Valdis Valters

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Valdis Valters (born August 4, 1957 in Riga , Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic ) is a former Soviet and Latvian basketball player who was world champion in 1982 and European champion in 1981 and 1985.

Athletic career

The 1.93 m tall point guard played for BK VEF Rīga from 1976 to 1989 . After Latvia's independence, Valters returned to basketball and played for BK Brocēni from 1992 to 1997 . In 1992, 1993 and 1996 he was the Latvian basketball champion.

In 1981 he joined the Soviet national team at the 1981 European Championship in Czechoslovakia. The team from the Soviet Union won all games, in the final they defeated the Yugoslavs with 84:67. As his team's top scorer, Valters scored 150 points in nine games, 20 of them in the final. He was voted Most Valuable Player of the European Championship. The following year the 1982 World Cup took place in Colombia . The Soviet team won all games in their preliminary group and lost in the final round only to the team from the United States with 93:99. In the final, the two teams met again as first place in the final round and now the team of the USSR won with 95:94. Valters threw 126 points in nine games. In the two games against the United States, he scored 22 and 13 points. In 1983 at the European Championships in France, the team of the Soviet Union was defeated in the semifinals to the Spaniards 94:95. In the game for third place they beat the Netherlands 105-70. Valters scored 57 points in seven games. In the semifinals against Spain he didn't get a point, but five personal fouls.

In 1984 the Soviet team was qualified for the Olympic Games, but could not compete because of the Olympic boycott. At the European Championship in 1985 , the team from the USSR won the final against the team from Czechoslovakia with 120: 89. Valters scored 133 points in eight games. At the 1986 World Cup in Spain, the USSR team won 91:90 against Yugoslavia in the semifinals, while the United States team won 87:85 in the final against the Soviet selection. Valters threw 117 points in ten games. The following year at the European Championships in Greece in 1987 , the Greek team won the final against the Soviet Union after extra time with 103: 101. Valters scored 134 points in eight games, including 21 points in the final.

Five years after the temporary end of his international career, Valdis Valters returned and tried to qualify with the Latvian national team for the 1992 Olympic Games.

Valters played for BK Brocēni in Riga until 1997, then he took over the coaching office and led the team from 1997 to 1999 to three championship titles in a row. He stayed with the club until 2003, which was renamed BK Skonto in 2000. From 2007 to 2010 he was a coach at his old club VEF Riga.

Valdis Valters has two sons, Kristaps Valters and Sandis Valters , who both became professional basketball players. In 2017 Valdis Valters was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame .

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Medal winner at the European basketball championships at sport-komplett.de
  2. ↑ Player statistics of the EM 1981 at archive.fiba.com
  3. ↑ Portrait in the FIBA ​​Hall of Fame
  4. ↑ Medal winner at basketball world championships at sport-komplett.de
  5. ↑ Player statistics from the 1982 World Cup at archive.fiba.com
  6. ↑ Player statistics of the EM 1983 at archive.fiba.com
  7. ↑ Player statistics of the EM 1985 at archive.fiba.com
  8. ↑ Player statistics from the 1986 World Cup at archive.fiba.com
  9. ↑ Player statistics of the EM 1987 at archive.fiba.com
personal data
SURNAME Valters, Valdis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Soviet and Latvian basketball players
DATE OF BIRTH 4th August 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH Riga , Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic