Coming out of a sports family is a massive motivation and a burden for many people. Pressure on them is huge as somehow is expected of them to repeat and overachieve their ancestor’s successes. On their hand, they get necessary advice from experienced members of their family which could be a valuable asset in crucial moments of games.
One of the most beautiful basketball stories belongs to the family Lasmanis. We are going to talk about Karlis Lasmanis, the Olympic champion from Latvia. He is is a 3×3 basketball player whose father and sister are also in sport. Fasten your seat belts as we are getting ready to fly.
What kind of family does Karlis come from?
Ugis Lasmanis, the father of Karlis, was a successful rower who competed at the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games. The hero of our story didn’t have a chance to watch him, so he could only hear the stories of his great father’s achievements. Latvian 3×3 star got precious pieces of advice from Ugis ahead of the 2021 Olympics held in Tokyo. Karlis was told to clear his mind and enjoy the process.
Father also recommended his son to put big expectations aside and go step by step toward his goal.
The sister of Karlis is a triple jumper and long jumper and Olympic Games also have a specific place in her heart due to her father’s role in this major sports event. Karlis inherited a hard-working mentality, while the shooting abilities he possesses are the consequence of training.
What was his inaugural season on World Tour?
Latvian team Riga started competing in World Tour in the 2017 season and Lasmanis took part in that campaign for the first time, also.
His first tournament was Debrecen Masters where he played alongside Agnis Cavars, Edgars Krumins, and Nauris Miezis. They took fourth place in Hungary losing to Slovenian Ljubljana in the semis in a tight clash with 21-20.
Latvian roster played after Masters in Chinese cities Chengdu and Beijing where Lasmanis and his colleagues took 3rd and 4th place, respectively.
How far did Riga go in the 2018 World Tour?
The same members represented Riga in the seventh edition of this prestigious competition hoping that they could go all the way. However, the roster ended as runner-up at Debrecen and Chengdu Masters losing to Novi Sad and Liman in the final games, respectively.
However, some level of consistency was shown throughout the season with the team mainly reaching the semifinals of the Masters.
Subsequently, Lasmanis and his teammates took part in Final Masters in Beijing and qualified for the Top 8 with a 1-1 score in the pool.
Victories against Liman and Amsterdam took the Latvian team to the game for first place against Serbian Novi Sad. A team led by Dusan Bulut was powerful and defeated the Soviet roster with 20-18.
How many Masters did Riga win in the next campaign?
After ending the previous season as runner-up, Riga’s players were very ambitious regarding new challenges which were ahead of them. Arturs Strelnieks, older brother of professional 5×5 basketball players Janis Strelnieks, joined the squad before the new campaign believing he could contribute to better team results.
Soviet team won the first Masters of eight World Tour’s edition held in Doha beating Liman in the super-thrilling final with 15-14. Trophies in Prague and Jeddah Masters were clinched after defeating Princeton and Liman in deciding fixtures, respectively.
Those victories gave a huge boost to Latvian players, but our today’s hero Karlis Lasmanis missed the last couple of tournaments. Without him, Riga was unable to do something more at Final Masters in Japanese Utsunomiya. Consequentially, they lost in the semis against mighty Novi Sad and ended in 3rd place.
How was Karlis playing in the pandemic 2020 season?
The powerful quartet continued to lead the team into new challenges during the 2020 pandemic season. The roster started the season with a 9-3 run winning the Masters in Hungary. Serbian Ub was defeated in the game for first place with 21-20. Lasmanis and his colleagues pulled out a victory in Jeddah Masters after winning a game against Liman with a buzzer beater of Lasmanis with 21-20.
Eventually, guys from Riga made 10 games winning streak clinching the trophy at Jeddah Final. The same scenario repeated as the Latvian team beat Serbian Liman with 21-20 with a buzzer beater, this time provided by Nauris Miezis.
Karlis Lasmanis finished the tournament in Saudi Arabia as the top scorer with 37 points, but the most important thing was that the Soviet roster became World Tour’s champion for the first time in their history.
How did Karlis handle the pressure of winning in the 2021 season?
Arturs Strelnieks and Guntars Strakis were two additional members of the regular and well-known Riga squad for the 2021 campaign. The first won Masters was in Abu Dhabi where the Latvian team defeated Ub with 21-18 in the final game. That victory was followed by another triumph made in Mexico City which was achieved by winning in the fixture for first place against Puerto Rican team San Juan with 21-15.
Eventually, Riga participated in Final Masters in Jeddah. Russian team Gagarin surprised defending champions in the quarterfinal and beat them with 21-19.
How successful was Lasmanis at the first-ever Olympics in 3×3?
Latvia needed to chase the card for 2021 Olympics through a qualifying tournament held in the Austrian city Graz in May of 2021. Soviet Country won in a game for the third place against France with 21-15 and as a third-placed team qualified for Olympic Games.
The group stage in Tokyo was not so impressive for Lasmanis and his teammates Agnis Cavars, Edgars Krumins, and Nauris Miezis. They suffered three defeats in pool, but proceeded to the semifinal thanks to victory in the quarterfinal. Japan was defeated with 21-18 and later Belgium with 21-8 in the semis.
Finally, Latvia pulled out a massive 21-18 victory in a final game against ROC and won the historical first gold with Lasmanis finishing as the best scorer of the tournament with 76 points.
How was his experience in Big3?
Dusan Bulut, one of the biggest 3×3 stars in the history of a game, called Lasmanis to join him in the new Aliens project in the summer of 2022. Bulut also invited his former teammate Tamas Ivosev, while DeShawn Stephens and Adam Drexler were brought to the roster through the 2022 Big3 Draft.
Aliens ended the regular part of the season with a 5-3 score in fourth place and qualified for a play off. In the Top 4 phase, Dusan and his teammates lost to Trilogy with 50-44.
What happened with Riga in the last edition of the World Tour?
Karlis Lasmanis signed for Aliens to compete for the first time in the Big3 league, so he was absent from World Tour for the first couple of Masters. Riga was struggling in that period, but the arrival of this star changed everything inside the roster. The Latvian team had an excellent performance in Montreal Masters when they beat Sakiai with 19-17 in the deciding game.
Following victory in Canada, Karlis and his teammates recorded two more victories in Cebu and Riyadh. Antwerp and Ub were defeated with the same result in the final fixtures – 21-19.
Subsequently, the guys for Riga fell short in Final Masters in Abu Dhabi as they lost the quarterfinal against Vienna with 21-17.
Winning Olympic Gold propelled his career to new heights as many big clubs on the international level started to be interested in his services. Joy didn’t last long for Karlis as his determination and persistence turned his attention to new goals.
A couple of weeks ago, Lasmanis was signed by the Chinese team Shanghai and Asia will be the place where Latvian stars will continue to write history in 3×3 basketball. We wish him all the luck there hoping he will return to more popular 3×3 environments in near future. Olympics in Paris 20224 are waiting for him to prove that Tokyo was not an accident.
Karlis Lasmanis will face strong competition but what can be the limit for a hero of today’s story? Sky is the limit.
Add Comment