Blūms with Bilbao Basket
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No. 45 – VEF Rīga | |
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Position | Point guard / Shooting guard |
League |
LBL VTB |
Personal information | |
Born |
Saldus, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union |
April 20, 1982
Nationality | Latvian |
Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
Listed weight | 190 lb (86 kg) |
Career information | |
NBA draft | 2004 / Undrafted |
Playing career | 1999–present |
Career history | |
1999–2001 | BK Brocēni |
2001–2003 | Skonto |
2003–2004 | Anwil Włocławek |
2004–2006 | Ventspils |
2006–2007 | Lietuvos rytas |
2007–2008 | Basket Napoli |
2008–2012 | Bilbao Basket |
2012–2013 | Lietuvos rytas |
2013–2014 | Astana |
2014–2015 | Panathinaikos |
2015–2016 | Sidigas Avellino |
2016–present | VEF Rīga |
Career highlights and awards | |
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Jānis Blūms (born April 20, 1982) is a Latvian professional basketball player who plays for VEF Rīga of the Latvian LBL. Standing at 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in), Blūms plays both point guard and shooting guard positions. He also serves as the captain of the Latvian national basketball team.
Blūms started his career with Brocēni and later continued to play in their successor Skonto. In 2003, he signed with Polish club Anwil Włocławek, where he spent one season before returning to Latvia, where he joined BK Ventspils. After two years in Ventspils, Blūms joined Lithuanian powerhouse BC Lietuvos rytas. In 2007, Blūms accepted offer from Italian side Eldo Napoli where he had a decent season.
In 2008, Blūms signed a two-year contract with Bilbao Basket of Spain's ACB League. Totally he played four very good seasons in Bilbao. Some of highlights with Bilbao includes making Liga ACB finals, Euroleague quarterfinals and Eurocup Final Four (twice). During his tenure with Bilbao Blūms developed reputation as a fierce competitor who can be deadly from three-point range and can play lock-down defense, because often he would guard best player of the opposite team. Due to his passion and effort he became one of the city's fan favorites.
After his experience in Basque Country, Jānis moved back to Lietuvos Rytas, which played Euroleague that season. In July 2013, Blūms signed a one-year contract with BC Astana.