Answer the following question: Facts: - weight lb: 238 - position: center - height in: 9 - years: 1997 2005 -- 2006 2006 -- 2009 2009 -- 2010 2010 -- 2011 2011 -- 2012 2012 2012 2012 -- 2014 1999 2003 -- 2004 2004 -- 2005 - caption: raitis against estonia in 2006 . grafs -lrb- left -rrb- with armands Skele playing - college: valparaiso -lrb- 1999 -- 2003 -rrb- - team: free bk ventspils ask riga bc Siauliai vef riga bk spu agent nitra apollon limassol bc bc Siauliai bc rakvere tarvas valga/maks broceni & moorits riga bc telindus oostende Slask wrocaw - height ft: 6 - birth date: 12 june 1981 - career start: 1997 - name: raitis grafs - nationality: latvian - image: raitis grafs , armands Skele , estonia-latvia , 2006.jpg - birth place: riga , latvia Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of raitis grafs .
Answer:
raitis grafs -lrb- born june 12 , 1981 , riga , latvia -rrb- is a latvian professional basketball center .he is a member of the latvia national basketball team .more than 20 years ago now in kindergarten , a tall boy named raitis met a smaller one named kristaps and they became fast friends .since then , the two -lrb- raitis grafs and kristaps valters -rrb- have grown to be best friends and teammates on the latvia national basketball team .as a teenager , grafs was regarded as one of the best prospects in europe averaging 13.8 points and 10.5 rebounds at the 1998 u18 european championship .he posted similar numbers -lrb- 11.9 ppg and11 .0 rpg -rrb- at the 1999 world junior championship during which he was voted a first team all-star .at 16 years 5 months , grafs became the youngest latvian national team member .unfortunately , during four years at valparaiso university -lrb- ncaa -rrb- , grafs did not improve his skills much and so far his first three seasons after returning to europe have been less than impressive .this year , as he returned to his hometown club ask riga , he performed well -lrb- 10.1 ppg and 5.6 rpg in baltic league -rrb- .grafs is not athletic enough to become a star but he can be a solid back-up center and give his team a good 10 -- 15 minutes per game .he started the 2012-13 season with bc rakvere tarvas in estonia , but was fired due to poor results , though both he and his agent has stated that it was the club , who did not pay wages on time .