Saulius Kuzminskas (born May 30, 1982) 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. His younger brother

Mindaugas Mindaugas (german: Myndowen, la, Mindowe, orv, Мендог, be, Міндоўг, pl, Mendog, c. 1203–1263) is the first known Grand Duke of Lithuania and the only crowned King of Lithuania. Little is known of his origins, early life, or r ...

is also a basketball player for the

Olimpia Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

Professional career

Kuzminskas debuted in 1999 with Sakalai. He briefly played for the

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

before returning to Lithuania. He played in

Šiauliai Šiauliai (; bat-smg, Šiaulē; german: Schaulen, ) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 107,086. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County. Names Šiauliai is referred to by various names in different l ...

and then in

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 ...

for a couple of seasons. In 2005, he moved to France to play for the

BCM Gravelines Basket Club Maritime Gravelines-Dunkerque, commonly referred to as BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque, is a French professional basketball club based in Gravelines. They currently play in the Pro A, the highest professional league in France. The team plays ...

, and then to Slovenia to play for Olimpija Ljubljana, where he received limited playing time. In 2007, Kuzminskas moved back to Šiauliai, but after a couple of seasons, left Lithuania again for the neighboring states. He dominated in the

Polish Basketball League Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English language, English: Polish Basketball League) is a professional men's club basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Poland. It constitutes the first and highest-tier level of the Polish basketball leag ...

with

Trefl Sopot Trefl Sopot is a Polish professional basketball team, based in Sopot, Poland. The team plays in the Dominet Bank Ekstraliga, Polish Tauron Basket Liga. The club was founded as the replacement of Asseco Gdynia, Prokom Asseco Sopot that left the ci ...

during the 2009–10 season, averaging 13.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game. In 2011, he returned to Lithuania once more and signed with Rūdupis. Since then, Kuzminskas has competed in 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 ...

with Šiauliai in 2012–13, and , then with Ežerūnas-Karys in 2014–15.

NBA draft

Kuzminskas participated in the 2002 NBA draft, but went undrafted. His brother, Mindaugas, went undrafted as well in 2011, but later played for 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuzminskas, Saulius 1982 births Living people ABA League players BC Rytas players BCM Gravelines players California Golden Bears men's basketball players Centers (basketball) EWE Baskets Oldenburg players KK Olimpija players Lithuanian men's basketball players Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in the United States Basketball players from Vilnius Vanoli Cremona players