Šarūnas Marčiulionis

"Marčiulionis" redirects here. For the basketball player born in 1977, see Kęstutis Marčiulionis.
Šarūnas Marčiulionis

Marčiulionis during his masterclass visit in Armenia (June 2014)
Personal information
Born (1964-06-13) June 13, 1964
Kaunas, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union
Nationality Lithuanian
Listed height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight 200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
NBA draft 1987 / Round: 6 / Pick: 127th overall
Selected by the Golden State Warriors
Playing career 1981–1997
Position Shooting guard
Number 13, 30, 8
Career history
1981–1989 Statyba (Soviet Union)
1989–1994 Golden State Warriors
1994–1995 Seattle SuperSonics
1995–1996 Sacramento Kings
1996–1997 Denver Nuggets
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points 4,631 (12.8 ppg)
Rebounds 819 (2.3 rpg)
Assists 807 (2.2 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Basketball Hall of Fame as player
FIBA Hall of Fame as player
Medals
Men's Basketball
Representing  Soviet Union
Summer Olympic Games
1988 Seoul National Team
FIBA EuroBasket
1987 Greece National Team
1989 Yugoslavia National Team
Representing  Lithuania
Summer Olympic Games
1992 Barcelona National Team
1996 Atlanta National Team
FIBA EuroBasket
1995 Greece National Team

Raimondas Šarūnas Marčiulionis ([ˈrɐ̂ˑɪ̯mɔndɐs ʂɐˈrûːnɐs mɐrʲt͡ʃʊˈlʲôːnʲɪs]) (born June 13, 1964) is a Lithuanian retired professional basketball player. Born in Kaunas, he was one of the first Europeans to become a regular in the North American National Basketball Association (NBA). In the 1988 Seoul Olympics Basketball Tournament, together with teammate Arvydas Sabonis, he led the USSR national team to a gold medal in basketball. On August 8, 2014, Marčiulionis was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Marčiulionis started his pro basketball career with Statyba in the USSR League, the forerunner of the VTB United League in 1981.

Marčiulionis was drafted by the Golden State Warriors in the 6th round of the 1987 NBA draft. He moved to the NBA in 1989 and he played four years with the Warriors, finishing as the runner-up for the Sixth Man of the Year Award in both 1992 and 1993. Marčiulionis became one of the first Europeans to get significant playing time in the NBA, helping to lead the way for the internationalization of the league in the late 1990s. After missing a year and a half with a leg injury, he was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics in 1994, then traded to the Sacramento Kings in 1995, and he finished his NBA career with the Denver Nuggets in the 1996–97 season.

Lithuanian national basketball team

Following the restoration of Lithuanian independence in 1990, Marčiulionis almost single-handedly resurrected the Lithuanian national team. He contacted prospective players, encouraged several to join, selected the uniforms, negotiated a shoe deal, and arranged for sponsorships.[1][1] The trademarked 'Slam Dunking Skeleton, Skullman' T-shirt design was created by and is owned by N.Y. sports artist Greg Speirs[2][3] of skullman.com. Speirs became the major sponsor when he donated 100% of his profits from his design to fund the team and to Lithuanian children's charities amounting to at least $450,000.[4][5][6] The team went on to win a bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Marčiulionis was again a bronze medalist with Lithuania at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Basketball Tournament. In 1995, he was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1995 FIBA EuroBasket, after leading Lithuania to a silver medal in the tournament. In 1987, 1989, 1990, and 1991, he was voted as the best sportsman in Lithuania.

Personal

Despite a language barrier during his NBA career (Warriors coach Don Nelson hired his son Donnie as an assistant chiefly to serve as an interpreter for Marčiulionis), Marčiulionis was a devoted teammate and active in the communities he played in. In the aftermath of the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, Marčiulionis appeared at the site of a commuter train accident wearing his Warriors warm up outfit and helped by pulling out trapped passengers and administering first aid.

In addition, his wife Inga enrolled at Merritt College, a junior college in the Oakland hills, and she walked on to their women's basketball team and was a star player there for two seasons.[7] Inga became one of 147 women in women's college basketball history to score 50 or more points in a college game while at Merritt, and today is the head coach of Merritt's women's team.[8]

Marciulionis and Inga are divorced; Inga continues to live in the United States and continues her work at Merritt College.[9]

Šarūnas Marčiulionis training kids

Post playing career

In 1992, Marčiulionis opened the Šarūnas Hotel in Vilnius. In 1993, he founded the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and also became its president. In 1999, Marčiulionis founded the North European Basketball League (NEBL) and also became its commissioner. The NEBL would later be absorbed into today's Baltic Basketball League. Today, he is one of the most successful businessmen in Lithuania.[10] He is also currently the president of the Šarūnas Marčiulionis Basketball Academy.

On February 14, 2014, Marčiulionis was announced as a 2014 player inductee by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame; he formally entered the Hall on August 8.[11][12] On September 19, 2015, Marčiulionis was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame.[13]

NBA 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  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1989–90 Golden State 75 3 22.6 .519 .256 .787 2.9 1.6 1.3 .1 12.1
1990–91 Golden State 50 10 19.7 .501 .167 .724 2.4 1.7 1.2 .1 10.9
1991–92 Golden State 72 5 29.4 .538 .300 .788 2.9 3.4 1.6 .1 18.9
1992–93 Golden State 30 8 27.9 .543 .200 .761 3.2 3.5 .8 .1 17.4
1994–95 Seattle 66 4 18.1 .473 .402 .732 1.0 1.7 1.0 .0 9.3
1995–96 Sacramento 53 0 19.6 .452 .408 .775 1.5 1.0 1.3 .1 10.8
1996–97 Denver 17 0 15.0 .376 .367 .806 1.8 1.5 .7 .1 6.8
Career 363 30 22.4 .505 .369 .768 2.3 2.2 1.3 .1 12.8

NBA Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1990–91 Golden State 9 0 22.9 .500 .000 .897 2.6 3.0 1.2 .1 13.2
1991–92 Golden State 4 0 33.3 .532 .500 .829 2.3 5.0 .8 .3 21.3
1995–96 Sacramento 4 0 25.3 .276 .222 .600 1.8 3.5 2.5 .0 7.3
Career 17 0 25.9 .469 .238 .821 2.3 3.6 1.4 .1 13.7

References

  1. 1 2 Woolf, Alexander (2002). Big Game, Small World: A Basketball Adventure. New York City: Warner Books. p. 20. ISBN 0-446-52601-0.
  2. ↑ Alan Siegel. "Remembering The Joyous, Tie-Dyed All-Stars Of The 1992 Lithuanian Basketball Team". Deadspin. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Dead head art scores". USA Today. June 23, 1993. 2C.
  4. ↑ John Clarke. "Doc Outs Olympic Dream Team". Forbes. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  5. ↑ Kelley: Playing for more than a prized gold medal
  6. ↑ "Tie-Dyed Lithuanian Slam-Dunking Skeleton® Back for “The Other Dream Team” Documentary". The Lithuania Tribune. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  7. ↑ Goldaper, Sam (December 4, 1990). "King Renegotiates His Own Contract". The New York Times. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
  8. ↑ http://www.merritt.edu/apps/comm.asp?$1=40486
  9. ↑ Smith, Michelle (December 27, 2001). "Cal's Volkova making progress". The San Francisco Chronicle.
  10. ↑ Woolf, Big Game, Small World, pp. 19–20.
  11. ↑ "Five Direct-Elect Members Announced for the Class of 2014 by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame" (Press release). Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. February 14, 2014. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
  12. ↑ "heinnews – Marčiulionis gives back in more ways than one". heinnews. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  13. ↑ "2015 Class of FIBA Hall of Fame inducted". FIBA.com. 19 September 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links

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