Artūrs Žagars
Latvian basketball player (born 2000)
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Artūrs Mārtiņš Žagars (born 21 April 2000) is a Latvian professional basketball player for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Standing at 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in), he primarily plays at the point guard position.
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Žagars with Fenerbahçe in 2024 | |||||||||||||||
| Zhejiang Golden Bulls | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Point guard | ||||||||||||||
| League | CBA | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | 21 April 2000 Riga, Latvia | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 85[1] kg (187 lb) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| NBA draft | 2022: undrafted | ||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 2017–present | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| 2017–2022 | Joventut Badalona | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | →Prat | ||||||||||||||
| 2021 | →Kalev | ||||||||||||||
| 2022 | →Löwen Braunschweig | ||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Nevėžis Kėdainiai | ||||||||||||||
| 2023–2026 | Fenerbahçe | ||||||||||||||
| 2023–2024 | →Wolves Vilnius | ||||||||||||||
| 2026–present | Zhejiang Golden Bulls | ||||||||||||||
| Career highlights | |||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Professional career
Early career
Žagars spent much of his early career playing for Latvian club BS DSN Riga.[2]
Joventut Badalona
In 2017, Žagars signed a long-term contract with Spanish club Joventut Badalona. On 11 March 2018, Žagars made his Liga ACB debut, scoring two points in seven minutes versus Baskonia.[2]
In November 2018, Žagars suffered a torn ligament in his ankle and was sidelined until early March 2019 after undergoing surgery.[3]
On 19 April 2019, Žagars declared for the 2019 NBA draft.[4][5]
Loan Period from Joventut Badalona
On 16 February 2021, Žagars was loaned to Estonian powerhouse Kalev/Cramo.[6]
On 12 January 2022, he was loaned to Löwen Braunschweig of the German Basketball Bundesliga.[7] He averaged 7.3 points, 2.7 assists, 1.2 rebounds in 13 domestic league matches.
Nevėžis Kėdainiai
On 20 July 2022, Žagars signed with Nevėžis Kėdainiai of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL).[8] In 22 league matches, he averaged 15.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 1.1 steals per contest.
Fenerbahçe Beko
On 18 September 2023, Žagars signed a three-year contract with Turkish giants Fenerbahçe.[9]
Loan to Wolves
He was subsequently loaned to Lithuanian club BC Wolves for the 2023–24 season.[10]
On 14 October 2023, in a Lietuvos krepšinio lyga match against Lietkabelis,[11] Žagars suffered a severe injury to the lateral ligament of his knee, missing 6 months.[12] After his recovery, he averaged 10.3 points, 3.4 assists, 1.7 rebounds in 7 domestic league matches.
Back to Fenerbahçe
On 4 October 2024, he made his EuroLeague debut against Olympiacos in a 82-71 victory in Ülker Sports Arena with 3 points, all from free throws performance.[13]
On 6 October 2024, he made his Basketbol Süper Ligi debut against Onvo Büyükçekmece, his 19 points and 4 assists with 15 pir performance helped team for 97-85 victory.[14]
On 10 October 2024, he recorded 11 points and 3 assists with 12 pir performance against domestic rival Anadolu Efes in a 78-83 away victory.[15]
On 29 November 2024, he recorded 16 points (career high), 2 rebounds and 3 assists with 21 pir (career high) performance against Olimpia Milano but he couldn't prevent the defeat.[16]
He helped Fenerbahçe to their second EuroLeague championship.[17]
National team career
Žagars was named to the All-Star Five of the 2018 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship in Riga after averaging 18.9 points, 6.3 assists, and 1.9 steals per game, while leading the Latvian national under-18 team to its first finals appearance and silver medal at the tournament.[18]
Žagars represented Latvia during the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup which achieved 5th place during its debut.[19] Moreover, Žagars achieved the world cup's all-time record of assists by dishing out 17 assists in a game versus Lithuania.[19] In recognition of his individual play, Žagars was named to the All-FIBA World Cup Second Team.[20]
Career statistics
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | PIR | Performance index rating |
| Bold | Career high | † | Won a EuroLeague championship |
EuroLeague
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024–25 | Fenerbahçe Beko | 22 | 13 | 14.5 | .429 | .324 | .750 | 1.1 | 2.3 | .4 | .1 | 5.9 | 5.8 |
| Career | 22 | 13 | 14.5 | .429 | .324 | .750 | 1.1 | 2.3 | .4 | .1 | 5.9 | 5.8 | |
EuroCup
Domestic leagues
| † | Denotes seasons in which Žagars won the domestic league |
| Year | Team | League | GP | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–18 |  Joventut Badalona | ACB | 4 | 9.0 | .429 | .500 | .000 | 1.5 | 1.0 | .0 | .0 | 4.0 |
| 2018–19 | Joventut Badalona | ACB | 2 | 1.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | 0.0 |
| 2018–19 | Prat | FEB | 13 | 17.4 | .400 | .347 | .639 | 1.5 | 2.5 | .5 | .0 | 8.9 |
| 2019–20 | Joventut Badalona | ACB | 21 | 8.8 | .311 | .212 | .700 | .6 | 1.5 | .2 | .0 | 2.5 |
| 2020–21 | Joventut Badalona | ACB | 11 | 5.0 | .368 | .300 | .833 | .5 | .8 | .2 | .0 | 2.0 |
| 2020–21 † |  Kalev/Cramo | KML | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 2021–22 |  Braunschweig | BBL | 13 | 17.7 | .338 | .359 | .674 | 1.2 | 2.7 | .6 | .0 | 7.3 |
| 2022–23 |  Nevėžis Kėdainiai | LKL | 22 | 28.2 | .458 | .348 | .738 | 3.0 | 4.4 | 1.1 | .0 | 15.4 |
| 2023–24 |  Fenerbahçe Beko | BSL | 0 | 0.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | 0.0 |
| 2023–24 | BC Wolves | LKL | 7 | 18.0 | .313 | .303 | .846 | 1.7 | 3.4 | 0.6 | .0 | 10.3 |
| 2024–25 † | Fenerbahçe | TBSL | 22 | 18.2 | .563 | .368 | .833 | 1.3 | 2.9 | .9 | .0 | 8.4 |
Current season information is written in italics.
