JÃÂnis StrÃÂlnieks (born 1 September 1989) is a Latvian professional basketball player for Obradoiro CAB of the Liga ACB. He also represents the senior Latvia national team. Standing at tall, he mainly plays at the shooting guard position.
StrÃÂlnieks started his professional career in 2007, with Latvian team Ventspils, where he played for four years. In 2010, he was pursued by the EuroLeague club Union Olimpija, which was then head coached by Jure Zdovc. However, Ventspils didn't let him go to Slovenia. After all, in November 2011, he finally got a chance to play for coach Zdovc, as he was at the time coaching the Russian team Spartak Saint Petersburg, that had bought out StrÃÂlnieks' contract from Ventspils. He spent the next two seasons with Spartak. One of the highlights of his time in Spartak, was making the EuroCup's 2012 Final Four.
In August 2013, StrÃÂlnieks joined the EuroLeague team Budivelnyk, signing a two-year contract with them. StrÃÂlnieks enjoyed a successful season with Budivelnyk, that included winning the Ukrainian Super League championship, and playing in the EuroLeague for the first time. However, after the season ended, he had to opt out of his contract, due to the unstable political situation in Ukraine at the time.
In July 2014, he signed a one-year deal with the German club Brose Bamberg. In the following three seasons, StrÃÂlnieks won the German Basketball Bundesliga championship with Bamberg. In the 2015âÂÂ16 and 2016âÂÂ17 seasons, StrÃÂlnieks also played in the EuroLeague with Brose.
On 20 June 2017, StrÃÂlnieks signed a two-year contract with Olympiacos, of the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague.
On 8 July 2019, StrÃÂlnieks signed a two-year deal with CSKA Moscow. On 11 June 2021, StrÃÂlnieks officially parted ways with the Russian club. In 70 games (16 starts), he averaged 6.2 points, 1.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists.
On 29 July 2021, StrÃÂlnieks signed a one-year deal with à ½algiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian Basketball League and the EuroLeague.
On August 10, 2022, StrÃÂlnieks joined AEK Athens of the Greek Basket League on a one-year deal. On March 16, 2023, StrÃÂlnieks suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon rupture injury. In 15 domestic league games, he averaged 8.9 points, 1.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists, playing around 21 minutes per contest.
In 2007, StrÃÂlnieks was a part of the Latvian Under-18 junior national team that won the bronze medal at the 2007 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, which was held in Madrid, Spain. He made a game-winning basket in the last seconds of regulation against Lithuania's Under-18 junior national team, in the bronze medal game.
StrÃÂlnieks is a member of the senior Latvia national team. With Latvia, StrÃÂlnieks played at the following tournaments: the EuroBasket 2011, EuroBasket 2013, EuroBasket 2015, the Belgrade 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, and EuroBasket 2017.
|- | align="left" | 2013âÂÂ14 | align="left" | Budivelnyk | 10 || 6 || 22.5 || .509 || .464 || 1.000 || 1.4 || 2.6 || .9 || .0 || 8.1 || 8.4 |- | align="left" | 2015âÂÂ16 | align="left" rowspan=2 | Bamberg | 24 || 4 || 24.2 || .476 || .404 || .913 || 2.0 || 3.3 || .7 || .1 || 9.8 || 10.7 |- | align="left" | 2016âÂÂ17 | 22 || 5 || 25.1 || .522 || .459 || .892 || 2.2 || 3.5 || .6 || .1 || 11.7 || 12.8 |- | align="left" | 2017âÂÂ18 | align="left" rowspan=2 | Olympiacos | 34 || 4 || 19.9 || .435 || .382 || .918 || 1.3 || 2.1 || .6 || .0 || 7.5 || 7.1 |- | align="left" | 2018âÂÂ19 | 20 || 5 || 20.4 || .495 || .459 || .868 || 1.9 || 2.0 || .7 || .1 || 8.8 || 8.3 |- | align="left" | 2019âÂÂ20 | style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2| CSKA Moscow | 21 || 6 || 16.0 || .538 || .417 || .921 || 1.8 || 2.0 || .6 || .0 || 7.2 || 8.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2020âÂÂ21 | 26 || 3 || 13.4 || .460 || .417 || .643|| 0.8 || 1.6 || .3 || .0 || 4.4 || 3.2 |- | align="left" | 2021âÂÂ22 | align="left" | à ½algiris | 23 || 22 || 20.5 || .391 || .337 || .857 || 1.7 || 1.8 || .7 || .1 || 6.5 || 5.6 |- class="sortbottom" | align="center" colspan="2"| Career | 180 || 55 || 20.0 || .466 || .410 || .891 || 1.6 || 2.3 || .6 || .0 || 7.9 || 7.9
His older brother, Artà «rs, is also a professional basketball player.