Mindaugas Kuzminskas

Mindaugas Kuzminskas

Kuzminskas with Lithuanian national team
No. 91 New York Knicks
Position Small forward
League NBA
Personal information
Born (1989-10-19) 19 October 1989
Vilnius, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union
Nationality Lithuanian
Listed height 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight 215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
NBA draft 2011 / Undrafted
Playing career 2006–present
Career history
2006–2007 Sakalai Vilnius
2007–2008 Perlas Vilnius
2008–2010 BC Šiauliai
2010–2013 Žalgiris Kaunas
2013–2016 Unicaja Málaga
2016–present New York Knicks
Career highlights and awards

Mindaugas Kuzminskas (born 19 October 1989) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also represents the Lithuanian national team. Standing at 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in), he plays at the small forward position.

Professional career

Europe

Kuzminskas started his basketball career in 2006 with Sakalai where he played for one season. For the 2007–08 season, he moved to BC Perlas. In the summer of 2008, he signed with BC Šiauliai.

In September 2009, Kuzminskas signed with Žalgiris Kaunas, but he stayed one more season on loan with Šiauliai.[1] In 2010, he joined Žalgiris and stayed with the team for three seasons.

In June 2013, Kuzminskas signed a contract with the Spanish team Unicaja.[2] On 22 October 2015, Kuzminskas scored his Euroleague career-high 23 points and led his team to triumph versus the Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C 93–82 in Tel Aviv.[3] Then on 13 November, Kuzminskas played his most efficient Euroleague game of 30 PIR points (22 points (2FG: 6/7, 3FG: 3/5, FT: 1/1), 4 rebounds, 3 steals) and led Unicaja to another outstanding away-game victory, this time against CSKA Moscow, winning 86–78.[4][5][6] In 36 league games for Unicaja in 2015–16, he averaged 10.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.

NBA

On 9 July 2016, Kuzminskas signed with the New York Knicks.[7][8][9] On 25 October 2016, he made his debut for the Knicks in their season opener, scoring seven points in nine minutes off the bench in a 117–88 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.[10]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

Euroleague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2010–11 Žalgiris 8 1 6.8 .357 .167 .667 1.0 .1 .3 .0 1.6 1.3
2011–12 12 0 8.4 .555 .143 .706 1.3 .2 .2 .0 2.8 2.8
2012–13 23 5 14.1 .527 .324 .829 3.1 .3 .5 .2 7.1 7.7
2013–14 Unicaja 24 16 14.2 .472 .314 .633 2.3 .5 .5 .3 6.3 5.6
2014–15 24 20 21.8 .450 .275 .813 4.5 1.5 .9 .4 10.0 12.5
2015–16 23 20 21.3 .486 .377 .827 3.4 1.0 .6 .3 12.0 11.6
Career 114 62 16.1 .479 .316 .783 3.0 .7 .6 .2 7.7 8.1

Personal life

Kuzminskas has an older brother, Saulius, who was also a professional basketball player, but retired in 2015.[11]

References

  1. "Zalgiris inks Kuzminskas". Sportando.com. 11 September 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  2. "Unicaja announce Mindaugas Kuzminskas". Eurobasket.com. 28 June 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  3. "Rekordinio Mindaugo Kuzminsko vakaro atgarsiai: „Nesustabdomas. Užkariautojas. Žvaigždė"". 24sek.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  4. "CSKA Moscow vs. Unicaja Malaga - Game". Euroleague.net. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  5. "Mindaugas Kuzminskas sužaidė geriausias karjeros Eurolygoje rungtynes". BasketNews.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  6. "Ispanija ekstazėje – su Kuzminsku nors ir į pasaulio kraštą". 24sek.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  7. "Knicks Sign Mindaugas Kuzminskas". NBA. 9 July 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  8. "M. Kuzminskas – jau oficialiai NBA žaidėjas: tapau „Knicks" šeimos nariu!" (in Lithuanian). Delfi. 9 July 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  9. "Mindaugas Kuzminskas: apie atradimus Niujorke, Porzingio pagalbą ir muzikinius sugebėjimus". BasketNews.lt. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  10. "James has triple-double as Cavs rout Knicks 117-88 in opener". ESPN.com. 25 October 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  11. "S.Kuzminskas pranešė apie karjeros pabaigą" (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 6 May 2015.

External links

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