Ovidijus Galdikas (born 4 September 1988) is a Lithuanian 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.

Career

Galdikas spent 2006-07 training with the Žalgiris-Arvydas Sabonis school but, after suffering a broken arm, he stopped playing basketball at the behest of his mother and spent the next two years working various menial jobs to support his family. In around 2009, basketball agent Šarūnas Broga (his current agent) and Klemensas Patiejūnas (a Lithuanian basketball player who was playing in France at that time) started hearing stories of a 7 footer in Kaunas who wasn't playing basketball anywhere. Having found Galdikas, they realised that he wasn't yet ready for professional basketball and started working with him. Klemensas took him to France and, upon his return, Galdikas joined Vilnius KM-Magnus (a third-tier club) during the 2009–10 season, where he averaged 21.2 points, 10.9 rebounds. Next season, he moved up a tier to Anykščiai Puntukas and averaged 14.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3 blocks. He missed the 2011-12 season due to injuries. In 2012 he joined Šiauliai. However, the team didn't give him much playing time as they also had the more experienced Papa Dia. According to reports, the Knicks have been watching him for over 3 years, and Knicks' president visited Šiauliai during the 2012-13 season to meet with Galdikas and watch him play, however, Galdikas was injured at the time). In August 2013, 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 ...

again showed interest in Galdikas, describing him as a 'diamond in the rough' and the 'third best Lithuanian center after

Jonas Valančiūnas Jonas Valančiūnas ( ; ; born 6 May 1992) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Toronto Raptors with the fifth overall pick in the 2011 ...

and Donatas Motiejūnas. During the 2014-2015 season he was scoring 11.2 points (74% FG), grabbing 10 rebounds and blocking 2.6 shots, while representing Asseco Gdynia club in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. Following it, he decided to participate in the

NBA Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season competition organized by the National Basketball Association. NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regular season line-ups ...

to seek his dream of representing NBA club. He represented the

in the

. On August 29, 2015, Galdikas signed with the Spanish team

Herbalife Gran Canaria Club Baloncesto Gran Canaria – Claret, S.A.D., is a professional basketball club based in Las Palmas, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB. Their home arena is the Gran Canaria Arena. From 2012 until 2021, they have been sponsored by Herbalif ...

. He debuted by scoring 10 points, grabbing 4 rebounds and blocking 6 shots. On 19 February 2016, Gran Canaria announced Galdikas would be loaned to Polish club

Wilki Morskie Szczecin The King Wilki Morskie Szczecin are a Polish professional basketball team based in Szczecin, West Pomeranian, Poland. King Szczecin competes in the Polska Liga Koszykówki Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English: Polish Basketball League) is a pr ...

until the end of the

2015–16 PLK season The 2015–16 Polish Basketball League, for sponsorship reasons the Tauron Basket Liga, was the 82nd season of the highest professional basketball tier in Poland and the 20th since the foundation of the Polish Basketball League. Teams *Promoted f ...

. Gran Canaria later released Galdikas. After a successful season with Juventus Utena in 2016–17, Galdikas signed with Vytautas Prienai–Birštonas, but was released after a few games in September 2017. In October 2017, he retired from professional basketball for health reasons.

Personal life

Prior to becoming famous for his actions on the court, Galdikas appeared in the Lithuanian media because of his relationship with and subsequent marriage to an underage girl to avoid facing charges for statutory rape. He was 19 at the time and his wife, at 15 years old, was the youngest bride in Lithuania in 2008.Preschool: youngest Lithuanian wife

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galdikas, Ovidijus 1988 births Living people Basketball players from Kaunas BC Juventus players CB Gran Canaria players Centers (basketball) Liga ACB players Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Poland Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Spain Lithuanian men's basketball players Wilki Morskie Szczecin players