As mentioned in my Lithuanian NBA players post, there currently are three Lithuanians in the NBA: Kleiza, Ilgauskas, and Songaila. Here are some Lithuanian players who were recently with the NBA:
-Martynas Andriuškevičius suffered a severe head injury after being attacked by a Dakota Wizards (NBA D-League) teammate in December 2006. He was with the Bulls until sometime in 2007, and now plays for Alicante Costa Blanca in Spain.
Here’s the Chicago Sun Times story about the attack (reproduced here because the original is not available from the Sun Times‘ website):
Storey punch leads to serious injury
By Roman Modrwoski
For Chicago Sun Times
Martynas Andriuskevicius, whom the Bulls recently assigned to the National Basketball Development League’s Dakota Wizards, is lucky to be alive today after being punched by Awvee Storey, a Proviso West product and Wizards teammate.
The altercation took place during practice Thursday. The 7-2, 240-pound Andriuskevicius, 20, spent Thursday night in intensive care in Bismarck, N.D.”He has a skull fracture, severe concussion and a two-centimeter hematoma on the left side of his brain,” Andriuskevicius’ agent Herb Rudoy said. ”They’ve been monitoring him because they’re concerned about seizures.
”From what I’m told, when he got hit unexpectedly, he went out cold instantly and fell right back on his head.”
The 6-6, 225-pound Storey has been suspended indefinitely while the NBA and NBDL investigate.
There’s also been a police report written, according to Det. Dean Clarkson. But Clarkson said Andriuskevicius does not want to press charges, making an arrest unlikely. Clarkson said the investigation is pending.
”Awvee’s a terrific kid,” said his Chicago-based agent Mark Bartelstein. ”They had an altercation in practice, and it’s really unfortunate.
”I know Awvee feels terrible about it. It wasn’t a situation where he just attacked the kid.”
One source said Storey said something to Andriuskevicius, who went over to Storey and got punched.
”He’s lucky he’s not dead,” Rudoy said. ”But I think he’ll be fine.
”He won’t be playing basketball for a long time. They have to be very concerned about his skull fracture healing.”
Rudoy expects Andriuskevicius to be released from the hospital in the next few days and return to Chicago for further examination.
Bulls general manager John Paxson called Andriuskevicius on Friday morning, and Bulls doctors are monitoring the situation.
Storey and Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas were arrested over Memorial Day weekend in Miami Beach for refusing to obey police. The charges later were dropped.-Sarunas Jasikevicius was waived by the Golden State Warriors in September 2007 and is now with the Panathinaikos Basketball Club in Athens, Greece.
-Šarūnas Jasikevičius was signed by the Indiana Pacers in July 2005. He was traded to the Golden State Warriors on January 17, 2007 and was was waived by the team on September 20, 2007. He currently plays for Panathinaikos BC in Greece.
-Robertas Javtokas was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs in 2001. He was in a serious motorcycle accident in May 2002, but returned to basketball in 2003. He currently plays for MBC Dynamo Moscow.
-Arvydas Macijauskas played in 19 games for the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets in 2005-06. He’s currently with Olympiacos BC of Greece, a team commonly referred to as the “Chicago Bulls of Europe.”
-Arvydas Sabonis left the NBA in 2003 and was with Basketball Club Žalgiris in Kaunas until he retired in 2005. He currently is president/principal owner of the team.
-Renaldas Seibutis was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in 2007. He signed a three-year contract with Olympiacos BC on July 5, 2007.
-Eurelijus Žukauskas was drafted by Seattle in 1995 and immediately traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. After being injured in October 2005, he was released in January 2006. He currently plays for Sabonis’s Basketball Club Žalgiris in Kaunas, where he’s the team captain.
