Krišs Helmanis Strengthens Krka
Krka has gained a new reinforcement. For the remainder of the season, the Novo mesto team will be reinforced by 23-year-old Latvian basketball player Krišs Helmanis, who stands 211 cm tall and plays at both power forward and center positions.
(Photo: FIBA)
“I’m excited to have become a member of Krka, a club with rich tradition and history. I’m here to help fulfill the club’s ambitions in the domestic league and the ABA League. I will give my all to help the team win,” said Krišs Helmanis upon his arrival in Novo mesto.
Helmanis (born April 7, 2002, in Leverkusen, Germany) began his basketball journey in Riga and moved to Spain in 2018, where he joined the youth program of Joventut Badalona. Between 2018 and 2022, he regularly played for their partner club CB Prat in the LEB Plata and LEB Oro leagues, and in 2021 he also made his debut in the top-tier Spanish ACB league.
After his time in Spain, he continued his career in Germany with Tigers Tübingen, where he played in the ProA league and later also in the German Bundesliga. In the 2024/25 season, he returned to his home country and joined Rīgas Zeļļi in the Latvian-Estonian league, after which he also signed with the Mexican club Diablos Rojos del México, with whom he recently became national runner-up. In the Mexican league, he averaged seven points and four rebounds in 20 minutes per game across 45 appearances.
Helmanis has been a regular member of Latvia’s youth national teams, and in 2023 he made his debut for the senior national team. Basketball talent runs in the family — his father is former Latvian national team player and current coach Uvis Helmanis.
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Krišs Helmanis okrepil Krko
Članska ekipa Košarkarskega kluba Krka je bogatejša za novo okrepitev. Novomeški dres bo v nadaljevanju sezone nosil 23-letni latvijski košarkar Krišs Helmanis, visok 211 centimetrov, ki igra na položajih krilnega centra in centra.
"Veselim se, ker sem postal član Krka, kluba z bogato tradicijo in zgodovino. Prihajam, da bi pomagal izpolniti klubske ambicije v domači ligi in Ligi ABA. Dal bom vse od sebe, da pomagam ekipi do zmag," je ob prihodu v Novo mesto dejal Krišs Helmanis.
Helmanis (rojen 7. aprila 2002 v Leverkusnu, Nemčija) je košarkarsko pot začel v Rigi, nato pa leta 2018 prestopil v Španijo, kjer je bil del mladinskega pogona Joventuta Badalona. Med letoma 2018 in 2022 je redno nastopal za partnerski klub CB Prat v ligah LEB Plata in LEB Oro, leta 2021 pa debitiral tudi v elitni španski ligi ACB.
Po španski epizodi je svojo pot nadaljeval v Nemčiji pri Tigers Tübingenu, kjer je igral v ligi ProA in pozneje tudi v nemški Bundesligi. V sezoni 2024/25 se je vrnil v domovino in se pridružil klubu Rīgas Zeļļi v latvijsko-estonski ligi, zatem pa podpisal še za mehiški Diablos Rojos del México, s katerim je nedavno postal državni podprvak. V mehiški ligi je v 45 nastopih v povprečju dosegal sedem točk in štiri skoke v 20 minutah na tekmo.
Helmanis je bil stalni član mladinskih selekcij Latvije, leta 2023 pa je prvič nastopil tudi za člansko reprezentanco. Košarkarski talent izhaja tudi iz družine – njegov oče je nekdanji latvijski reprezentant in danes trener Uvis Helmanis.
