Nationality Lithuanian Name Mantas Kalnietis Siblings Julius Kalnietis NBA draft 2008 / Undrafted Weight 92 kg | Listed weight 205 lb (93 kg) Height 1.95 m Listed height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Role Basketball player | |
League Lithuanian LeagueEuroleague Spouse Mingaile Kalnietis (m. 2009) Current team PBC Lokomotiv-Kuban (#9 / Point guard) Children Tauras Kalnietis, Greta Kalnietis | ||
Focus on mantas kalnietis zalgiris kaunas
Mantas Kalnietis (born 6 September 1986) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player who plays for Zalgiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian Basketball League. He is also a member of the Lithuanian national basketball team. He prefers the point guard position, but can play shooting guard as well.
Contents
- Focus on mantas kalnietis zalgiris kaunas
- Mantas Kalnietis 8 points Highlights vs Le Mans
- Early years
- Professional career
- Lithuanian national team
- References
Mantas Kalnietis (8 points) Highlights vs. Le Mans
Early years
Kalnietis spent two and a half seasons with the LKKA-Zalgiris. He averaged 17.7 points and 4.3 assists in his second season.
Professional career
Kalnietis made his pro debut in February 2006 with the Zalgiris of Kaunas. He averaged 6.8 points on 65 percent shooting in the Euroleague.
Kalnietis helped Zalgiris win a Baltic League title in 2008, two Lithuanian League titles in 2007 and 2008 and two Lithuanian Cups in 2007 and 2008. He also led the team to a 2007 ULEB Summer League title, where he was named MVP.
He competed at the Reebok Eurocamp in Treviso in 2006 and 2008.
Kalnietis had a breakout season in 2008–09, when he averaged 11.3 points in the Lithuanian League and 8.5 points and 3.0 assists in the Euroleague. He scored a career-high 20 points in a loss against the Montepaschi Siena on 10 December 2008.
Kalnietis signed a three-year contract with the Benetton Treviso in June 2009. However, because he has another one-year contract with Zalgiris Kaunas, FIBA arbiter's decided that he belongs to Zalgiris. On 27 December 2010 he signed a three-year extension with his hometown club Zalgiris Kaunas. In October 2012, however, he announced that he's interested in playing abroad for the first time in Russia's Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar. On October 5, he signed a three-year contract with the team. On December 18, 2013, Kalnietis was named Lithuania Basketball Player Of The Year. On April 27, 2015, he parted ways with Lokomotiv.
In July 2015, he joined the Indiana Pacers for the 2015 NBA Summer League. On July 17, 2015, he returned to Zalgiris Kaunas, signing a one-year contract.
Lithuanian national team
Kalnietis started at point guard for the Lithuanian national basketball team that finished seventh in the 2006 World Championship. He averaged 6.0 points and 2.8 assists. He also played at the 2010 FIBA World Championship as a starter and won a bronze medal. He led Lithuania national team during EuroBasket 2013 to silver medals averaging 12.1 points and 5 assists per game (best result in championship). He missed the 2014 FIBA World Cup due to the clavicular dislocation, but returned to the national team at EuroBasket 2015. During the same championship, on September 7, versus the Belgian national team he achieved the EuroBasket all-time record of 13 assists, only to be tied days later by Milos Teodosic. The national team won their second straight Silver Medals in 2015 and Kalnietis was once again the tournament's finest play-maker with 7.8 assists per game. Furthermore, he totally dished out 70 assists which is the all-time record of assists per one European championship.