Valdis Valters was born on 4 August 1957 and is a retired Latvian professional basketball player.
13 Facts About Valdis Valters
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Valdis Valters played at the point guard position for the senior USSR national team.
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Valdis Valters is regarded as one of the greatest players to have played the game in Europe in the 1980s.
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Valdis Valters became a FIBA Hall of Fame player in 2017.
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Valdis Valters spent most of his club career playing with the Latvian club VEF Riga.
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Valdis Valters first made his name in European basketball when he was named the MVP of EuroBasket 1981, after he averaged 16.7 points per game, to lead his USSR national team to the gold medal.
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Valdis Valters was on the All-Tournament Team of EuroBasket 1985.
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Valdis Valters played a key role on the USSR national team that won the gold at the 1982 FIBA World Championship, in Colombia, where he was a starting point guard, and averaged 14.0 points per game.
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In 1992, after he had stopped playing basketball at the pro level, Valdis Valters returned to the court, and represented the senior Latvian national team at the 1992 Summer Olympic Games Qualifying Tournament.
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Valdis Valters founded his own basketball school, the Valtera Basketbola Skola, now known as Keizarmezs, whose alumni includes former NBA player Andris Biedrins, as well as other top Latvian players.
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Valdis Valters helped to create the basketball league for Latvian youth players, the LJBL.
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In 2013, Valdis Valters released his autobiographical book, called "Dumpinieks ar idealiem".
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Valdis Valters is currently working as an analyst for the Latvian TV channel, TV6, as a host of the weekly sports show Overtime.