Ignas Brazdeikis (born January 8, 1999) is a Lithuanian-Canadian 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 Žalgiris Kaunas 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 ...

(LKL) and the EuroLeague. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

. He has represented the Canadian national teams in junior levels. During the season, he established a Michigan record by earning four Big Ten Freshmen of the week awards and was included on both the

John Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the ...

Midseason Top 25 and Late Season Top 20 watchlists. As a freshman, he was a

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Second team All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

selection, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and a Big Ten All-Freshman honoree. Brazdeikis was selected with the 47th overall pick in the

2019 NBA draft The 2019 NBA draft was held on June 20, 2019. It took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, i ...

by the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

, and was then traded to the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

Early life

Brazdeikis was born in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

, Lithuania, to Diana and Sigitas "Sigis" Brazdeikis. He has an older sister, Ema. His second aunt, Lina Brazdeikytė, is a former professional basketball player who won the EuroBasket Women 1997 with the Lithuania women's national team. His family emigrated to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

before moving to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

and

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...

(where he started to play basketball at the age of six) before settling in

Oakville, Ontario Oakville is a town in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Lake Ontario between Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton. At its Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census population of 213,759, it is List of tow ...

High school career

Brazdeikis attended Holy Trinity CSS in Oakville, where he became the first grade nine student to play for the senior team. He then transferred to

Orangeville Prep The Athlete Institute is an athletic centre located in Mono, Ontario. It is made up of two facilities, the training centre and the fieldhouse. The institute is home to The Orangeville Prep Basketball Academy, who compete in the Ontario Scholastic ...

in Mono, where he was named Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association MVP in 2017 and 2018. As a junior he led Orangeville to the 2017 OSBA championship and won the tournament MVP award. Brazdeikis is generally right-handed, including his

dribble In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

, but shoots the basketball left-handed. During Brazdeikis's high school years, he was mentored by former Wolverine

Nik Stauskas Nikolas Tomas Stauskas (born October 7, 1993) is a Canadian professional basketball player who last played for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A shooting guard, Stauskas played two seasons of college basketball f ...

. By May 2017 Brazdeikis was undecided between matriculating with the class of 2017 or 2018 and had taken unofficial visits to Michigan, Vanderbilt and Cincinnati. After accumulating offers from several schools including Baylor, Cal, Illinois, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, and USC and rankings of number 66 overall and 16 small forward at 247sports.com, Brazdeikis announced that he would officially visit Michigan, Vanderbilt and Florida on September 8, 15 and 29, 2017, respectively. He gave a Michigan a verbal commitment on September 22. After he committed, Michigan stopped recruiting R. J. Barrett. He signed a

National Letter of Intent National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

with Michigan on November 10, 2017 along with the 2018 class that included Colin Castleton, David DeJulius, Brandon Johns, and Adrien Nunez. Brazdeikis was expected to be Michigan's best incoming freshman according to

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and

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in 2018.

College career

In Michigan's November 6, 63–44 victory over

Norfolk State Norfolk State University (NSU) is a public historically black university in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Virginia High-Tech Partnership. History The institution was founded on September 18, 1935 ...

, Brazdeikis debuted with 12 points in head coach

John Beilein John Patrick Beilein ( ; born February 5, 1953) is an American professional basketball coach who currently serves as the Senior Player Development Advisor for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Before being hired b ...

's 800th career win. In his second game on November 10, during a 56–37 victory against Holy Cross, Brazdeikis added 19 points, including 15 points in the first five minutes to start the second half as well as seven rebounds. On November 18, Brazdeikis helped Michigan defeat

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

66–47 to win the

Hall of Fame Tip Off The Hall of Fame Tip Off is an NCAA-exempt tournament organized by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and is sponsored by the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. It features four team NCAA Division I (NCAA), Division I college basketball, men’ ...

tournament with a game-high 20 points and another 7 rebounds. He repeated his 20-point, 7-rebound performance the next time out on November 23 against

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

during their 83–55 victory. Brazdeikis posted his third consecutive 20-point game on November 28, as Michigan defeated (#11

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

/#13

Coaches Poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officially ...

)

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

84–67 in the

ACC–Big Ten Challenge The ACC–Big Ten Challenge (or Big Ten–ACC Challenge as it was called in alternating years) was an in-season NCAA Division I men's college basketball series that matched up teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Big Ten Confer ...

behind his career-high 24 points. 20181204 Iggy Brazdeikis at UM-NW game (1)

On December 1, Michigan defeated (#19/#18)

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

76–57 in its Big Ten Conference season opener. Brazdeikis contributed 12 points. On December 3, he was recognized as Big Ten Freshman of the Week for his performance against these two ranked teams. Following a 23-point game against Northwestern and a 17-point performance against

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, Brazdeikis was recognized as co-Big Ten Freshman of the Week on December 10. On December 30, Michigan defeated

Binghamton Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

74–52. Michigan was led by Brazdeikis with a game-high 21 points. The following day, he earned Big Ten Freshman of the week recognition for the third time in December. On January 3, Michigan returned to Big Ten play with a 68–55 victory over

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

powered by Brazdeikis' first career double-double (16 points and a career-high 11 rebounds). On January 9, Brazdeikis was one of 7 Big Ten athletes included on the

Men's Midseason Top 25 watchlist. On January 13, the 2018–19 Wolverines team defeated Northwestern to establish a school record for best start at 17–0 and tied the school's record 17-game win streak. On January 19, Michigan lost to

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

64–54, as Brazdeikis went scoreless. On January 22, Michigan defeated

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

59–57 after a

buzzer beater In basketball and other such timed sports, a buzzer beater is a shot that is taken before the game clock of a quarter, a half (if the half is the second one, then, a game), or an overtime period expires but does not go in the basket until after t ...

by Matthews. Michigan was led by Brazdeikis with a game-high 18 points and career-tying 11 rebounds, for his second double-double of the season. On January 25, Michigan defeated

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

69–46. Michigan was led by Brazdeikis with a game-high 20 points, while Matthews added 10 points and a career-tying 11 rebounds for his sixth career double-double. Michigan jumped out to a 17–0 lead and its defense allowed only 18 points in the first half, as Indiana shot a season-low 27.6% from the field during the game. The 23-point victory marked the largest ever by Michigan on the road against Indiana. On January 28, Brazdeikis earned his fourth Big Ten Freshman of the Week recognition for his performances against Minnesota and Indiana. This surpassed

Tim Hardaway Jr. Timothy Duane Hardaway Jr. (born March 16, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines and declared for th ...

and

and established a new school record for most such awards. On February 5, Brazdeikis was one of four Big Ten athletes named to the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List. That night, he made a career-high five three-pointers and scored a game-high 23 points as Michigan defeated

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

77–65 and head coach

passed Johnny Orr for the most Big Ten wins as Michigan head coach with 121. On February 7, Brazdeikis was one of two Big Ten athletes (along with Jordan Murphy) named a

Karl Malone Award The Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top men's collegiate power forward. Following the success of the Bob Cousy Award which had been awarded s ...

Top 10 finalist. 20181204 Iggy Brazdeikis at UM-NW game (4)

Following the season, he was a

Second team All-

selection (coaches and media), the Big Ten Freshman of the Year (coaches and media) and a Big Ten All-Freshman honoree (coaches and media). On March 12, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association named Brazdeikis to its 2018–19 Men's All-District V (OH, IN, IL, MI, MN, WI) Team, based upon voting from its national membership. He was named to the

National Association of Basketball Coaches The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of men's college basketball coaches. It was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, head men's basketball coach at the University o ...

Division I All‐District 7 second team on March 21, as selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC, making him eligible for the 2019 NABC Coaches’ Division I All-America team. He led Michigan in scoring (15.7 points per game) during its run to the March 17 championship game of the

2019 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament The 2019 Big Ten men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Big Ten Conference of the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The tournament returned to its more traditional Midwest roots as it ...

, earning a spot on the All-tournament team. On March 28, Michigan lost to (#9/#10)

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

44–63 in the Sweet Sixteen round of the 2019 NCAA tournament. Brazdeikis led Michigan with 17 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, for his third career double-double. The Wolverines finished the season with a 30–7 record, for its second consecutive 30-win season. Brazdeikis was an honorable mention

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2019 All-American team selection. Following the season, on April 9, Brazdeikis, along with teammates Jordan Poole and Charles Matthews, declared for the

with the intention of hiring agents.

Professional career

New York Knicks (2019–2021)

On June 20, 2019, Brazdeikis was drafted 47th overall in the

by the

, who then traded him to the

. He was on the Knicks

2019 NBA Summer League The 2019 NBA Summer League was held at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the campus of University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It began on July 5 and ended on July 15. All 30 teams and two national teams, China and Croat ...

roster. On July 6, 2019, the Knicks signed Brazdeikis to a multi-year contract. Brazdeikis was the first player to post a 30-point game at the

in Las Vegas. Brazdeikis made his NBA debut on November 3 against the

scoring four points in a 113–92 loss. He was assigned to the

Westchester Knicks The Westchester Knicks are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in White Plains, New York, and are affiliated with the New York Knicks. The Knicks typically play their home games at Westchester County Center in White ...

for the start of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

season. On January 11, 2020, Brazdeikis posted 24 points, 14 rebounds and five assists for Westchester in a win over the

Lakeland Magic The Lakeland Magic are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Lakeland, Florida, and are affiliated with the Orlando Magic. The Magic began play in the 2017–18 season and play their home games at the RP Fundin ...

. On February 1, 2021, Brazdeikis was assigned to the Westchester Knicks.

Philadelphia 76ers (2021)

On March 25, 2021, Brazdeikis was traded to the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

. On April 8, the 76ers waived Brazdeikis who appeared in one game for the team.

Orlando Magic (2021–2022)

On May 2, 2021, Brazdeikis signed a 10-day contract with the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

. Brazdeikis made his debut on May 3, recording a then career-high 14 points in the Magic's 119–112 win over the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

. On May 12, the Magic signed Brazdeikis for the remainder of the 2020–21 season. On May 14, Brazdeikis surpassed his career high in points with 21 in a 122–97 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. On August 12, 2021, Brazdeikis signed a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...

with the Magic. On April 5, 2022, he scored a season-high 20 points, alongside six rebounds and two assists, in a 120–115 win over the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

Žalgiris Kaunas (2022–present)

On July 24, 2022, Brazdeikis returned to his homeland and signed a two-year contract with Žalgiris Kaunas of the

(LKL) and the EuroLeague.

National team career

Brazdeikis earned a silver medal with Team Canada at the

2015 FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship The 2015 FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship was the men's international basketball competition that was held in Bahia Blanca, Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country ...

, averaging 9.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. He also played for Canada at the

2016 FIBA Under-17 World Championship The 2016 FIBA Under-17 World Championship (Spanish: 2016 FIBA Campeonato Mundial Sub-17) was the 4th edition of the FIBA Under-17 World Championship, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship contested by the U17 national team ...

, averaging 14.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. He was invited to participate in the April 13, 2018,

Nike Hoop Summit The Nike Hoop Summit is an international men's basketball all-star game sponsored by Nike, held once a year since 1995, except from 2001–2003, which features the USA Basketball Men's Junior Select Team against a World Select Team of internationa ...

and recorded nine points, four rebounds and three assists in 12 minutes of play during the 89–76 World team's victory. Despite playing for Canada's national teams in youth tournaments and not having the Lithuanian citizenship, Brazdeikis has said that he would like to represent the

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 ...

in international competitions. In January 2020, he officially applied to have his Lithuanian citizenship restored. On May 5, 2021, his Lithuanian citizenship was restored. Due to a change in Lithuanian laws, Brazdeikis also kept his Canadian citizenship. On June 22, 2022, he made his debut with the Lithuanian national team in a friendly game against Latvia.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

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Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

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Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

, 8 , , 0 , , 29.3 , , .443 , , .407 , , .667 , , 5.1 , , 2.0 , , .5 , , .4 , , 11.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 42 , , 1 , , 12.8 , , .431 , , .310 , , .656 , , 1.7 , , .9 , , .2 , , .1 , , 5.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 64 , , 1 , , 13.1 , , .416 , , .315 , , .686 , , 1.9 , , .9 , , .2 , , .1 , , 5.0

College

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Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, 37 , , 37 , , 29.6 , , .462 , , .392 , , .773 , , 5.4 , , .8 , , .7 , , .5 , , 14.8

References

External links

Michigan Wolverines bio

at Sports-Reference.com
College stats
at

College stats
at

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brazdeikis, Iggy 1999 births Living people Basketball people from Ontario BC Žalgiris players Canadian expatriate basketball people in the United States Canadian men's basketball players Canadian people of Lithuanian descent Forwards (basketball) Lakeland Magic players Lithuanian emigrants to Canada Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in the United States Lithuanian men's basketball players Michigan Wolverines men's basketball players National Basketball Association players from Canada National Basketball Association players from Lithuania New York Knicks players Orlando Magic players Philadelphia 76ers players Sacramento Kings draft picks Small forwards Sportspeople from Kaunas Sportspeople from Oakville, Ontario Westchester Knicks players