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 Association (NBA). He appeared in 13 games for the Minnesota Timberwolves during the 1992–1993 season.

Gundars Vētra

Coaching career

After finishing his playing career, Vētra became a coach. He first started as head coach of Barons, leading them to their first ever LBL finals appearance in 2005. For the 2005-06 season he was an assistant to Sharon Drucker with Ural Great. Following a season in Russia, Vētra returned to Latvia, where he re-united with Barons. His second stint with Barons wasn't as good as expected, and Vētra left them to try his hand in women's basketball. After four seasons in Russia he went back to Latvia, joining BK Ventspils, where his team made the Latvian League finals.

Gundars Vētra

Personal life

Vētra has two daughters who played NCAA Division I college basketball. Laura played at Fairfield Stags from 2009 to 2013. Ruta was a guard at NJIT Highlanders from 2013 to 2017.

Gundars Vētra

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|-

| align="left" | 1992–93

| align="left" | Minnesota

| 13 || 0 || 6.8 || .475|| 1.000 || .667 || .6 || .5 || .2 || .0 || 3.5

|- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 13 || 0 || 6.8 || .475 || 1.000 || .667 || .6 || .5 || .2 || .0 || 3.5

External links

Gundars Vētra at basketball-reference.com

1967 births

Living people

BC Spartak Saint Petersburg coaches

BK VEF Rīga players

Basketball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics

Galatasaray S.K. (men's basketball) players

Latvian basketball coaches

Latvian expatriate basketball people in Italy

Latvian expatriate basketball people in Russia

Latvian expatriate basketball people in Turkey

Latvian expatriate basketball people in the United States

Latvian men's basketball players

Minnesota Timberwolves players

National Basketball Association players from Latvia

Olympic basketball players for the Unified Team

People from Ventspils

Rochester Renegade players

Shooting guards

Small forwards

Soviet men's basketball players

Undrafted National Basketball Association players

1990 FIBA World Championship players

Goodwill Games medalists in basketball

Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games

Expatriate sports coaches