvia and Estonia. The competition was introduced in 2018 and is organised by th ...

Career

Ronalds Zaķis started his career playing for

BK Ventspils BK Ventspils is a professional basketball club that is located in Ventspils, Latvia. The club competes in the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League. History BK Ventspils was founded in 1994. In first years Ventspils proved themselves as relevant p ...

. In early 2008, he was loaned to VEF Rīga and after the season he declared for the

2008 NBA draft The 2008 NBA Draft was held on June 26, 2008, at the The Theater at Madison Square Garden, Washington Mutual Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. In this NBA draft, draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took t ...

, however, he pulled out and ultimately was never drafted. For 2008-09 Zaķis returned to Ventspils, winning his first Latvian League championship. On 22 July 2014 Zaķis signed a contract with VEF Rīga. With VEF he won his third Latvian championship. On 12 August 2015 Zaķis moved to Slovenian team

Union Olimpija Košarkarski klub Olimpija () was a men's professional basketball club based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Olimpija has won 23 National League championships, including eight consecutive titles between 1992 and 1999. They have played in two differen ...

for the 2015–16 season. In August 2016, Zaķis returned to Ventspils. In August 2020 he signed for the

Rostock Seawolves Rostock Seawolves is a professional basketball club based in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The club currently competes in the Basketball Bundesliga. The Seawolves play their home games in the Rostocker Stadthalle. Within the New sta ...

in the German ProA League. In summer 2021 he joined Latvian-Estonian Basketball League debutants

KK Viimsi Korvpalliklubi Viimsi (English: Basketball Club Viimsi) is a professional basketball club based in Haabneeme, Viimsi, Estonia. The team plays in the Estonian-Latvian Basketball League and the Korvpalli Meistriliiga (KML). Their home arena is the ...

and helped them to reach the Final Four. On 13 July 2022, he signed a one-year contract with Dutch club

Donar Thor (from ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, and fertility. Beside ...

of the

BNXT League The BNXT League is a professional basketball league in Belgium and the Netherlands. The league is the first tier in both the Dutch and Belgian system, replacing the Dutch Basketball League, DBL and Pro Basketball League, PBL. The inaugural season ...

International career

Zaķis was leading scorer of entire

2007 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 2007 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship was the tenth edition of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. The cities of Nova Gorica, in Slovenia, and Gorizia, in Italy, hosted the tournament. Serbia won their first title with that name

with 24.7 ppg.FIBA Europe Profile
/ref> His first appearance for Latvian national team came in 2008, he played in 10 games over his career.

References

External links

Profile
at aba-liga.com
Profile
at basket.lv

at fiba.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Zakis, Ronalds 1987 births Living people ABA League players BK VEF Rīga players BK Ventspils players Centers (basketball) Donar (basketball club) players KK Olimpija players Latvian men's basketball players Power forwards Rostock Seawolves players Sportspeople from Talsi KK Viimsi players