Ainars Bagatskis (born 29 March 1967) is a Latvian former 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 and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

, who currently works as the head coach of

Śląsk Wrocław Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known as WKS Śląsk Wrocław (), is a Polish professional Association football, football club based in Wrocław that plays in , the second level of the Polish football leagu ...

of the

Polish Basketball League Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English language, English: Polish Basketball League), officially known as the Orlen Basket Liga due to its sponsorship by Orlen, is a professional men's club basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Poland. I ...

(PLK).

Playing career

Club career

During his club playing career, Bagatskis played at the

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 ...

position.

Latvia national team

Bagatskis was a member of the senior

Latvia national basketball team The Latvia men's national basketball team () represents Latvia in international basketball. They are organized and run by the Latvian Basketball Association. Latvia has reached the European Basketball Championship 15 times, with their ultimat ...

from 1992 to 2006. With Latvia, he played in four

EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

tournaments.

Coaching career

Bagatskis began his

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

career in the 2005–06 season, while playing in his last season of professional basketball with Barons Rīga, where he stayed for one season. In 2006, he had a short stint as a

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

in one of the greatest Lithuanian teams, Žalgiris Kaunas. Since 2007, he worked as a head coach in several teams, including

Valmiera Valmiera () is the second largest city of the historical Vidzeme region, Latvia, with a total area of . As of 2002, Valmiera had a population of 27,323, and in 2020, it was at 24,879. It is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city, and ...

until 2009, the Russian team Yenisey Krasnoyarsk in the 2009–10 season,

Sokhumi Sukhumi or Sokhumi is a city in a wide bay on the Black Sea's eastern coast. It is both the Capital city, capital and largest city of Abkhazia, a partially recognised state that most countries consider a part of Georgia (country), Georgia. The ...

, and Kryvbasbasket until 2012. In June 2012, he became the head coach of the Ukrainian team Budivelnyk Kyiv. He stayed with them for two seasons, winning the

Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague The Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague (USL) () is the first-tier level of professional basketball league in Ukraine. Established in 1992, the league is currently contested by 10 clubs. It is a tier above the Ukrainian Higher League and allows for o ...

two times with them, in 2013 and 2014. In the 2013–14 season, his team made its first

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

appearance in the club's history. On 1 July 2014, he signed a one-year contract to become the head coach of the Russian team

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...

. Nizhny Novgorod ended their season in the

VTB United League The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...

, after being eliminated by

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

, with 3–0 series sweep, in the League's semifinals series. On 18 June 2016, he signed a two-year contract to become an assistant coach of

David Blatt David Michael Blatt (; born May 22, 1959) is an Israeli-American professional basketball executive. He is also a former coach and player. Blatt played point guard at Princeton University from 1977 to 1981 and played in the Maccabiah Games for ...

's, with the Turkish club Darüşşafaka. On December 24, 2016, Bagatskis became the head coach of the Israeli club

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

. On 16 May 2017, he parted ways with

. On 30 June 2018, he signed with

Brose Bamberg Bamberg Baskets is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia/North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup six times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketball ...

of the

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the German basketball league system, highest level Sports league, league of professional club basketball in German ...

. On June 17, 2025, he signed with

of the

(PLK).

National team

Following the departure of Kęstutis Kemzūra, in February 2010, he became a team selector for the senior Latvia national team. So far, his team made two

appearances, at the

EuroBasket 2011 EuroBasket 2011 was the 37th men's European Basketball Championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Lithuania. This was the second time EuroBasket had been held in Lithuania, the country having also hosted the 1939 champions ...

, in Lithuania, and at the

EuroBasket 2013 EuroBasket 2013 was the 38th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It took place from 4 September until 22 September 2013 in Slovenia. The number of participating teams was 24. France men's national basketball ...

, in Slovenia.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2003–04 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2, Žalgiris , 12 , , 9 , , 24.0 , , .386 , , .404 , , .900 , , 2.6 , , .8 , , .6 , , .0 , , 9.5 , , 7.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2004–05 , 17 , , 0 , , 12.5 , , .424 , , .426 , , .882 , , .9 , , .4 , , .4 , , .0 , , 5.5 , , 3.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 29 , , 9 , , 17.5 , , .406 , , .414 , , .894 , , 1.6 , , .6 , , .4 , , .0 , , 7.2 , , 5.1

Coaching record

EuroLeague

, - , align="left", Žalgiris , align="left", 2005–06 , 1 , , 0 , , 1 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in Top 16 stage , - , align="left", Žalgiris , align="left", 2006–07 , 14 , , 2 , , 12 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in regular season , - , align="left", Budivelnyk , align="left", 2013–14 , 10 , , 2 , , 8 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in regular season , - , align="left",

, align="left", 2014–15 , 24 , , 8 , , 16 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in Top 16 stage , - , align="left", Maccabi , align="left", 2016–17 , 16 , , 5 , , 11 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in regular season , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan=2, Career, , 74, , 21, , 53, , , ,

References

External links

Official websiteAinars Bagatskis
at eurobasket.com
Ainars Bagatskis
at euroleague.net (as a player)
Ainars Bagatskis
at euroleague.net (as a coach)

at fiba.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Bagatskis, Ainars 1967 births Living people ASK Riga players Basketball players from Riga BC Žalgiris coaches BC Žalgiris players BK VEF Rīga coaches BK VEF Rīga players BK Ventspils players JDA Dijon Basket players Latvian basketball coaches Latvian expatriate basketball people in France Latvian expatriate basketball people in Georgia (country) Latvian expatriate basketball people in Israel Latvian expatriate basketball people in Lithuania Latvian expatriate basketball people in Russia Latvian expatriate basketball people in Ukraine Latvian men's basketball players Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. coaches Śląsk Wrocław basketball coaches Small forwards Soviet men's basketball players