Background and career
Andris Biedriņš (Latvian pronunciation: [ˈɐndris ˈbiædriɲʃ]; born 2 April 1986) is a Latvian former professional basketball player. He was drafted by the Golden State Warriors with the 11th overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft.
Biedriņš's professional career started at the Latvian team BK Skonto in the 2002–03 season, when he joined at the age of 16. He soon established himself as an impact player, appearing in 41 LBL games, averaging 2.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.32 blocks, while shooting 59.8% from the field. For his feats, he was named as the Latvian League Newcomer of the Year. In eleven games for the FIBA European league (2003–2004), he averaged 18.6 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.82 blocks. In his second year, Biedriņš appeared in 28 LBL games, averaging 18.0 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.86 blocks, while shooting 61.5% from the field. After that season, Biedriņš made himself eligible for the 2004 NBA draft.
Biedriņš was drafted as the 11th pick in the first round by the Golden State Warriors. In his rookie season (2004–05), Biedriņš got little playing time, and often quickly got into foul trouble (3.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 0.8 blocks and 2.9 fouls in 12.8 minutes, total 30 games). He also was the youngest player in the league during his rookie year as he was 18 years old at the time.
In his second year, the 2005–06 season, Biedriņš played in 68 games, posting 3.8 points and 4.2 rebounds, with 14.1 minutes per game. However, he failed to improve much, and was ridiculed for his poor free throw percentage (.306) and his inability to stay out of foul trouble, committing 190 fouls in exactly 1,000 minutes of playing time. The Golden State fan base was not kind to the sophomore; he was called "The One Minute Man" by the Golden State Warriors blog for his alleged inability to play without a foul for longer than these 60 seconds. Biedriņš made the news when he was involved in a car accident on his way to a home game on the 880 freeway in Oakland. His Porsche Cayenne Turbo was totalled in the accident, and he missed that night's game and the next game due to back spasms.
In his third year, Biedriņš got a lucky break when the Warriors decided to replace coach Mike Montgomery with ex-Dallas Mavericks coach Don Nelson, elected one of the NBA's "Greatest Coaches of All Time." Nelson needed just five games to bench the Warriors' center Adonal Foyle and give Biedriņš the starting spot at center, calling him "the best big man I've got." Biedriņš thrived in his new role, posting impressive averages of 10.3 points on an incredible .621 field goal percentage (1st in the NBA), 9.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game and earning himself 28.9 minutes of playing time. His breakthrough game came in November 2006, when the Warriors beat the title favorites San Antonio Spurs 119–111. In this game, Biedriņš asserted himself against Spurs superstar Tim Duncan, only being narrowly outscored 18–22 and outrebounded 15–16, but did block six shots, including three straight shot attempts by Duncan in the third quarter. During this season he set career highs in points (31 vs Denver 24 November 2006), rebounds (18 vs Charlotte 2 March 2007), blocks (7 vs Denver 22 November 2006), assists (5 vs Washington 23 March 2007) and steals (5 vs Lakers 22 January 2007). He also finished fifth in Most Improved Player voting, losing to teammate Monta Ellis.
In July 2008, Biedriņš agreed to a new six-year contract for $54 million ($62 million including incentives) with the Golden State Warriors. The final year was a player option, which if exercised would keep him a Warrior until 2014. Biedriņš was named co-captain alongside Stephen Jackson. On January 27, Biedriņš pulled down a career high 26 rebounds against New York. He had set a career high in assists on December 19 against Atlanta with six. For the season, Biedriņš set career highs in points (11.9), rebounds (11.2), assists (two) and blocked shots (1.6) per game, starting in 58 of the 62 games in which he appeared.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
