Virginijus Praškevičius (born 4 March 1974) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. At a height of 2.06 m (6'9") tall, he played at the power forward and center positions.

Professional career

Praškevičius started playing with Banga Kaunas and in 1993–94 was bought by Lavera Kaunas. In 1995–96 decided to play for Atletas Kaunas together with Žydrūnas Ilgauskas. In January 1997 he passed to

LaCrosse Bobcats The La Crosse Bobcats were a Continental Basketball Association basketball team located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, from 1996 to the league's bankruptcy in February 2001. The Bobcats were the second CBA team located in La Crosse; previously, the L ...

in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

. On 18 September 1996, he signed with the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, 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 i ...

(NBA). However, Praškevičius did not play a single game for them and was loaned to the

of the

(CBA). On 19 February 1997, he was waived by the Timberwolves. In 1997–98 he came back to his home town

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 Tra ...

to play for Atletas and then for Žalgiris. With the best Lithuanian team he won a

Saporta Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA E ...

. Then he played two years for Beşiktaş Spor Kulubu in the

Turkish Basketball League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and ...

. In 2000 he passed to Basketball Club Oostende in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

, winning twice the Belgian National Championship and becoming once the MVP of the league. From 2002 until 2005 he played for Ülkerspor (but played for

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv ( he, הפועל תל אביב) is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, suc ...

for one season), and he won twice the Turkish National Cup. In 2005–06 he played for

Upea Capo d'Orlando Orlandina Basket, known as Infodrive Capo d'Orlando for sponsorship reasons, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Capo d'Orlando, Sicily. It plays in the second tier Serie A2 Basket. Founded in 1978, it was one of the youn ...

, in Italian Serie A1, in 2006–07 for Baloncesto Fuenlabrada in the Spanish ACB. His last professional team was Utena Juventus in Lithuania as he left professional sport on spring of 2010 at the age of 36.

National team career

Praškevičius played with the Lithuania Under-22 junior national team. With Lithuania's junior national team, he won the gold medal at the 1996 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. He was also a member of the senior Lithuanian national team. He played at the

EuroBasket 1997 The 1997 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1997, was the 30th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1998 FIBA World Championship, giving a be ...

, the

1998 FIBA World Championship The 1998 FIBA World Championship was the 13th FIBA World Championship, an international basketball tournament held by the International Basketball Federation and hosted in Greece from 29 July to 9 August 1998. The tournament was contested by 16 n ...

, the

EuroBasket 1999 The 1999 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1999, was the 31st FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2000 Olympic Tournament, giving a berth ...

, and the

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

, where he won a gold medal.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2001–02 , style="text-align:left;", Telindus Ostende , 14 , , 14 , , 29.4 , , .456 , , .325 , , .721 , , 6.1 , , 1.1 , , .9 , , .5 , , 15.9 , , 13.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2002–03 , style="text-align:left;", Ülkerspor , 20 , , 19 , , 28.4 , , .473 , , .449 , , .625 , , 4.6 , , 1.6 , , .9 , , .2 , , 10.7 , , 10.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2004–05 , style="text-align:left;", Ülkerspor , 22 , , 5 , , 17.2 , , .428, , .403 , , .583 , , 3.1 , , .6 , , .6 , , .0 , , 5.4 , , 4.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 56 , , 38 , , 24.9 , , .457 , , .403 , , .676 , , 4.4 , , 1.1 , , .8 , , .2 , , 9.9 , , 8.9

References

External links

ACB.com - Player Profile

TBLStat.net - Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Praskevicius, Virginijus 1974 births Living people Basketball players from Kaunas Baloncesto Fuenlabrada players BC Oostende players BC Žalgiris players Beşiktaş men's basketball players FIBA EuroBasket-winning players Hapoel Tel Aviv B.C. players Israeli Basketball Premier League players Liga ACB players Lithuanian men's basketball players LSU-Atletas basketball players Power forwards (basketball) Ülker G.S.K. basketball players 1998 FIBA World Championship players