Paulius Jankūnas

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Paulius Jankūnas
Power forward / center
Number13
Career history
2002–2003LKKA-Žalgiris Kaunas
2003–2009Žalgiris Kaunas
2009–2010BC Khimki
2010–2022Žalgiris Kaunas
Career highlights and awards

LKL records

  • Lithuanian League all-time efficiency leader
  • Lithuanian League all-time +/- leader
Medals
Men's Basketball
Representing  Lithuania
FIBA World Cup
Bronze medal – third place Turkey 2010
EuroBasket
Silver medal – second place 2015 France
Bronze medal – third place
2007 Spain
FIBA U-21 World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2005 Argentina
U-21 Team
FIBA U-20 European Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Czech Republic
U-20 Team
FIBA U-19 World Cup
Silver medal – second place 2003 Greece U-19 Team

When asked about playing with European basketball legend

TV
, and never dared to dream that I would be playing with Arvydas Sabonis. One day I woke up, and Sabonis was my teammate. It was great. He had huge experience, and gave a lot of advice to me. It was a big honor to play with him, and I hope I learned something from Sabonis."

- Paulius Jankūnas[1]

Paulius Jankūnas (born 29 April 1984) is a Lithuanian former professional

2018
.

Early years

Jankūnas played two seasons with the

LKKA-Žalgiris, leading the team to a LKAL (Lithuanian League 2nd Division)
title in 2003. He was named the Lithuanian 2nd Division MVP after averaging 20.0 points, 12.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.

He competed at the Reebok Eurocamp in Treviso in 2003.[3]

Professional career

Žalgiris Kaunas

Jankūnas with Žalgiris Kaunas in 2014

After playing in the

2003–04 season. He was originally an early entry candidate for the 2005 NBA draft
before withdrawing his name from consideration.

Jankūnas averaged 13.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in the

Asseco Prokom Sopot on 18 December 2008.[4] However, Žalgiris Kaunas finished the season with a 2–8 record and did not qualify to the competition's Top 16 stage.[5] Jankūnas was named the 2008–09 season's Baltic League MVP after averaging 15.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.[6]

Khimki Moscow Region

On 14 August 2009, Jankūnas signed a two-year contract with the Russian

2009–10 Russian Super League A
).

Return to Žalgiris Kaunas

On 24 July 2010, it was announced that Jankūnas was coming back to Žalgiris Kaunas.[8] In May 2018, he was named to the All-EuroLeague Second Team of the 2017–18 season.[9]

During his time with

Lithuanian King Mindaugas Cups (2017, 2018). With Žalgiris Kaunas, he also won the Lithuanian Super Cup in 2012 and four Baltic League
championships (2005, 2008, 2011, 2012).

On 12 August 2021, Jankūnas re-signed with the team.

Crvena Zvezda.[11] On 3 June 2022, Jankūnas officially retired from professional basketball.[12]

National team career

Jankūnas (right) with Lithuania in 2010

Lithuanian junior national team

Jankūnas was a member of the Lithuanian junior national teams. He played at the 2002 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship and at the 2003 FIBA Under-19 World Cup, where the Lithuanians won silver medals. Jankūnas also won a bronze medal at the 2004 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, which he led in rebounding (12.3 rebounds per game) in addition to posting 12.5 points per game.

He also helped Lithuania win the gold medal at the 2005 FIBA Under-21 World Cup.[13] He averaged 12.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game during the tournament.

Lithuanian senior national team

Jankūnas was a member of the senior

2015 EuroBasket
.

Jankūnas also competed with Lithuania at the following tournaments: the

2019 FIBA World Cup
.

Player profile

A well built 2.05 m (6 ft. 8 3⁄4 in.) tall

power forward, Jankūnas was a very good rebounder and scorer. He preferred to score on the inside and often drew fouls from opposing players. He could also play as a stretch four
due to his consistent mid-range and three-point shot.

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

EuroLeague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2003–04 Žalgiris Kaunas 16 5 13.6 .526 .000 .636 2.9 .6 .5 .3 4.6 5.1
2004–05 20 12 18.8 .544 .143 .581 4.2 .6 .7 .1 6.2 7.7
2005–06 20 10 24.5 .468 .250 .714 6.8 1.1 .4 .3 10.8 12.3
2006–07 13 8 27.0 .483 .208 .673 4.2 1.0 1.3 .2 9.5 12.1
2007–08 20 19 21.6 .469 .324 .771 4.8 .8 .9 .4 8.6 9.4
2008–09 9 9 31.1 .440 .296 .778 8.0 1.2 1.0 .6 13.8 14.8
2009–10 Khimki Moscow 16 16 25.0 .475 .377 .773 4.9 .8 .8 .3 8.2 9.6
2010–11 Žalgiris Kaunas 16 8 26.3 .476 .152 .818 6.9 .9 .6 .4 9.4 11.7
2011–12 16 16 23.4 .447 .333 .727 5.6 .8 .8 .3 7.8 8.8
2012–13 17 16 24.8 .465 .292 .844 4.8 1.2 .8 .2 8.2 9.2
2013–14 21 21 26.2 .465 .257 .771 6.5 1.9 1.1 .3 8.8 12.0
2014–15 24 23 24.2 .480 .300 .800 6.5 1.1 .6 .5 9.1 12.0
2015–16 24 23 25.3 .540 .310 .838 6.2 1.5 .9 .2 12.3 15.5
2016–17 30 30 23.4 .548 .396 .868 6.1 1.5 .6 .4 13.0 16.8
2017–18 35 34 22.1 .576 .375 .833 4.9 1.4 .5 .3 11.3 13.7
2018–19 17 9 16.0 .500 .250 .892 3.1 .9 .2 .2 6.2 7.5
2019–20 27 12 13.7 .384 .143 .759 3.1 .8 .4 .1 3.0 4.9
2020–21 34 8 15.9 .436 .276 .911 4.4 1.0 .5 .1 3.9 7.1
2021–22 17 4 12.7 .423 .409 .909 2.6 .6 .5 .2 3.7 4.4
Career 392 283 21.4 .490 .297 .793 5.1 1.1 .6 .3 8.3 10.4

Personal life

Jankūnas married his wife Ieva in the summer of 2007.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Paulius Jankunas, Zalgiris Kaunas". Welcome to EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL. 15 September 2023.
  2. ^ "EuroLeague stars congratulate retiring Paulius Jankunas on his career".
  3. NBA.com
    .
  4. ^ "Paulius Jankūnas / Statistika / Žaidėjai". basketnews.lt.
  5. ^ "Euroleague Regular Season 2008-09 Standings". 15 September 2023.
  6. ^ "Paulius Jankunas – The regular season MVP of the SEB BBL Elite Division". Archived from the original on 2 October 2011.
  7. ^ "Basketball Club Khimki". bckhimki.com.
  8. ^ Zalgiris brings back Jankunas. Euroleague.net
  9. ^ "2017-18 All-EuroLeague Second Team presented by 7DAYS". euroleague.net. 10 May 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  10. ^ Skerletic, Dario (12 August 2021). "Jankunas officially extends contract with Zalgiris". Sportando. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  11. ^ "Jankunas went out with a 'fairy-tale' ending". EuroLeague. 3 April 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  12. ^ "Rebounding king Jankunas retires". EuroLeague. 4 June 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  13. ^ "Euroleague.net interview: Paulius Jankunas, Zalgiris". Welcome to EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL. 15 September 2023.
  14. ^ "Alfa.lt". alfa.lt.

External links

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