Alex Frank Stivrins (; born November 29, 1962) is a retired

Latvian-American Latvian Americans () are Americans who are of Latvian ancestry. According to the 2019 American Community Survey, there are 85,723 Americans of full or partial Latvian descent. History The first significant wave of Latvian settlers who immigra ...

professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He was a ,

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

. Stivrins graduated from

Lincoln East High School Lincoln East High School is a public high school located in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the Lincoln Public Schools district. The current principal is Casey Fries. As of the 2022-23 school year, the school had an enrollment o ...

in 1980 and led East to three state basketball tournament appearances, where they won the state championship in 1978, qualified for state in 1979 and finished runner-up in 1980 in Class A, which is Nebraska's largest classification for high school athletics. He was a two-time Super State and All-Nebraska selection his junior and senior years. He played collegiately at

Creighton University Creighton University () is a private research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate ...

and the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

from 1980 to 1985. He continued his career in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

. Stivrins was selected by the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly shortened to Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Division (1967–1970), and ...

with the 75th overall pick in the 4th round of the

1985 NBA draft The 1985–86 NBA season, 1985 NBA draft took place on June 18, 1985. It was also the first NBA draft of the "NBA draft lottery, lottery" era. It was also around this time where the league decreased the amount of rounds the draft spent, with the ...

. He played with the SuperSonics,

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

and

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

. Stivrins won a Continental Basketball Association (CBA) championship with the

Omaha Racers The Omaha Racers were an American minor league basketball team based in Omaha, Nebraska. The franchise played in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) from 1989 to 1997. The team's franchise linage started in 1982 as the Wisconsin Flyers ...

in 1993. His father, ophthalmologist Dr. Kazimirs Stivriņš (1921–2008), a native of Izvalta in

Latgale Latgale (; ; ; ; ; ; Belarusian Latin alphabet, Belarusian Latin: ''Łathalija''; ), also known as Latgalia or Latgallia, is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. It is the easternmost region of the country and lies north of the Daugava River. Wh ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

fled the second Soviet occupation of Latvia to the United States after the Second World War. Stivrins is considered to be the first ethnic Latvian (and Latgalian) player in the NBA and played a game in 1992 against the first ever Latvian-born NBA player,

Gundars Vētra Gundars Vētra (born 22 May 1967) is a Latvian former professional basketball player and a current coach. Standing at , he played at the shooting guard and small forward positions. He was the first Latvian to play in the National Basketball Asso ...

References

External links

NBA stats
@ basketball-reference.com 1962 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Japan American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players American people of Latvian descent Atlanta Hawks players Basketball players from Nebraska CB Breogán players CB Canarias players Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball players Creighton Bluejays men's basketball players Liga ACB players Los Angeles Clippers players Milwaukee Bucks players Omaha Racers players Phoenix Suns players Seattle SuperSonics draft picks Seattle SuperSonics players Small forwards Sportspeople from Lincoln, Nebraska Tenerife AB players Wyoming Wildcatters players 20th-century American sportsmen {{1960s-US-basketball-bio-stub