Edward Sebastian Palubinskas (born 17 September 1950) is an Australian former 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 and coach.

Playing career

High school

Palubinskas attended Narrabundah High Schoo in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, where he practiced different sports (

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

). He started playing basketball at age 14. In Canberra, he played for a team of Lithuanian immigrants. After moving to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Palubinskas played for the St. Kilda Saints, winning the Victorian Championship in 1970.

College

Coach

Lindsay Gaze Lindsay John Casson Gaze (born 16 August 1936) is an Australian former basketball player and coach. He played for Australia in three Summer Olympics qualification tournaments, between 1960 and 1968, and was the head coach of the senior Austr ...

, who back then considered Palubinskas as "the best offensive player in the history of Australia", put him in contact with

Dale Brown Dale Brown (born 2 November 1956) is an American writer and aviator known for aviation techno-thriller novels. At least thirteen of his novels have been ''New York Times'' Best Sellers. Early life Brown was born in Buffalo, New York, and w ...

, who later became his coach at LSU. Palubinskas moved to the US and started his collegiate career at

Ricks College Ricks may refer to: People * Andre Ricks (born 1996), American basketball player * Bob Ricks (21st century), American police chief * Christopher Ricks (born 1933), British literary critic and scholar * Doug Ricks, American politician and member o ...

Rexburg, Idaho Rexburg is a city in Madison County, Idaho, United States. The population was 39,409 at the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Madison County and its largest city. Rexburg is the principal city of the Rexburg, ID Micropolitan Statist ...

in 1970, where he led the US in

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the Key (basketball), restricted ...

percentage with 92.4 percents during the 1970–71 season. He holds the record for the most consecutive free throws in a game (14) and 43 consecutive for the season. He won NJCAA All-American status at Ricks College (which is now BYU-Idaho) and scored 24 points a game over his two years. In 1972, Palubinskas transferred to

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

(LSU), after playing in the

Munich Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

where he was the second leading scorer missing the Olympic scoring title by one point. At LSU, Palubinskas had a team-high 18.6 points per game in the 1972–73 season and was selected to the All-SEC Coaches Team. In 1973–74, he was the second leading scorer of the team (18.3 points per game) behind

Glenn Hansen Glenn R. Hansen (born April 21, 1952) is a retired American professional basketball player. He was born in Devils Lake, North Dakota. Hansen, a 6'4" (1.93 m) and 205 lb (93 kg) guard, played college basketball for Louisiana State Unive ...

. While at LSU, Palubinskas hit 87.5 percent (258-of-295) of his free throws. On 1 March 1973, Palubinskas converted 16 of his 16 free throws against

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univers ...

, which put him in first place in the LSU record book.

Professional

Palubinskas was selected in the

1974 NBA draft The 1974 NBA draft was the 28th annual NBA Draft, draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 28, 1974, before the 1974–75 NBA season, 1974–75 season. In this draft, 18 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur ...

by the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

in the fourth round. He was then traded to the New Orleans Jazz and drafted in the eighth round of the

ABA draft The American Basketball Association draft was held from 1967 to 1975. First overall picks Note: 1974 ABA College Draft, not 1974 ABA Draft of NBA Players Further reading *{{cite book, last=Bradley, first=Robert D., title=The Basketball Draft Fac ...

by the

Utah Stars The Utah Stars were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround. History prior to moving to ...

. Palubinskas never played in the NBA. In Australia, he played for the Caulfield Spartans, scoring a record-breaking 66 points in a championship game in 1976.

National team career

After being the second leading scorer in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Palubinskas was the top overall scorer in 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. He set three Olympic scoring records in Montreal, including the record for most points scored in a single Olympics (269), which was broken by Brazilian

Oscar Schmidt Oscar Daniel Bezerra Schmidt (born February 16, 1958) is a retired Brazilian professional basketball player. He is also commonly known as Oscar Schmidt in Spain, where he played for Fórum Valladolid for the 1993–94 and 1994–95 seasons, ...

during the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

. The most points he scored in one game during the Olympics was in 1976, when he had 48 against Mexico in overtime. He is a member of the Basketball Australia Hall of Fame.

Coaching career

Palubinskas served as an assistant coach at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

from 1986 to 1989. In 1991–92, he held the same position at Louisiana State University. At the high school level in the US, Palubinskas was the head coach at Central Private School in

Central, Louisiana Central is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, second largest city in East Baton Rouge Parish, and part of the Baton Rouge metropolitan statistical area. The state's newest incorporated city in April 2005, Central had a 2020 census population ...

from 1992 to 1996. He also was a basketball coach at East Carbon High School in

Sunnyside, Utah Sunnyside is a former city in Carbon County, Utah, United States. The population was 377 at the 2010 census. On January 1, 2014, the city merged with the neighboring city of East Carbon. Geography Sunnyside is located southeast of the center of ...

and East High School in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. Palubinskas took a position as shooting coach to

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greates ...

with the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

for the

2000–01 NBA season The 2000–01 NBA season was the 55th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning their second straight championship, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 1 in the 2001 NBA Finals. Not ...

. Following the Lakers' triumph in the NBA, Palubinskas also received an NBA champion's ring. He also worked with

Brandon Bass Brandon Samuel Bass (born April 30, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. Early life Bass was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the oldest of three siblings; he has a brother, Chris, and sister, Dashia. Bass is the son of C ...

Dwight Howard Dwight David Howard II (born December 8, 1985) is an American professional basketball player for the Taoyuan Leopards of the T1 League. He is an NBA champion, eight-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA Team honoree, five-time All-Defensive Team m ...

Lisa Leslie Lisa Deshaun Leslie (born July 7, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player. She is currently the head coach for Triplets in the BIG3 professional basketball league, as well as a studio analyst for Orlando Magic broadcasts on F ...

and

Lauren Jackson Lauren Elizabeth Jackson (born 11 May 1981) is an Australian professional basketball player. The daughter of two national basketball team players, Jackson was awarded a scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in 1997, when she ...

. He has his own basketball school named The Palubinskas Basketball Academy. Palubinskas published two instructional video tapes ("Secrets to Perfect Shooting Principles" and "The Shooters' Lab") on shooting technique. In 2004, he published his findings on shooting the basketball in the FIBA Assist Magazine.

Career highlights

* "Mr. Basketball Australia" – 1970 * 1972 and 1976 All-World Olympic Team * Most points scored in Olympic history (269) – 1976 * Guinness book world record- most free throws (18) made in 2 minutes blindfolded in Phoenix AZ. at NBA ALL-Star weekend *

ACT Sport Hall of Fame ACT Sport Hall of Fame was established by ACTSPORT in 1995. It was taken over by the Australian Capital Territory Government after ACTSPORT ceased operations in 2015. Inductees are announced as part of the annual CBR Sport Awards. ACT Sport Hall of ...

inductee in 2021

Personal life

Palubinskas was born to a

Lithuanian 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 ...

father and a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

mother.

References

External links

Historical Vignette: Ed Palubinskas, Australia's first basketball great
– Australian Olympic Committee * {{DEFAULTSORT:Palubinskas, Ed 1950 births Living people Atlanta Hawks draft picks Australian emigrants to the United States Australian Latter Day Saints Australian men's basketball coaches Australian men's basketball players 1974 FIBA World Championship players Australian people of Lithuanian descent Australian people of Russian descent Basketball players at the 1972 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1976 Summer Olympics Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Los Angeles Lakers assistant coaches LSU Tigers basketball coaches LSU Tigers basketball players Olympic basketball players of Australia Sportspeople from Canberra Utah Stars draft picks