Basketball- light and a way out to my darkest days.

Where to begin… People who know me might describe me as a fearless, energetic guy who lives by his own rules. But that’s just part of the story. The rest is what truly shaped who I am.

Growing up in a small country like Latvia, I had big dreams. Like many kids, I tried various activities, from playing football, basketball to learning piano and drums. But by age 14, I committed to basketball while still balancing school and music school at the same time. I didn’t have a social life at all. From the age of 7, I was waking up at 6AM to practice music, attended school, basketball practice, then went to music school, came home, did my homework and repeated that for 10 years straight. On the other hand, my family life was a challenge too. I didn’t have the greatest relationship with my parents. They were divorced and most of the time I was taking care of myself and my brothers. Managing to take them to school, making them food, etc. It has been hard.

However, Basketball was always a place for me, where I could put all my emotions, adrenaline and energy into it. I pushed myself to reach my highest potential. And the result was great. I was fortunate enough to join youth national teams, win the Jr. NBA league in Latvia, and participate in the Global Jr. NBA tournament, where I was the only Latvian representing Europe. I traveled across Spain, Italy, and the U.S., met one of my idols, Dwyane Wade, and won the Jr. NBA three-point contest. Offers started coming in, and it felt like all my hard work was paying off—until COVID-19 hit.

During the lockdown, when things finally resumed, I broke my knee at the first 5 minutes in national teams practice. It was horrible. I have broken bones many times before but this time it was different. Something was off. And I felt that it will not be an easy road for me to get back on court. When everybody heard the news- I didn’t have anyone by my side to help. Even my family wasn’t there to help me with my recovery. I was left all alone at that point… I didn’t have any support and no one to talk about this. I was all alone. Until I met an agent, who supported me. But later, I realised he was exploiting me. I felt controlled, trapped, and had no one to turn to for help.

The next 2 years of my recovery was the most difficult time of my life. First 3 months I spent sleeping in bed, being immobile while losing weight and for the next 9 months I couldn’t walk properly. After a few months I could run, play basketball but without any contact. And finally after 2 years- I could step on the court and play again. But the harsh reality was that my knee was always in pain and I couldn’t keep it up with the high intensity of 7 practices a week. My body was telling me “No, don’t do this”, where it almost ended up tiring my knee links on both of my knees. It was a very hard time…

After graduating high school, I had to accept that pursuing a professional basketball career might cost me my health and I chose to leave the professional sport behind. I decided to report my experience of abuse to the police. While some family members didn’t and still don’t believe me, my father supported me through it.

I met Ugis in Denmark while travelling for few days in it and after hours of talking, we came with a bold idea: “If I would move to Denmark, to share my knowledge, and help bring the B3B Basketball Club to the next level as a coach, referee, and a player?”. And we decided to go for it. Two months later, I packed my bags, and bought a one way ticket to Denmark. I wanted to start a new life in Denmark.

I did not know what to expect, but I knew one thing for sure- I want to start fresh. Starting everything from a blank page. I met Ugis and Franchesca ( Founders of B3B), who welcomed me and have helped me on every step of the way to start my new life story. I met Lukas and Petra (Coaches), who are now very good friends of mine as well. That’s my new family. Those are my friends.

And guess what? At B3B, I rediscovered my love for the game. And the best part is that it is not only about basketball- it is about the people who come there, the environment, where everyone feels a part of it, new friends that you can make for a lifetime. This is what it is all about.

But this isn’t the end of my story- just the beginning of something even greater.

Best regards,

Kris (Aka Chris James 🙂 )

Personal trainer in basketball, Personal basketball skill developer coach, REF (referee)