Ronalds Zaķis (born 8 July 1987) is a Latvian professional basketball player who plays for Ventspils of the Latvian–Estonian Basketball League.

Ronalds Zaķis
No. 30 – BK Ventspils
PositionCenter
LeagueLEBL
Personal information
Born (1987-07-08) 8 July 1987 (age 37)
Talsi, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union
NationalityLatvian
Listed height2.07 m (6 ft 9 in)
Listed weight110 kg (243 lb)
Career information
NBA draft2009: undrafted
Playing career2006–present
Career history
2006–2008BK Ventspils
2008VEF Rīga (loan)
2008–2014BK Ventspils
2014–2015VEF Rīga
2015–2016Union Olimpija
2016–2020BK Ventspils
2020–2021Rostock Seawolves
2021–2022Viimsi
2022–2023Donar Groningen
2023Viimsi
2023–presentBK Ventspils
Career highlights and awards

Career

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Ronalds Zaķis started his career playing for BK Ventspils. In early 2008, he was loaned to VEF Rīga and after the season he declared for the 2008 NBA draft,[1] however, he pulled out and ultimately was never drafted. For 2008-09 Zaķis returned to Ventspils, winning his first Latvian League championship.

On 22 July 2014 Zaķis signed a contract with VEF Rīga.[2] With VEF he won his third Latvian championship.

On 12 August 2015 Zaķis moved to Slovenian team Union Olimpija for the 2015–16 season.[3]

In August 2016, Zaķis returned to Ventspils.[4]

In August 2020 he signed for the Rostock Seawolves in the German ProA League.[5] In summer 2021 he joined Latvian-Estonian Basketball League debutants KK Viimsi and helped them to reach the Final Four.

On 13 July 2022, he signed a one-year contract with Dutch club Donar of the BNXT League.[6]

International career

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Zaķis was leading scorer of entire 2007 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship with 24.7 ppg.[7] His first appearance for Latvian national team came in 2008, he played in 10 games over his career.[6]

References

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  1. ^ Final Draft Early Entry Candidate List Archived 2018-02-14 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ VEF Riga brings back big man Zakis Archived 2014-07-27 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Zakis prva letošnja tuja okrepitev! (in Slovene) Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Zakis is back at Ventspils
  5. ^ Player profile and statistics
  6. ^ a b Sluis, Jurryt van der. "Ronalds Zakis eerste buitenlandse aanwinst". Donar (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  7. ^ FIBA Europe Profile
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