Martynas Andriuškevičius (; born March 12, 1986) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. He is a 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in) tall and 113 kg (250 lb) center. Andriuškevičius has noted perimeter skill for a player of his size, and has trained with former

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

center Arvydas Sabonis.

Professional career

When he was young, Andriuškevičius was an intriguing prospect because of his height. He developed through the youth academies at Žalgiris Kaunas, where he was tabbed as one of the top young players in the game. He played in 15 Euroleague games for the club during the 2004–05 season, and was originally projected to be one of the top picks in the

2005 NBA draft The 2005 NBA draft took place on June 28, 2005, in the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, NBA teams took turns selecting amateur college basketball players and other first-time eligible players, such as players f ...

, but a disappointing season in Europe, and an apparent lack of improvement, sent his draft stock spiraling down. That season, he averaged 1.5 points and 1.1 rebounds per game, in 8.7 minutes played per game in the Euroleague. Andriuškevičius was drafted by 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 ...

with the 44th pick in the

. He was then traded to 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 ...

, before being traded to the Chicago Bulls. On August 18, 2006, Andriuškevičius was traded by the

Cavaliers The term Cavalier () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of King Charles I and his son Charles II of England during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration (1642 – ). It ...

to the Chicago Bulls, for

swingman A swingman is an athlete capable of playing multiple positions in their sport. Basketball In basketball, the term “swingman” (a.k.a. “wing” or “guard-forward”) denotes a player who can play both the shooting guard (2) and small forwa ...

Eddie Basden Edward Richard Basden (born February 15, 1983) is an American professional basketball player who formerly played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). College career Basden, born in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, played competitive basketball ...

. On December 21, as a member of the

NBA Development 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 ...

's Dakota Wizards, Andriuškevičius sustained a serious head injury, when he was punched by teammate Awvee Storey, in an attack during practice in

Bismarck, North Dakota Bismarck () is the capital of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Burleigh County. It is the state's second-most populous city, after Fargo. The city's population was 73,622 in the 2020 census, while its metropolitan popula ...

. The center suffered a

fractured skull A skull fracture is a break in one or more of the eight bones that form the cranial portion of the skull, usually occurring as a result of blunt force trauma. If the force of the impact is excessive, the bone may fracture at or near the site of t ...

, a severe

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

, and a two-centimeter

hematoma A hematoma, also spelled haematoma, or blood suffusion is a localized bleeding outside of blood vessels, due to either disease or trauma including injury or surgery and may involve blood continuing to seep from broken capillary, capillaries. A he ...

(bruise) on the left side of his brain. Doctors initially thought it would be months before he could speak, but he was able to regain speech within a month, and stated his desire to play basketball within a year. Storey was suspended indefinitely.One player suspended, another hospitalized after fight
/ref>Andriuskevicius recovering slowly after fight
/ref> Days later, Storey had his contract terminated, and he was dismissed from the league.NBDL player Storey dismissed for punching teammate
/ref> Andriuškevičius did not wish to pursue charges. On March 12, 2007, Chicago Bulls doctor's cleared Andriuškevičius to participate in contact practices. The '' Chicago Tribune'' said it was, "a remarkable recovery from the serious brain injury". On April 6, head coach Scott Skiles, considered moving the player to the active roster, as he soon started practicing. However, Andriuškevičius never logged a regular season appearance for the Bulls. On August 11, 2007, Andriuškevičius' agent announced that he would play with Joventut Badalona, and he signed with the team five days later, but his contract with the team was cancelled shortly after. In September 2011, he signed a one-year contract with PAOK in Greece.PAOK BC lands Andriuskevicius
/ref> On 11 January 2016, he signed with former

Telemach League The Premier A Slovenian Basketball League ( sl, 1. slovenska košarkarska liga), abbreviated as 1. SKL and known as the Liga Nova KBM due to sponsorship reasons, is the top-level professional men's basketball league in Slovenia. The league, opera ...

champions KK Helios Suns, on a two-year contract.

National team career

At the

2010 FIBA World Championship The 2010 FIBA World Championship was the 16th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship contested by the men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 September 2010. It was co-organised by the Inte ...

, Andriuškevičius played with the senior men's the

Lithuanian 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 ...

, and with them he won a

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

medal.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Awards and achievements

* 2010 FIBA World Championship, Turkey:

References

External links

FIBA.com Profile

Eurobasket.com Profile

Euroleague.net profile

ACB.com Profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andriuskevicius, Martynas 1986 births Living people 2010 FIBA World Championship players Arkansas RimRockers players Basketball players from Kaunas BC Neptūnas players BC Žalgiris players CB Lucentum Alicante players CB Prat players Centers (basketball) Cleveland Cavaliers players Dakota Wizards players Liga ACB players Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Greece Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Poland Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Portugal Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Russia Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Slovenia Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Spain Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in the United States National Basketball Association players from Lithuania Orlando Magic draft picks P.A.O.K. BC players Helios Suns players