On December 17, 2024, the body of 32-year-old Latvian basketball player Janis Timma was found in the stairwell of a high-rise apartment building in Moscow. Local officials have stated that he fell to his death and they are initially ruling it as suicide.
Previously picked as the 60th player by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2013 NBA Draft, Timma had recently moved to Moscow to join a 3×3 basketball league. His decision to relocate to Russia was met with public disapproval due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Timma defended his decision to play in Russia in an interview with Latvian media outlet LSM in October, stating, “It’s something interesting to me. Thought why not give it a try?” Timma also addressed the criticism on social media, asserting, “How useless you 99 per cent of my dear followers are. Leave my family alone at least. It’s my decision, and I don’t see anything wrong with it. I play basketball and live my life.”
Timma started his professional basketball career in his home country with ASK Riga when he was just 15 years old. He later played for several top European teams, including Zenit Saint Petersburg, Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, Olympiacos Piraeus, and Darussafaka Istanbul. Despite being drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies, Timma’s rights were later traded to the Orlando Magic. He briefly played for their G League affiliate, the Lakeland Magic, after participating in the Summer League.
Anna Sedokova, Timma’s ex-wife and a Ukrainian singer and actress, reacted to the tragic news through an emotional Instagram video. She pleaded with social media users to refrain from sharing stories about the incident, saying, “I have a child, he’s small, he doesn’t need to know any of this. I just have to save my child from this information.”
Timma and Sedokova began their relationship in 2019 and got married in September 2020. They filed for divorce earlier in 2024, and the proceedings were recently finalized. Local media reported that a phone with a message from Sedokova was found near Timma’s body. Coincidentally, Timma’s death occurred on Sedokova’s birthday.
The Euroleague Basketball organization has stated that a moment of silence will be observed before all EuroLeague Round 16 and EuroCup Round 12 matches in remembrance of Timma.
