Paulius Jankūnas (born 29 April 1984) is a retired Lithuanian 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 who mainly played for Žalgiris Kaunas 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 ...

(LKL) and the EuroLeague. He was also a member of the senior Lithuanian national team. Jankūnas played at either

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

, with power forward being his main position. He earned an All-EuroLeague Second Team selection in

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Early years

Jankūnas played two seasons with the LKKA-Žalgiris, leading the team to a LKAL (Lithuanian League 2nd Division) title in 2003. He was named the Lithuanian 2nd Division MVP, after averaging 20.0 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game. He competed at the Reebok Eurocamp in

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and '' comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Ven ...

, in 2003.

Professional career

Žalgiris Kaunas

After playing in the Lithuanian 2nd Division with LKKA-Žalgiris, during the 2002–03 season, Jankūnas made his debut with the Lithuanian EuroLeague club Žalgiris Kaunas, in the 2003–04 season. He was originally an early entry candidate for the

2005 NBA draft The 2005 NBA draft took place on June 28, 2005, in the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, NBA teams took turns selecting amateur college basketball players and other first-time eligible players, such as players fr ...

, before withdrawing his name from consideration. Jankūnas averaged 13.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, in the 2008–09 EuroLeague season, and scored a season-high 23 points, in a win against the Polish League club Asseco Prokom Sopot, on 18 December 2008. However, Žalgiris Kaunas finished the season with a 2–8 record, and did not qualify to the competition's Top 16 stage. Jankūnas was named the 2008–09 season's Baltic League MVP, after averaging 15.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.

Khimki Moscow Region

On 14 August 2009, Jankūnas signed a two-year contract with the Russian EuroLeague club Khimki Moscow Region. Jankunas only played one season with Khimki Moscow Region (2009–10), and competed with them in three leagues that season ( 2009–10 EuroLeague, 2009–10 VTB United League, and 2009–10 Russian Super League A).

Return to Žalgiris Kaunas

On 24 July 2010, it was announced that Jankūnas was coming back to Žalgiris Kaunas. In May 2018, he was named to the All-EuroLeague Second Team, of the 2017–18 season. During his time with Žalgiris Kaunas, Jankūnas helped the club to win thirteen Lithuanian League championships (2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011–2019), and seven Lithuanian Cups, as he won five Lithuanian LKF Cups (2006, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2015), and two Lithuanian King Mindaugas Cups (2017, 2018). With Žalgiris Kaunas, he also won the Lithuanian Super Cup in 2012, and four

Baltic League The Baltic League (officially known as the Triobet Baltic League) was a Baltic men's football club tournament held four times between the top club sides from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Launched in 2007 inspired by the now defunct Scandinavi ...

championships (2005, 2008, 2011, 2012). On 12 August 2021, Jankūnas re-signed with the team. He played his last EuroLeague game on 3 April 2022, scoring 13 points in an overtime home victory over

Crvena Zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional Association football, foot ...

. On 3 June 2022, Jankūnas officially retired from professional basketball.

National team career

Lithuanian junior national team

Jankūnas was a member of the Lithuanian junior national teams. He played at the

2002 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship The 2002 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was an international basketball competition held in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in ...

, and 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 ...

, where the Lithuanians won silver medals. Jankūnas also won a bronze medal at the

2004 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 2004 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship was the seventh edition of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. The city of Brno, in the Czech Republic, hosted the tournament. Slovenia won their second title. Teams * * * * * * * * * * * * Squads ...

, which he led in rebounding (12.3 rebounds per game), in addition to posting 12.5 points per game. He also helped Lithuania win the gold medal at the

2005 FIBA Under-21 World Cup The 2005 FIBA Under-21 World Championship was an international basketball competition, held from 5 to 14 August 2005, in Córdoba and Mar de Plata, Argentina. It was the last edition of the FIBA Under-21 World Championship The FIBA Under-21 Wo ...

. He averaged 12.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game during the tournament.

Lithuanian senior national team

Jankūnas was a member of the senior Lithuanian national team, for the first time at a major

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...

tournament, at the

2005 EuroBasket The 2005 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2005, was the 34th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. It also served as Europe qualifier for the 2006 FIBA World Championship, giving a berth ...

, where Lithuania finished in fifth place. During that tournament, he averaged 8.2 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. He also helped the Lithuanians win a bronze medal at the

2007 EuroBasket 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 ...

, and another bronze medal, at 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 ...

. He won a silver medal with Lithuania at the 2015 EuroBasket. Jankūnas also competed with Lithuania at the following tournaments: 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 ...

, the

2011 EuroBasket 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 cha ...

, the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the 2012 Summer Olympics, the

2014 FIBA World Cup The 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the tournament previously known as the FIBA World Championship. Hosted by Spain, it was the last tournament to be held on the then-current four-year cycle ...

, the 2016 Summer Olympics, and the

2019 FIBA World Cup The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 18th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams. The tournament was hosted in China and was rescheduled from 2018 to 2019, becoming the first since 1967 FIBA World Ch ...

Player profile

A well built 2.05 m (6 ft. 8 in.) tall

, Jankūnas is a very good rebounder, and is also a good scorer. He prefers to score on the inside, and he often draws fouls from opposing team's players. He can also play as a

stretch four In basketball, a stretch four (sometimes called a stretch big) is a player at the power forward position that can shoot farther from the basket than a conventional power forward. "Stretch" describes the effect such a player has on the opposition ...

, due to his consistent mid-range and three point shot.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2003–04 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=6, Žalgiris Kaunas , 16 , , 5 , , 13.6 , , .526 , , .000 , , .636 , , 2.9 , , .6 , , .5 , , .3 , , 4.6 , , 5.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2004–05 , 20 , , 12 , , 18.8 , , .544 , , .143 , , .581 , , 4.2 , , .6 , , .7 , , .1 , , 6.2 , , 7.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2005–06 , 20 , , 10 , , 24.5 , , .468 , , .250 , , .714 , , 6.8 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , .3 , , 10.8 , , 12.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2006–07 , 13 , , 8 , , 27.0 , , .483 , , .208 , , .673 , , 4.2 , , 1.0 , , 1.3 , , .2 , , 9.5 , , 12.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , 20 , , 19 , , 21.6 , , .469 , , .324 , , .771 , , 4.8 , , .8 , , .9 , , .4 , , 8.6 , , 9.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , 9 , , 9 , , 31.1 , , .440 , , .296 , , .778 , , 8.0 , , 1.2 , , 1.0 , , .6 , , 13.8 , , 14.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;", Khimki Moscow , 16 , , 16 , , 25.0 , , .475 , , .377 , , .773 , , 4.9 , , .8 , , .8 , , .3 , , 8.2 , , 9.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, style="text-align:left;" rowspan=12, Žalgiris Kaunas , 16 , , 8 , , 26.3 , , .476 , , .152 , , .818 , , 6.9 , , .9 , , .6 , , .4 , , 9.4 , , 11.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , 16 , , 16 , , 23.4 , , .447 , , .333 , , .727 , , 5.6 , , .8 , , .8 , , .3 , , 7.8 , , 8.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 17 , , 16 , , 24.8 , , .465 , , .292 , , .844 , , 4.8 , , 1.2 , , .8 , , .2 , , 8.2 , , 9.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , 21 , , 21 , , 26.2 , , .465 , , .257 , , .771 , , 6.5 , , 1.9 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , 8.8 , , 12.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , 24 , , 23 , , 24.2 , , .480 , , .300 , , .800 , , 6.5 , , 1.1 , , .6 , , .5 , , 9.1 , , 12.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , 24 , , 23 , , 25.3 , , .540 , , .310 , , .838 , , 6.2 , , 1.5 , , .9 , , .2 , , 12.3 , , 15.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , 30 , , 30 , , 23.4 , , .548 , , .396 , , .868 , , 6.1 , , 1.5 , , .6 , , .4 , , 13.0 , , 16.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , 35 , , 34 , , 22.1 , , .576 , , .375 , , .833 , , 4.9 , , 1.4 , , .5 , , .3 , , 11.3 , , 13.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , 17 , , 9 , , 16.0 , , .500 , , .250 , , .892 , , 3.1 , , .9 , , .2 , , .2 , , 6.2 , , 7.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , 27 , , 12 , , 13.7 , , .384 , , .143 , , .759 , , 3.1 , , .8 , , .4 , , .1 , , 3.0 , , 4.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2020–21 , 34 , , 8 , , 15.9 , , .436 , , .276 , , .911 , , 4.4 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .1 , , 3.9 , , 7.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , 17 , , 4 , , 12.7 , , .423 , , .409 , , .909 , , 2.6 , , .6 , , .5 , , .2 , , 3.7 , , 4.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 392 , , 283 , , 21.4 , , .490 , , .297 , , .793 , , 5.1 , , 1.1 , , .6 , , .3 , , 8.3 , , 10.4

Personal life

Jankūnas married his wife, Ieva, in the summer of 2007.