Eimantas Bendžius (born 23 April 1990) is a Lithuanian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for

Dinamo Sassari Polisportiva Dinamo, commonly known as Dinamo Sassari and currently known as Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari for sponsorship reasons, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Sassari, Sardinia. They are the current European Cu ...

of the Italian

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier le ...

(LBA). His primary position is

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

, but he can also play as a

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

, if needed.

Professional career

Bendžius started his career with

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

playing in the NKL in 2008. During the 2009–10 season, he became one of the leaders of Perlas, a team that debuted in the LKL that season. On June 2, 2010, Bendžius joined Lietuvos rytas Vilnius. Bendžius became one of the key players for Lietuvos rytas during the 2012–13 LKL season. In an important game against the rival Žalgiris Kaunas, Bendžius hit 6 out of 9 three-pointers to overcome Žalgiris. Because of this win, Lietuvos rytas secured a second place in the regular season and avoided meeting Žalgiris before the finals. In June 2015, Bendžius signed a two-year contract with the Spanish team Río Natura Monbús Obradoiro. On July 10, 2018, he has signed with Rytas Vilnius of the

Lithuanian Basketball League Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

. On July 7, 2020, he has signed with

of the Italian

(LBA).

National team career

Bendžius represented Lithuania at the

2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship The 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (Maori: 2009 FIBA I-Raro I Te 19 Tau Toa o Te Ao) was the 9th edition of the FIBA U19 World Championship, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship contested by the U19 national team ...

. In the game against Kazakhstan, Bendžius scored 21 points. He later participated at the

2013 Summer Universiade The 2013 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXVII Summer Universiade (russian: XXVII Летняя Универсиада), was held in the city of Kazan, Russia, the most northerly city ever to host a Summer Universiade. Over 10,400 un ...

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, as part of the Lithuania students' basketball team. Bendžius represented primary

Lithuania men's national basketball team The Lithuania men's national basketball team ( lt, Lietuvos nacionalinė vyrų krepšinio rinktinė) represents Lithuania in international basketball competitions. They are controlled by the Lithuanian Basketball Federation, the governing body f ...

during the

EuroBasket 2017 EuroBasket 2017 was the 40th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe and held between 31 August and 17 September 2017. Beginning from 2017, the continental championships take place every four years with a similar ...

for the first time and averaged 2.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.5 assists.

References

1990 births Living people Basketball players from Klaipėda BC Pieno žvaigždės players BC Rytas players Dinamo Sassari players Liga ACB players Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Italy Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Poland Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Spain Lithuanian men's basketball players Obradoiro CAB players Small forwards Trefl Sopot players {{Lithuania-basketball-bio-stub