Raitis Grafs

Raitis Grafs (born June 12, 1981) is a Latvian professional basketball center, who is currently playing for ASK Riga. He is a member of the Latvia national basketball team.

More than 20 years ago now in kindergarten, a tall boy named Raitis met a smaller one named Kristaps and they became fast friends. Since then, the two (Raitis Grafs and Kristaps Valters) have grown to be best friends and teammates on the Latvia national basketball team. As a teenager, Grafs was regarded as one of the best prospects in Europe averaging 13.8 points and 10.5 rebounds at the 1998 U18 European Championship. He posted similar numbers (11.9 ppg and11.0 rpg) at the 1999 World Junior Championship during which he was voted a First Team All-Star. At 16 years 5 months, Grafs became the youngest Latvian National Team member. Unfortunately, during four years at Valparaiso University (NCAA), Grafs didn’t improve his skills much and so far his first three seasons after returning to Europe have been less than impressive. This year, as he returned to his hometown club ASK Riga, he performed well (10.1 ppg and 5.6 rpg in Baltic league). Grafs is not athletic enough to become a star but he can be a solid back-up center and give his team a good 10-15 minutes per game.