VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - A basketball player can envision doing a lot of things in his career, like competing at the highest level of the professional game and representing his country.

He can dream of winning titles. A player can hope to remain on the hardwood at a good level for a long time, like 42-year-old Estonian Valmo Kriisa has. It's not a bad way to earn a living. If you love what you do, then it's not really work. Or so they say.

One thing that a basketball player probably never envisions is having the chance one day to run onto the court to play alongside, or against his son.

It happened over the weekend in Tartu where Kriisa competed against his 16-year-old son, Kerr. The former is on the books of Valga-Valka/Maks&Moorits and the latter plays for University of Tartu.

The meeting was, not surprisingly, preceded by a good bit of hype.

The son's team won, 85-69, and the father, ever the competitor, walked off the court with a look of frustration because his team had fallen to seventh place in the nine-team league. It had come against a side that he once played for, too, as recently as 2015 when Tartu captured the league crown.

The father had spoken of the possibility a few years ago, when Kerr was just 13, that the two might be on the court at the same time.

"I saw this happening a little differently than it did," Valmo said. "The fact that we were opposing each other came as a surprise for me. It's a cool thing to happen for sure. It would have been even cooler to play with each other, though."

When the two were interviewed after the game, there was a light-hearted moment.

A reporter put it to Kerr that his father had not given him an inch on the court and the youngster replied: "No, he didn't."

The father then weighed in and said: "A game's a game. I definitely put in some extra effort on court."

Valmo Kriisa didn't have the sort of game he'd like to be remembered for, hitting just one of his shots on the day in 33 minutes. It will not have tarnished his image, though. There are plenty of solid performances the fans remember him for, displays that he'll be able to reflect on once his time as a player comes to end.

The Kriisa name is well known. He was a member of the Estonia national team that took part in FIBA EuroBasket 2001, the last time that the country featured in the tournament before it stopped the rot and competed at EuroBasket 2015.

Kriisa had a more important role in the years to follow. One of his best periods with Estonia's national team was in 2006 and 2007. In that FIBA EuroBasket Division A campaign, Kriisa buried 55.2 percent (16 of 29) of his attempts from 3-point range. 

A 1.91m point guard, Kriisa was the Estonian Basketball Player of the Year in 2007 when he was on the books of BC Kalev/Cramo.

He has continued to play the game at a high level and avoided the serious injuries that might have prevented the historical meeting against his son, a part-time player with the Estonian league leaders University of Tartu, which is BC Tartu's main team.

Kerr played 17 minutes and had a couple of points which came from the free-throw line.

Kerr (No. 7) played for Estonia at the 2016 U16 European Championship

It bodes well that Kerr is already getting minutes with the Estonian league's top team.

"Kerr playing for Tartu is the best thing for him right now and the club’s doing good work," Valmo said.

There's a good chance that one day, Kerr wil be even more like his father and represent Estonia.

Kerr featured for Estonia at the 2016 FIBA U16 European Championship Division A and averaged 7 points and 4.1 assists.

Keio Kuhi, the Secretary General of the Estonian Basketball Association, paid tribute to the elder Kriisa and also consider his the younger's bright future.

"Valmo Kriisa is a phenomenon and a living legend in Estonian basketball," he said. "He has been in prime physical condition throughout his career and is so today as well.

"All signs show that in due time, his son Kerr is also likely going to make an addition to our national team as a great point guard, currently competing with our U16 team."

Valmo Kriisa and son, Kerr, on Friday (photo courtesy of BC Tartu)

Imagine what it must have been like for both on Friday.

Once the competitive juices have stopped flowing and the two are sitting around the dinner table or going for a walk in the beautiful Estonia countryside, they'll be able to share a laugh about an opportunity afforded to them that not many other fathers and sons will ever get.

Jeff Taylor
FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

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