Experienced Bloom announced his plans for the future Monday morning, posting a post on his Instagram profile.
“Before reading professional athletes’ announcements about ending a professional athlete’s career, I’ve always wondered what makes an athlete realize that a professional career needs to put an end to it. Now I clearly know there will never be enough basketball in my life. In this story, I have had enough of professional basketball and I have to be able to accept it. I am trying. Today I ended my career as a professional basketball player, “the statement said.
“Basketball, since I can remember myself at all, has had my identity, my heart, my confidence and my love for Latvia. 22 years in professional basketball, 20 years in the Latvian national team, 10 years as the captain of the Latvian national team, 170 games in the Latvian national team, practically no “When I am asked who has given me the most satisfaction during these 22 years, I can say without hesitation that these have been moments with the Latvian national team in front of my spectators,” Bloom remembers the brightest moments of his career. .
In the recording, Bloom emphasizes that so far in life he has always achieved everything with hard work and maximum return. With the same position, he intends to go further.
“The new final goal is still unclear, the feeling of emptiness is immeasurable, but subconsciously I still feel that I have not played my last game yet. Thank you,” says Bloom.
Last July, Bloom returned to the well-known Italian A-Series unit of Reggio di Emilia’s “Unahotels”. The team terminated his contract with Bloom in mid-December last year.
Last year, 38-year-old Bloom took part in four matches in the Italian A-Series, scoring 1.5 points on average in 7.5 minutes.
In February, Bloom was determined to help the Latvian national team in the qualifying games of the 2022 European Championship, but the head coach Roberts Štelmahers did not include him in the list of candidates.
In the 2019/20 season, Blūms returned to “VEF Rīga” and spent an average of 20.1 minutes on the field in 20 Latvian-Estonian championship games, gaining an average of 10.4 points. He also won an average of 1.5 rebounds per game and returned 2.2 assists.
In the FIBA Champions League, the 39-year-old basketball player stood out in 11 games with an average of 9.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists.
“VEF Rīga” with Bloom in the 2019/20 season was also recognized as the winner of the Latvian Basketball League.
Even before returning to Riga, Bloom played the season in the Russian club Perm “Parma”.
In the 2015/16 season, Bloom represented the Italian A-series club Avellino “Sidigas”, but due to injury he played only nine games in the local championship. Prior to that, he played for the strong Greek unit of Panathinaikos in Athens.
During his career, Bloom has also played in the Latvian clubs “Brocēni”, “Skonto” and “Ventspils”, twice becoming the national champion, as well as in the Wloclavek “Anwil” team from Poland, in the Lithuanian team “Lietuvos rytas” in Vilnius, in the Italian club “Eldo” in Naples. , In the Spanish team Bilbao “Basket”, as well as in the Kazakh champion “Astana”.
The captain of the Latvian national team has participated in six European championships as part of the national team, competing in a total of 170 games.
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