Žygimantas Janavičius (born February 20, 1989) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for Neptūnas Klaipėda 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 ...

. Standing at tall and weighing , he plays as a

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

Career

Janavičius made his pro debut with

BC Alytus BC Alytus ( lt, Krepšinio Klubas Alytus) is the historical basketball club of Alytus, Lithuania. It was founded in 2005, as a successor to BC Alita, and participated in the Lietuvos Krepšinio Lyga (Lithuanian Basketball League) and the Baltic ...

in 2005. He played two seasons with the club in the NKL. In 2007, Janavičius signed with Žalgiris of

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 Trakai ...

. He played one season for youth team, which were competing in NKL, and became the champion of the league. He played for BC Žalgiris in 2008–09, and half of the season in 2009–10, but because he was only given a small role on the team, he asked for to be loaned to Kauno Aisčiai, where he finished the season. In 2010–11, he played for

BC Šiauliai BC Šiauliai ( lt, Krepšinio klubas Šiauliai) is the professional basketball club of Šiauliai, Lithuania. The club competes in the Lithuanian Basketball League. It has won the 3rd place award (behind Lithuanian basketball giants Lietuvos Rytas ...

. He started the 2011–2012 season with Kauno Baltai, but at the end of the season, he joined BC Žalgiris. After winning the championship of the LKL, he became a free agent. In August 2012, he signed with Prienų Rūdupis.

National team career

Janavičius won two silver medals while representing the Lithuanian youth squad in the 2006 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship and the 2008 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. In 2014, coach

Jonas Kazlauskas Jonas Kazlauskas (born 21 November 1954) is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach and former player. He was most recently the head coach of the Guangdong Southern Tigers in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Playing career Kazlauskas ...

included Janavičius in the preliminary 24-player squad for the main

Lithuania national basketball team Lithuania national basketball team may refer to: * Lithuania men's national basketball team * Lithuania women's national basketball team * Lithuania men's national under-20 basketball team * Lithuania men's national under-18 and under-19 basketba ...

, though he failed to compete for the spot in the national team's roster due to a broken palm. Janavičius was included in the candidates list once again in 2015. He did not make the

EuroBasket 2015 EuroBasket 2015 was the 39th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It was co-hosted by Croatia, France, Germany, and Latvia, making it the first EuroBasket held in more than one country. It started on 5 Sept ...

roster either during his second try, when

Lukas Lekavičius Lukas Lekavičius (born March 30, 1994) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Žalgiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and the EuroLeague. Standing at , he plays the point guard position. He was named to the LKL ...

was taken instead of him less than a week before the championship began.

Statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Janavicius, Zygimantas 1989 births Living people Basketball Löwen Braunschweig players BC Lietkabelis players BC Neptūnas players BC Prienai players BC Rytas players BC Šiauliai players BC Žalgiris players BC Žalgiris-2 players Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Germany Lithuanian men's basketball players LSU-Atletas basketball players Point guards