Paulius Jankūnas (born 29 April 1984) 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 (appro ...

player who mainly played for Žalgiris Kaunas of the

Lithuanian Basketball League Lithuanian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Lithuania, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe ** Lithuanian language ** Lithuanians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to Lithuania and the immediate geographical region ** L ...

(LKL) and the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

. 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 Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

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

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

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 ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

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

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 Theater 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 fro ...

before withdrawing his name from consideration. Jankūnas averaged 13.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in the

2008–09 EuroLeague The 2008–09 Euroleague was the 9th season of the professional basketball competition for elite clubs throughout Europe, organised by Euroleague Basketball Company, and it was the 52nd season of the premier competition for European men's clubs ...

season and scored a season-high 23 points in a win against the Polish League club

Asseco Prokom Sopot Arka Gdynia, also known as AMW Arka Gdynia for sponsorship reasons, is a Polish professional basketball team, based in Gdynia. The team plays in the Polish Polish Basketball League, PLK. The club's sponsorship name comes from Akademią Marynarki ...

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

club Khimki Moscow Region. He only played one season with Khimki Moscow Region (2009–10) and competed with them in three leagues that season (

2009–10 EuroLeague The 2009–10 Euroleague was the 10th season of the professional basketball competition for elite clubs throughout Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is borde ...

2009–10 VTB United League The VTB United League 2009–10 was the first complete season of the VTB United League, which is Eastern Europe's (and the Baltic region's) top-tier level competition for men's professional basketball clubs. Teams of the 2009–10 season Group ...

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 referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

. 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 in 2002. Final ranking 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Awards External linksFIBA Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:F ...

and at the 2003 FIBA Under-19 World Cup, 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 national basketball team, Slovenia won their second title. Teams ...

, 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 language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

tournament, at the 2005 EuroBasket, 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 and another

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

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 List of men's national basketball teams, men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 Septem ...

. He won a silver medal with Lithuania at the

2015 EuroBasket 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 ...

. 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 b ...

, the 2011 EuroBasket, the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, 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. The tournament was held from 30 August to 14 September 2014. Hosted by Spain, it was the la ...

, the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

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, held from 31 August to 15 September 2019. The tournament was hosted in China and was rescheduled from 2018 to 2019, b ...

Player profile

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

, Jankūnas was a very good rebounder and scorer. He preferred to score on the inside and often drew fouls from opposing players. He could also play as a stretch four 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, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 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, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 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 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, 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.