Alex Stivrins

Alex Frank Stivrins (Latvian: Alekss Frenks Stivriņš, born November 29, 1962) is a retired Latvian-American professional basketball player. He was a 6'8" (203 cm) 220 lb (100 kg) small forward. Stivrins graduated from Lincoln East High School in 1980 and led East to three state basketball tournament appearances, where they won the state championship in 1978, qualified for state in 1979 and finished runner-up in 1980 in Class A, which is Nebraska's largest classification for high school athletics. He was a two-time Super State and All-Nebraska selection his junior and senior years.[1] He played collegiately at Creighton University and the University of Colorado from 1980 to 1985. He continued his career in the NBA.

Stivrins was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics with the 75th overall pick in the 4th round of the 1985 NBA Draft.[2] He played with the Sonics, Phoenix Suns, LA Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks.

His father, ophthalmologist Dr. Kazimirs Stivriņš (1921—2008), a native of Izvalta in Latgale, Latvia fled the second Soviet occupation of Latvia to the United States after the Second World War. Stivrins is considered to be the first ethnic Latvian (and Latgalian) player in the NBA and played a game in 1992 against the first ever Latvian-born NBA player, Gundars Vētra.[3][4][5]