Mantas Kalnietis

Mantas Kalnietis
No. 9 – EA7 Emporio Armani Milano
Position Point guard / Shooting guard
League LBA
EuroLeague
Personal information
Born (1986-09-06) 6 September 1986
Kaunas, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union
Nationality Lithuanian
Listed height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight 205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
NBA draft 2008 / Undrafted
Playing career 2003–present
Career history
2003–2006 Žalgiris-Arvydas Sabonis school Kaunas
2006–2012 Žalgiris Kaunas
2012–2015 Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
2015–2016 Žalgiris Kaunas
2016–present EA7 Emporio Armani Milano
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Lithuania
FIBA World Cup
2010 Turkey
EuroBasket
2013 Slovenia
2015 France
FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship
2005 Russia Team

Mantas Kalnietis (born 6 September 1986) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player who plays for EA7 Emporio Armani Milano of the Italian LBA. He is also a member of the Lithuanian national basketball team. He prefers the point guard position, but can play shooting guard as well.

Early years

Kalnietis spent two and a half seasons with the LKKA-Žalgiris. He averaged 17.7 points and 4.3 assists in his second season.[1]

Professional career

Kalnietis made his pro debut in February 2006 with the Žalgiris of Kaunas. He averaged 6.8 points on 65 percent shooting in the EuroLeague.

Kalnietis helped Žalgiris 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.[2]

He competed at the Reebok Eurocamp in Treviso in 2006 and 2008.[3][4]

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.[5]

Kalnietis signed a three-year contract with the Benetton Treviso in June 2009.[6][7] However, because he had another one-year contract with Žalgiris Kaunas, FIBA arbiter's decided that he belonged to Žalgiris.[8] On 27 December 2010, he signed a three-year extension with his hometown club Žalgiris Kaunas.[9] In October 2012, however, he announced that he's interested in playing abroad for the first time in Russia's Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar. On 5 October, he signed a three-year contract with the team.[10] On 18 December 2013, Kalnietis was named Lithuania Basketball Player Of The Year.[11] On 27 April 2015, he parted ways with Lokomotiv.[12]

In July 2015, he joined the Indiana Pacers for the 2015 NBA Summer League.[13] On 17 July 2015, he returned to Žalgiris Kaunas, signing a one-year contract.[14] On 23 January 2016, he left Žalgiris and signed a 1.5 year contract with EA7 Emporio Armani Milano.[15]

Lithuanian national team

Kalnietis started at point guard for the Lithuanian national basketball team that finished seventh in the 2006 FIBA 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 played in seven games for Lithuania at the 2012 Summer Olympics, averaging 5.5 points.[16] He led the Lithuanian national team during EuroBasket 2013 to silver medals, averaging 12.1 points and 5 assists per game (the tournament's assist leader[17]). He missed the 2014 FIBA World Cup, due to a clavicular dislocation, but returned to the national team at EuroBasket 2015.[18] During the same championship, on 7 September, versus the Belgian national team, he achieved the EuroBasket's all-time single-game record of 13 assists, only to be tied days later for the same record by Miloš Teodosić.[19] The Lithuanian national team won their second straight silver medal in 2015, and Kalnietis was once again the tournament's assists leader, with an average of 7.8 assists per game. Furthermore, he dished out 70 assists in total, which is the all-time record of assists for a single EuroBasket.[20]

Career statistics

EuroLeague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2005–06 Žalgiris 4 1 16.2 .647 .333 .333 1.8 2.0 1.3 .5 6.8 8.5
2006–07 13 1 12.5 .655 .333 .500 1.2 1.3 .8 .1 4.0 4.2
2007–08 16 0 7.2 .500 .167 .444 .7 .8 .1 .0 1.6 1.1
2008–09 10 6 24.4 .481 .310 .727 2.3 3.0 1.3 .2 8.5 7.3
2009–10 16 16 30.1 .264 .275 .800 2.8 3.6 1.0 .2 9.0 10.2
2010–11 15 7 22.1 .588 .371 .750 2.3 1.9 .2 .1 9.1 8.7
2011–12 16 12 22.1 .520 .222 .636 2.5 3.7 .6 .1 7.6 7.6
2013–14 Lokomotiv 24 19 28.1 .575 .250 .658 3.0 4.8 1.0 .1 9.4 11.8
Career 90 62 20.3 .571 .283 .667 2.1 2.4 .6 .1 6.6 8.1

References

  1. ↑ "Mantas Kalnietis". BasketNews.lt.
  2. ↑ "Mantas Kalnietis: Miscellaneous". Euroleague.net. 6 September 1986.
  3. ↑ Mantas Kalnietis: Notes
  4. ↑ "2008 Reebok Eurocamp in Treviso, Day Two". Draftexpress.com.
  5. ↑ "Mantas Kalnietis: Sezono lygos statistika". Basketnews.lt. 6 September 1986.
  6. ↑ Mantas Kalnietis to Benetton Treviso for 3 years
  7. ↑ "Mantas Kalnietis signs with Benetton Treviso". Sportando.net.
  8. ↑ FIBA arbiter's decision: Mantas Kalnietis – Zalgiris Kaunas player. Archived 31 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ "Zalgiris, Kalnietis agree for 3 more years". Euroleague.net. 27 December 2010.
  10. ↑ Lokomotiv Kuban signs Mantas Kalnietis to a three-year deal
  11. ↑ Geriausi 2013 metų Lietuvos krepšininkai – M. Kalnietis ir L. Pikčiutė! (Lithuanian)
  12. ↑ Mantas Kalnietis and Lokomotiv Kuban part ways
  13. ↑ 2015 Indiana Pacers Orlando Pro Summer League Roster
  14. ↑ Zalgiris brings back Kalnietis
  15. ↑ EA7 bolsters backcourt with former champ Kalnietis
  16. ↑ "Mantas Kalnietis Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
  17. ↑ Players - Statistical Leaders (assists), EuroBasket2013.com (English)
  18. ↑ "Dvejonės baigėsi – Jonas Kazlauskas paskelbė galutinį rinktinės dvyliktuką". 24sek.lt. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  19. ↑ "Kalnietis – Europos čempionatų rekordininkas". BasketNews.lt. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  20. ↑ "Į Lietuvą Mantas Kalnietis grįžta su Europos čempionatų rekordu". 24sek.lt. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
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