Mindaugas Lukauskis aka "The Legend", "Iron man", (born May 19, 1979) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for

BC Wolves BC Wolves is a Lithuanian professional basketball club based in the city of Vilnius. The team competes in the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL). History 2022-23 season The organisation was founded on 2 June 2022, with the name Wolves referri ...

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 ...

. Lukauskis is a holder of numerous Lithuanian League records.

Professional career

Lukauskis began his basketball career in the Panevežys youth basketball clubs, being the leader there. He got attention from the LKL, and in 2001, he joined Sakalai. In 2002, he signed a one-year contract with Alytus, and he was the top scorer on the team. In 2003, he joined Lithuanian basketball giant

Lietuvos Rytas ''Lietuvos rytas'' (lit. 'Morning of Lithuania') is a Lithuanian daily newspaper. History and profile "Lietuvos rytas" was established in 1990 on a basis of newspaper "Komjaunimo tiesa". The paper is printed in Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also ...

. In 2006, Lukauskis improved his game and alongside

Tomas Delininkaitis Tomas Delininkaitis (born June 11, 1982) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player. He was a member of the Lithuanian national basketball team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship . He is 1.90 m (6 ft 2 in) and weighs 82 kg. Profe ...

he gave Rytas a strong impact off the bench. In the 2007 season, he became a starting player. In the EuroCup Final 8 on April 4, 2009, Lukauskis made a decisive, game-winning, 10 meters distance three-pointer and that allowed him to become the only player to participate in the EuroCup Final three times in total. He then went on to become the only two-time EuroCup champion. In July 2009, he joined the French League club

ASVEL ASVEL Basket, commonly known as ASVEL or sometimes as ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne, and also known as LDLC ASVEL for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional basketball team that is located in the city of Villeurbanne, which is a suburb of Lyon, ...

. In September 2010 he signed with the German EuroCup-Team Baskets Oldenburg. After spending a season with Italy's Barcellona Sigma of

Legadue Serie A2, known for sponsorship reasons as Serie A2 Old Wild West, is a men's basketball league in Italy. It constitutes the second-tier of the Italian league pyramid, below the first division LBA and above the third division Serie B, with pr ...

, in September 2012 Lukauskis moved to

Valencia Basket Valencia Basket Club S.A.D., commonly known as Valencia Basket (), is a professional basketball team based in Valencia, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague, with home games played at the Fuente de San Luis. The club is spon ...

for signing contract during the injury of Thomas Kelati. On August 7, 2016, Lukauskis signed with his hometown Lietkabelis Panevėžys. On July 19, 2017, he returned to Lietuvos rytas Vilnius for his ninth season as the club member. During the

2018 Karaliaus Mindaugo taurė The 2018 Karaliaus Mindaugo taurė, also known as SIL – Karaliaus Mindaugo taurė for sponsorship purposes, was the third edition of the Lithuanian King Mindaugas Cup. On 7 December 2017 it was announced that Klaipėda would host the tournamen ...

, Lukauskis being 38 years old surprisingly became the LKL Three-point Shootout champion. On August 25, 2018, Lukauskis signed with BC Prienai of the

. On October 15, 2020, Lukauskis signed with BC Šiauliai until the end of the season. On August 19, 2021, Lukauskis signed with Dzūkija Alytus. On September 19, 2021, at 42 years and 123 days of age, Lukauskis became the oldest player to appear in a game in the

history, surpassing the previous record set by

Algimantas Pavilonis Algimantas Pavilonis (born October 20, 1953 in Vilnius) is a retired Lithuanian basketball player, most notable for his playing career in Statyba Vilnius from 1973 to 1985. He was second Lithuanian Basketball Federation president, serving from 1 ...

in 1996. On December 6, 2021, Lukauskis scored a career-high 33 points in a game against Nevėžis Kėdainiai, breaking his previous scoring record set in 2001. He finished the season averaging 11.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.2 steals in 34 LKL games played. On August 9, 2022, Lukauskis signed with

of the

National team career

Lukauskis was a member of the senior Lithuanian national team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. On August 16, 2008, when Lithuania played against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

in the Olympics, Lukauskis helped Lithuania to win the game, by scoring 20 points.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2005–06 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2",

, 19 , , 0 , , 14.4 , , .380 , , .361 , , .652 , , 3.2 , , .8 , , .8 , , .1 , , 4.3 , , 5.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , 20 , , 18 , , 23.3 , , .423 , , .365 , , .744 , , 2.6 , , 2.1 , , 1.5 , , .1 , , 8.4 , , 8.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;",

, 10 , , 10 , , 30.1 , , .469 , , .273 , , .800 , , 2.0 , , 3.1 , , 2.3 , , .3 , , 8.1 , , 11.1 , -class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 49 , , 28 , , 21.5 , , .423 , , .343 , , .728 , , 2.7 , , 1.8 , , 1.4 , , .1 , , 6.8 , , 7.6

Awards and achievements

Baltic League The Baltic League (officially known as the Triobet Baltic League) was a Baltic men's football club tournament held four times between the top club sides from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Launched in 2007 inspired by the now defunct Scandinavi ...

President's Cup Winner: 2008 * 2×

LKF Cup The LKF Cup was an annual national domestic cup competition for Lithuanian professional basketball teams. It was organised by the Lithuanian Basketball Federation (Lietuvos Krepšinio Federacija - LKF). The competition's full name was Lietuvos Kre ...

Winner: 2009, 2014 * 2× ULEB Cup ( EuroCup) Champion: 2005, 2009 * 3×

Champion: 2006, 2007, 2009 * 2× LKL League Champion: 2006, 2009 * Match des champions Winner: 2009 * Semaine de As Cup Winner: 2010

References

External links

Euroleague.net Profile

TBLStat.net Profile

Eurobasket.com Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lukauskis, Mindaugas 1979 births Living people ASVEL Basket players Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics BC Dzūkija players BC Lietkabelis players BC Prienai players BC Rytas players BC Šiauliai players Bilbao Basket players EWE Baskets Oldenburg players Liga ACB players Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in France Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Germany Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Spain Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Turkey Lithuanian men's basketball players Olympic basketball players of Lithuania Shooting guards Small forwards Sportspeople from Panevėžys Tofaş S.K. players Valencia Basket players