Rīgas Zeļļi is 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 ...

team that is based in

Riga 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 ...

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 ...

. It was founded in the summer of 2023.

History

News of the planned team began appearing in April 2023 with Kristaps Janičenoks voicing support for their inclusion in the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League. The team was intended as a privately financed club with key sponsors including

Riga Technical University Riga Technical University (RTU) () is the oldest technical university in the Baltic countries established on October 14, 1862. It is located in Riga, Latvia and was previously known as Riga Polytechnical Institute and Riga Polytechnicum. In 1 ...

, Betsafe, Sportland, Dienas Bizness, Sporta Avīze, and Cēsu pilsētas sporta skola identified. On July 13, 2023, it was announced that a new team named Rīgas Zeļļi will take part in Latvian-Estonian Basketball League,

Latvian Basketball League Latvian may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Latvia **Latvians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to what is modern-day Latvia and the immediate geographical region **Latvian language, also referred to as Lettish **Latvian cuisine **Latvi ...

and Latvian Basketball Cup. Its president is sports manager Edgars Buļs and former player Artūrs Šēnhofs is taking the role of a general manager. Previously, both worked together as hosts of a basketball show "Ūdenszeļļi" on television. Club offers everyone to become its member by donating money, in return having a word in teams' decisions. It has also created a mobile app for a team to communicate with teams' management. It presents itself as the most innovative sports organizations in

. On July 14, 2023, it was announced that the head coach of the team will be

Juris Umbraško Juris Umbraško (born 29 July 1978 in Jekabpils, Latvia) is a Latvian professional basketball coach and player. He heads the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League team Rīgas Zeļļi. Club play Umbraško started his senior club career with Latvi ...

. On September 19,

Andris Biedriņš Andris Biedriņš (; born 2 April 1986) is a Latvian former professional basketball player. He was drafted by the Golden State Warriors with the 11th overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft. Professional career Skonto (2002–2004) Biedriņš's p ...

, the first Latvian basketball player ever drafted in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, joined the club as its ambassador. On September 30, 2023, Zeļļi played the first official game in a team's history beating Keila Coolbet in

Arena Riga Xiaomi Arena, formerly known as Arena Riga () is an indoor arena in Riga, Latvia. It is primarily used for ice hockey, basketball and concerts. Arena Riga holds a maximum of 14,500 and was opened on 15 February 2006. It was built to be used as ...

. The first foreign player signed by Zeļļi was Georgian forward George Natsvlishvili. After the start of debut season Rīgas Zeļļi signed an American point guard Nigel Johnson. Later he was replaced by Canadian shooting guard Isiah Osborne. On January 20, 2024, Rīgas Zeļļi announced that the team was joined by Aleksandrs Samoilovs, a two-time European silver medalist in

Beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

. It was meant to be a marketing campaign and he actually played in only one game, scoring two points against

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 ...

. On February 29, 2024, Rīgas Zeļļi signed a long-standing center of the Latvian national team Mārtiņš Meiers until the end of the season. 10 days later team also signed Australian center Jordan Hunter.Kings centre Jordi Hunter has signed a short-term deal in Latvia
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Players

Current roster

Depth chart

Honours

* Latvian League: :::''Runners-up (1)'':

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

::::''Bronze (1)'':

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

Latvian Cup The Latvian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Latvian football. Since 2021, its full name is Responsible Gaming Latvian Football Cup (''Atbildīgas spēles Latvijas kauss'') due to the sponsorship by sports betting company ...

: :::''Runners-up (1)'': 2024 * Latvian–Estonian League :::''Runners-up (1)'':

Season by season

References

External links

Official Rīgas Zeļļi Site

Rīgas Zeļļi estlatbl.com
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Rīgas Zeļļi Eurobasket.com

Rīgas Zeļļi basket.lv
Basketball teams in Latvia Sport in Riga Basketball teams established in 2023 2023 establishments in Latvia