Davis Bertans reflects on Latvia's rise, EuroBasket's star power, and the unique challenges of international play. He speaks candidly about Kristaps Porzingis, unfinished NBA business, and why Dubai might be the place to close his career.
The late summer heat still clung to Athens, and inside the OAKA arena, Latvia was grinding through practice ahead of their Acropolis tournament opener against Greece.
It was the final stretch before EuroBasket 2025, and Davis Bertans, now the veteran voice of this surging Latvian golden generation, lingered a little longer on the court.
Before heading to the locker room, he had a quick chat with head coach Luca Banchi, a final tune-up on schemes and responsibilities.
"With Rodi [Kurucs] coming back, it's more about communicating about the rules and where we all should be," Bertans explained to BasketNews.
"I'm not going to get into specific details, but just to have everybody on the same page. And overall, I think the team is looking good. Every game we're playing better and better, so we've got to keep it going."
That last tournament feel is in the air, because Banchi's run with Latvia, which started in 2021, is about to end. For Bertans, his imprint has been transformative.
Few coaches have left such a visible imprint in such a short span. Under his leadership, Latvia not only shed its underdog label but also carved out a new identity—one built on collective confidence, tactical sharpness, and the belief that no opponent was beyond reach.
Credit FIBA
From securing a long-awaited EuroBasket return to orchestrating a stunning fifth-place finish at the 2023 FIBA World Cup—where Latvia upset both France and Spain—Banchi has rewritten the expectations around what Latvian basketball could be.
For Bertans, the Italian coach's influence was nothing short of transformative.
"I felt like his approach gave players a different perspective on mentality, and over the years, the national team historically was like, we had good players, but there was always something that wasn't enough to win important games," he said.
What Banchi offered was a new standard: players who had once flown under the radar blossomed into EuroLeague-level contributors, from Arturs Zagars to Andrejs Grazulis and Rihards Lomazs.
"He gave us so much confidence. We knew that whatever team comes to play us, we don't care, we can beat them. And that translated on the court very often."
In four years, Banchi turned Latvia from a team hoping to compete to one expecting to win—a legacy that will linger well after he steps away.
EuroBasket: Harder than the NBA playoffs?
EuroBasket has long been described as brutal—sometimes even more intense than the NBA postseason.
Arturs Zagars recently compared its intensity to the NBA playoffs. In Bertans opinion,
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Giorgos Kyriakidis