Linas Kleiza (; born January 3, 1985) 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 ...

executive and former player. Standing at , he played at the

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronge ...

and power forward positions. In

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, he was the

Alphonso Ford EuroLeague Top Scorer Trophy The Alphonso Ford EuroLeague Top Scorer Trophy, also known as the EuroLeague Best Scorer, is an annual basketball award of Europe's premier level league, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. It is given to the Top Scorer throughout the EuroLeague sea ...

winner and a member of the All-EuroLeague First Team. Kleiza represented the senior Lithuanian national basketball team in international competitions. He led them to a bronze medal in the

2010 FIBA World Championship The 2010 FIBA World Championship was the 16th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship contested by the men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 September 2010. It was co-organised by the Inte ...

, and was chosen to the All-Tournament Team. He also won a silver medal in the

EuroBasket 2013 EuroBasket 2013 was the 38th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It took place from 4 September until 22 September 2013 in Slovenia. The number of participating teams was 24. France defeated Lithuania in th ...

, earning an All-EuroBasket Team selection, and a bronze medal in the

EuroBasket 2007 The 2007 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2007, was the 35th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2008 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to th ...

Early years

Kleiza was born in Kaunas, Lithuania. At 16 years old he moved to the United States where he attended Montrose Christian School and graduated in 2003. He played on the Lithuanian Junior National Team that won the silver medal at the

2003 FIBA Under-19 World Cup The 2003 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (Greek: 2003 Παγκόσμιο Πρωτάθλημα FIBA Under-19) was the 7th edition of the FIBA U19 World Championship. The men's U19 youth international basketball championship organized by FIBA. I ...

. He led the tournament in scoring, averaging 29.1 points per game on 58 percent shooting. As a senior, he was named a third-team ''Parade'' All-American.

College career

Kleiza played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

. He was named Honorable Mention All-Big 12 by the league coaches as a sophomore. He also earned All-Tournament honors at the 2005 Big 12 tournament after averaging 29.5 points and 9 rebounds per game.

Professional career

Denver Nuggets

Kleiza was selected by the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

with the 27th pick of the 2005 NBA draft. The Trail Blazers then dealt his draft rights, along with Ricky Sanchez to the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

in exchange for

Jarrett Jack Jarrett Matthew Jack (born October 28, 1983) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He attended four high schools in ...

. Kleiza was seldom used in his rookie season. He averaged 3.5 points and 8.5 minutes per game. He improved on his three-point shooting in his sophomore year, making 83–221, after only making two three-pointers in his rookie year. He also saw some more time on the court and averaged 7.6 points on 42 percent shooting in 18.8 minutes per game. After the season, Denver picked up their team option on his contract for another season. Kleiza became a big part of Denver's rotation in the 2007–08 season, mostly backing up Denver's starting

Carmelo Anthony. However, he was involved in a lot of trade talks, most notably a trade involving Ron Artest of the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

. On January 17, 2008, Kleiza scored a career high 41 points against the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

. His scoring average was up to 11.1 points per game and his shooting percentage was up to 47 percent. Many expected Kleiza to make a similar leap in production in his fourth year in the league. However, most of his season averages were slightly off from the 2007–08 season. He averaged 9.9 points on 45 percent shooting. His minutes dwindled down in the playoffs. The Nuggets' head coach George Karl, said Kleiza played fewer minutes because he is not a playmaker.

Olympiacos

On August 10, 2009, Kleiza agreed to a two-year, $12.2 million (

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

8.6 million euros) gross income contract with the Greek League team

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a numbe ...

. He averaged 17.2 points per game and grabbed 6.4 rebounds per game in the EuroLeague, reaching the EuroLeague Finals with the Reds. Kleiza led the league in scoring, thus winning the

, becoming the first Lithuanian to do so.

Toronto Raptors

On July 7, 2010, Kleiza terminated his contract with Olympiacos. He was signed by the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

to a four-year, $20 million gross income offer sheet. In January 2011, he suffered a serious meniscal tear in his right knee and was out for the remainder of the 2010–11 season. On February 1, 2011, Kleiza underwent

arthroscopic Arthroscopy (also called arthroscopic or keyhole surgery) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure on a joint in which an examination and sometimes treatment of damage is performed using an arthroscope, an endoscope that is inserted into the j ...

surgery. He returned to court on January 11, 2012 in a game against the

. In 14 minutes of game action, he scored 10 points, grabbed 3 rebounds and dished out an assist. On July 16, 2013, the Raptors used the amnesty clause to waive Kleiza.

Fenerbahçe Ülker

On July 26, 2013, Kleiza signed a two-year contract with Fenerbahçe. On July 1, 2014, he officially parted ways with Fenerbahçe.

Olimpia Milano

On July 21, 2014, Kleiza signed a one-year deal with the Italian team Olimpia Milano. After the season he withdrew from professionally playing basketball for unlimited period of time due to knee problems, but did not announce his retirement from the sport.

National team career

Kleiza has also played with the senior men's Lithuanian national basketball team. He played at the

2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised by ...

and he won the bronze medal at the

and the silver medal at the

. He also played with Lithuania at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

. After a poor performance in EuroBasket 2009, Kleiza led his team to a bronze medal in the

, averaging 19.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game. He was chosen for the All-Tournament Team. Because of his knee injury, he was not able to help Lithuania at

EuroBasket 2011 EuroBasket 2011 was the 37th men's European Basketball Championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Lithuania. This was the second time EuroBasket had been held in Lithuania, the country having also hosted the 1939 ch ...

Executive career

On July 13, 2017, it was announced that Kleiza received part of the

BC Rytas Rytas Vilnius is a Lithuanian professional basketball club based in Vilnius, Lithuania. The club was founded in 1997 from another club, Statyba, and has become one of the most successful Lithuanian basketball clubs. Rytas have won two EuroCup t ...

shares from Antanas Guoga. He was also named vice president of the club and its sports director. On February 8, 2020, Kleiza announced his decision to leave BC Rytas due to disagreements with other executives of the team. In May 2020, it was announced that Kleiza gave up his shares in the team to other shareholders.

Personal life

Kleiza and his wife, whom he married in June 2014, have one son.

Awards and accomplishments

* FIBA Under-19 World Championship silver medal:

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the ...

bronze medal:

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

* Greek Cup winner: 2010 *

* All-EuroLeague First Team: 2010 *

FIBA World Championship The FIBA Basketball World Cup, also known as the FIBA World Cup of Basketball or simply the FIBA World Cup, between 1950 and 2010 known as the FIBA World Championship, is an international basketball competition contested by the senior men's nat ...

bronze medal:

* FIBA World Championship All-Tournament Team: 2010 * EuroBasket silver medal:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

EuroBasket All-Tournament Team The FIBA EuroBasket All-Tournament Team is the FIBA Europe award that is bestowed upon the five best players of each FIBA EuroBasket tournament. Pau Gasol holds the record for most selections in the All-EuroBasket Team, with seven. FIBA Euro ...

: 2013

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 61 , , 2 , , 8.5 , , .445 , , .154 , , .704 , , 1.9 , , .2 , , .2 , , .2 , , 3.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 79 , , 14 , , 18.8 , , .422 , , .376 , , .852 , , 3.4 , , .6 , , .4 , , .2 , , 7.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 79 , , 13 , , 23.9 , , .472 , , .339 , , .770 , , 4.2 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , .2 , , 11.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 7 , , 22.2 , , .447 , , .326 , , .725 , , 4.0 , , .8 , , .4 , , .2 , , 9.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, 39 , , 23 , , 26.5 , , .438 , , .298 , , .631 , , 4.5 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .2 , , 11.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 49 , , 3 , , 21.6 , , .402 , , .346 , , .810 , , 4.1 , , .9 , , .5 , , .1 , , 9.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 20 , , 3 , , 18.8 , , .333 , , .303 , , .842 , , 2.6 , , .8 , , .2 , , .1 , , 7.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 409 , , 65 , , 20.0 , , .435 , , .335 , , .763 , , 3.6 , , .8 , , .4 , , .2 , , 8.7

Playoffs

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2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 3 , , 0 , , 4.7 , , .375 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.3 , , .7 , , .0 , , .0 , , 2.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 0 , , 13.2 , , .231 , , .167 , , .500 , , 1.6 , , .4 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 4 , , 3 , , 30.5 , , .537 , , .214 , , .692 , , 6.5 , , .8 , , .3 , , .0 , , 14.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 14 , , 0 , , 15.0 , , .470 , , .425 , , .750 , , 3.2 , , .5 , , .4 , , .1 , , 6.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 26 , , 3 , , 15.8 , , .461 , , .344 , , .718 , , 3.2 , , .5 , , .2 , , .0 , , 6.4

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;",

, 22 , , 21 , , 30.4 , , .480 , , .349 , , .798 , , 6.5 , , 1.3 , , .7 , , .2 , , style="background:#cfecec;", 17.1 , , 17.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;", Fenerbahçe , 24 , , 7 , , 21.3 , , .454 , , .305 , , .918 , , 3.5 , , .8 , , .4 , , .1 , , 10.1 , , 9.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

Milano Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ha ...

, 24 , , 7 , , 19.5 , , .424 , , .352 , , .788 , , 3.1 , , .3 , , .2 , , .1 , , 7.3 , , 5.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 70 , , 35 , , 23.5 , , .459 , , .339 , , .838 , , 4.3 , , .8 , , .4 , , .1 , , 11.4 , , 10.8

Early years

College career

Professional career

Denver Nuggets

Olympiacos

Toronto Raptors

Fenerbahçe Ülker

Olimpia Milano

National team career

Executive career

Personal life

Awards and accomplishments

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

Playoffs

EuroLeague

See also

References

External links