For Liepāja, August 2 has a very specific place on the basketball calendar: Kristaps Porziņģis was born there on August 2, 1995. FIBA lists his date of birth as Aug 2, 1995, the NBA biography identifies him as a native of Liepāja, and the Latvian Basketball Association’s statistics show “Dzim.: 1995-08-02”. Before Spain and the bright lights of New York came the youth basketball of BK Liepājas Lauvas; in 2024, with the Boston Celtics, he became the first Latvian basketball player to win an NBA title.
Porziņģis’s career brought together two strands of Latvian basketball: Liepāja’s youth system and the NBA stage. Before his NBA debut, Gundars Vētra and Andris Biedriņš had already played in the league, but the 2024 Finals brought Latvia its first NBA championship in basketball.
Related events
- 1560On August 2, 1560, at the Battle of Ērģeme near Lugaži, Russian troops defeated the combined Livonian forces; after the defeat, the knights were no longer a serious military force.
- 1967On August 2, 1967, in Kalamazoo, USA, composer, conductor and organist Ādolfs Ābele died; he had been a professor at the Latvian Conservatory and a chief conductor of Song Festivals.
- 1932On August 2, 1932, journalist Voldemārs Krustiņš was born in Pļaviņas; he later led Padomju Jaunatne, founded Lauku Avīze and received the Order of the Three Stars.
Footnotes
- 1.https://www.fiba.basketball/en/players/187013-kristaps-porzingis
- 2.https://www.nba.com/player/204001/kristaps-porzingis/bio
- 3.https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/p/porzikr01.html
- 4.https://www2.basket.lv/izlases/viriesi/statistika-izlases1
- 5.https://www.lsm.lv/raksts/sports/basketbols/18.06.2024-bostonas-celtics-triumfe-finalserija-porzingis-latvijai-pirmais-nba-cempions.a558425/
- 6.https://old.historia.lv/alfabets/E/ER/ergemes_kauja/ergemes_kauja.htm
- 7.https://emuzejs.lnvm.lv/resursi/galerijas-un-virtualas-izstades/galerijas/rigas-pils-vesture/rigas-pils-16-un-17-gadsimta-attelos
- 8.https://dziesmusvetki.lndb.lv/person/?id=129
- 9.https://www.acadlib.lu.lv/pvp/0000000172.htm
- 10.https://www.lsm.lv/raksts/zinas/latvija/aizsaule-aizgajis-voldemars-krustins.a364759/
- 11.https://www.la.lv/muziba-aizgajusa-lauku-avizes-dibinataja-pieminai