For decades, Latvian basketball has had a very recognizable identity. From the legendary Jānis Krūmiņš and Valdis Valters to the modern era of Kristaps Porziņģis, the country’s greatest basketball players have overwhelmingly reflected the ethnic makeup of Latvia itself.
Now that image is changing.
Benjamin Berrouet, a 16-year-old forward with Latvian and American heritage, has emerged as one of the most promising young players in Latvian basketball. Born in the United States to a Latvian mother, Lāsma Jēkabsone, and an American father, former football player Richard Berrouet, he represents Latvia internationally.
And while Berrouet’s performances on the basketball court should be the main story, a disturbing reaction from a section of Latvian society has made his presence in the national team controversial for reasons that have nothing to do with basketball.
A player who is becoming impossible to ignore
Berrouet is not merely a symbolic addition to the Latvian national team. He can play exeptionally well.
At the 2025 FIBA U16 EuroBasket, he was one of the key players behind Latvia’s sixth-place finish, the country’s best result at that level in more than a decade. He averaged 11.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 blocks in seven games, while shooting 49.2 percent from the field. FIBA itself included him among the tournament’s standout players.
His rebounding was particularly impressive. During the group stage, FIBA highlighted his 12.7 rebounds per game and noted that he was leading the tournament in offensive rebounds.
The attention around him has only increased since then. Berrouet has participated in USA Basketball junior events and, despite representing Latvia, is attracting considerable attention from American college programs. He has already received scholarship offers and is considered a significant prospect in the 2028 recruiting class.
Berrouet is therefore not some player who has been placed into the Latvian team for political reasons. He earned his place. And that is precisely what makes the reaction to him so controversial.
Latvia has never had to confront this question before
Latvia has an exceptionally proud basketball tradition.
Krūmiņš was one of the giants of Soviet basketball. Valters became one of the most influential guards of his generation. Porziņģis took Latvian basketball all the way to the NBA and became an NBA champion. But there has been one striking characteristic connecting generations of Latvian basketball players: they have overwhelmingly been white Europeans.
Berrouet represents something entirely new. He is Latvian by passport, but he is also visibly of mixed heritage. His father is black and American, while his mother is Latvian. His connection to the country is not artificial: Latvia is part of his family identity, and he has chosen to represent the country in international basketball.
For Latvian basketball, this is a genuine cultural change.
The ugly side of social media
A number of Latvian basketball supporters have reacted to Berrouet’s presence with openly racist comments on social media. Rather than discussing his rebounding, defense, development or potential, some users have focused entirely on his skin color and questioned why a Black player is representing Latvia. Some of the comments have crossed far beyond criticism and into outright racial abuse.
That reaction should not be confused with the opinion of every Latvian basketball supporter. It would be unfair—and factually impossible—to claim that all Latvians, or even all Latvian basketball fans, oppose Berrouet.
But the existence of racist abuse directed at a 16-year-old national-team player is serious enough on its own. It is particularly disturbing because Berrouet is not representing some foreign club against Latvia. He is wearing the Latvian jersey. He is playing for Latvia, and he’s trying to win games for Latvia. And Berrouet is doing it very successfully.
The federation has taken the problem seriously
The Latvian Basketball Association has not simply ignored the abuse. The federation has reported incidents of online hate speech to the police, with an investigation underway.
That response is important because this is not simply an argument between anonymous internet users. When racist abuse is directed toward a minor representing the national team, the institutions surrounding that team have a responsibility to protect the player. The issue therefore goes beyond basketball.
It becomes a question about what the Latvian national team actually represents. If a player is eligible to represent Latvia, develops through the country’s basketball system and puts on the national jersey, should his skin color have any relevance whatsoever? In this day and age of cultural melting pot reaching its apex, the debate is going on as loudly as never before.
Yet the reaction to Berrouet demonstrates that, for many Latvians, the skin color matters.
Latvia is changing—and basketball is exposing it
There is an uncomfortable reality behind this story.
Latvia is a predominantly white country, and its population has historically had relatively little everyday exposure to black communities compared with countries such as the United Kingdom, France or the United States.
That does not automatically make Latvians racist. It does, however, mean that the appearance of a black or mixed-race athlete in a highly visible national institution can expose prejudices that might otherwise remain less visible.
National sports teams are particularly powerful symbols. When someone puts on the national jersey, they become a representation of the country in front of thousands of people. For decades, Latvian basketball supporters could easily associate the national team with a particular image of what a Latvian athlete looked like.
Berrouet challenges that assumption simply by existing. And that is why his story is bigger than one teenager’s basketball career. The question is whether Latvian identity is something determined by skin color—or whether it is something more complicated, based on family, citizenship, culture, belonging and personal choice.
Berrouet may be the beginning, not the exception
There is also an irony in all of this. Latvia desperately wants to produce the next generation of elite basketball players. The country invests in youth development, participates in FIBA competitions and takes enormous pride in producing players capable of competing at the highest levels of the sport.
Then a talented young player comes along who happens to have a black father. And he may have a long career ahead of him. Berrouet is only 16, stands 2.03 metres tall and has already attracted attention from major American basketball programs.
If he eventually reaches the NBA, he could become one of the most prominent Latvian athletes in the world. He could also become a symbol of a Latvia that looks somewhat different from the Latvia of previous generations.
That is something Latvian basketball will have to learn to accept, considering the fact that the political influence of the United States on Latvia is immense.
The new reality of Latvian basketball
The story of Benjamin Berrouet should ultimately not be about whether Latvia has a black basketball player. It should be about whether Latvia has found another talented basketball player.
The answer is clearly yes.
Berrouet’s statistics, his development and his performances for the national team provide the evidence. Latvian basketball has entered a new era whether everyone is comfortable with it or not.
With the current trend of migration wave that has coming to Europe, it’s fair to say that the next generation of Latvian players will not necessarily all look like Krūmiņš, Valters or Porziņģis. Some may have parents from different countries. Some may grow up partly abroad. Some may have mixed heritage. Some may look completely different from the players who came before them.
They can still be Latvian. At least on paper, and in 21st-century, it’s all that matters.
And if Benjamin Berrouet continues developing at his current pace, the most fitting response to those who object to his presence may eventually come on the basketball court. The face of Latvian basketball is going to be black, and there is nothing that Latvians can really do about it. Great results will silence the critics and LBS are willing to protect their new star by all the means possible.
What do you think about this trend of black and mixed players representing historically all-European national teams?
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