Uvis Helmanis

Infobox Euroleague Player
name = Uvis Helmanis
league = LBL
BBL
position = Forward
height_ft = 6
height_in = 8
weight_lbs = 253
birth_date = birth date and age|1972|6|10|
birth_place = Talsi, Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR
nationality = Latvian
team = ASK Riga
number = 4
career_start = 1992
former_teams = Bonus (1992–1994)
Metrapole (1994–1998)
ASK Broceni/LMT (1998–1999)
Stal Ostrow (1999)
ASK/Buki (2000)
BK LMT (2000)
Zepter-Idea (2000)
Bayer 04 (2000–2001)
GHP Bamberg (2002–2006)
BK Ventspils (2006–2008)

Uvis Helmanis (born June 10, 1972 in Riga, Latvian SSR, USSR) is a Latvian professional basketball player who plays the power forward position for LBL`s ASK Riga.

Club career

Uvis Helmanis started his professional career when he was 20 years old and played for Bonus from Riga. He played for Bonus until 1994. The next few seasons he played for Metrapole from Ādaži - later Talsi. In the season of 1998/1999 he played for ASK/Buki and won his first LBL champions title. In 1999/2000 he played for Stal Ostrow in Poland, then returned to Latvia to play for ASK/Buki and BK LMT and ended his season in Zepter-Idea from Poland. The next 5 years Uvis Helmanis spent in Germany. He started with one season in Bayer 04, and the next four seasons he played for GHP Bamberg. While playing for GHP Bamberg he also played in the Euroleague. In 2006 he returned to Latvia and played for BK Ventspils. Before the 2008/2009 he joined ASK Riga.

National team

Uvis Helmanis has played for the Latvian national basketball team since 1990. He is the only Latvian basketball player, who has played in five European championships. The first European championship he played in was in 1997 and Latvia had last place. This season he is the captain of the team and Latvia will play in the next European championship in 2009.

References