Kaspars Kambala first made a name for himself in Europe at EuroBasket 2001. In Turkey, Kambala was clearly one of the stars of the tournament, averaging 19.0 points on 58.4% shooting and 9.0 rebounds per game, including a 32-point explosion against Croatia. …. Named to All-Mountain West Conference First Team as a senior and a junior after leading UNLV in scoring both seasons, “Kas”, as he was nicknamed in the States, failed to convince NBA scouts. After a summer league with the Grizzlies and despite having invitations from several teams including the Lakers (but no guaranteed contract), Kambala signed a two-year contract with Euroleague powerhouse Efes Pilsen Istanbul. Since then, he has established himself as one of the most dominant post players in Europe. Extremely impressive in Turkey, he confirmed his status with Real Madrid in 2003-04 although the Spanish squad failed to live up to high expectations. After Spain, like many European marquee players, Kambala took his bruising game to Russia. With Unics Kazan, he had an up and down performance (13.9 pts), losing in the quarter-finals of the FIBA Europe League to Khimki Moscow (Kazan was the defending champion). He still made it to the FIBA Europe All Star Game and scored 20 points.