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The Lithuanian national team has revealed its shortened 15-player roster for the July World Cup qualifying window, with three NBA players making the list. The squad includes Matas Buzelis, Jonas Valanciunas, and Kasparas Jakucionis, giving Lithuania a strong NBA presence heading into the summer window. However, one major name is missing from the candidate list. Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis was not included in the 30-man roster.
Vladas Garastas, one of the most important figures in Lithuanian basketball history, has died at the age of 94. The Lithuanian Basketball Federation announced his passing on Wednesday, June 10. Garastas was born in 1932 in Linkuva and spent most of his childhood and youth in Birzai, where his sporting path began long before his coaching career took off. He finished Birzai Gymnasium in 1952 and later enrolled at the Lithuanian Institute of Physical Education.
Matas Buzelis, a member of the Chicago Bulls, will play for the Lithuanian national team this summer in the World Cup qualifying games. Buzelis revealed this news himself during an interview in Vilnius. “We had a good conversation. I will play for the national team this summer. It will be a lot of fun,” he said during an interview at the Buzelis Cup in Vilnius.
The Lithuanian is also hoping for that outcome, although he will not force an exit at any cost, but clearly hopes his contract will not be extended. He has already been in talks with European clubs, and may even return to his home country. “Many have paid attention to me, they have contacted me. There were talks with two teams and one Lithuanian club. The conversations are ongoing, and we will make a decision when the time comes because Denver has the final say on my contract. First of all, everything depends on whether they trade me, keep me, or not. That is their decision. Right now I think their bigger question is what they will do with the roster in general, who stays and who leaves. As far as I understand, only Nikola Jokic is untouchable, while everyone else can be traded.” he said on the show “PIKENROLAS”. “I think everything will be clear in the first week of July, maybe even earlier. I want to play, I want to enjoy basketball, and I want to win. I can do everything.
Former NBA player and current BC Siauliai head coach Darius Songaila was involved in a violent incident in Lithuania on Tuesday According to LRT, the 48-year-old was walking his family's small dog when a large and aggressive dog suddenly approached. Songaila picked up his pet to protect it, but the unleashed dog continued to attack.
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The former basketball player then pushed the aggressive dog away with his foot. Shortly after, the dog's owner allegedly appeared and struck Songaila with a heavy dog leash chain. The chain hit Songaila in the face, cutting his nose and head and chipping one of his teeth. The attacker fled the scene, while Songaila contacted the police. LRT reports that Šiauliai police have launched a pre-trial investigation into the incident. The suspect has not yet been detained and is currently being searched for by police.
The Lithuanian national team has revealed its preliminary 30-player roster for the July World Cup qualifying window, with three NBA players making the list. The squad includes Matas Buzelis, Jonas Valanciunas, and Kasparas Jakucionis, giving the team strong NBA presence heading into the summer window.
Kasparas Jakucionis will be representing Lithuania during the upcoming summer window of the FIBA World Cup European Qualifiers, the Lithuanian Basketball Association announced. The young Miami Heat guard is set to join the national team for two important Group D games in July. Lithuania will face Great Britain on July 2 before taking on Italy on July 5.
14-year NBA veteran center Jonas Valanciunas may return to Europe next season, with his home country team Zalgiris Kaunas among the EuroLeague teams interested in signing him, according to BasketNews sources. Valanciunas, who turns 34 on May 6, still has one year left on his Denver Nuggets contract. However, the franchise holds an option to terminate it in the summer. This could happen either by the Nuggets themselves or if Valanciunas is traded to another NBA team. The Lithuanian center will remain under an NBA contract until July 8, 2026. This date was extended from June 30 ahead of last season, giving Denver the opportunity to trade his contract after the free agency period begins on July 1.
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The Lithuanian center will remain under an NBA contract until July 8, 2026. This date was extended from June 30 ahead of last season, giving Denver the opportunity to trade his contract after the free agency period begins on July 1. In exchange for the timing change, a $2 million compensation clause was added. This means Valanciunas would receive this amount if his contract is terminated by July 8. According to BasketNews, several EuroLeague clubs are monitoring the situation, including Zalgiris Kaunas.
Marc Stein: Also: Former lottery pick Cam Reddish, who began this season playing in Lithuania after spending the previous two seasons with the Lakers, has entered the @nbagleague player pool, league sources say. Reddish left his previous club Šiauliai in December.
While the Lithuanians had hoop skills, they didn’t have enough money to compete as an independent nation four years later in Barcelona. To get his team into the Games, Sarunas Marčiulionis, who signed with the Golden State Warriors in 1989, began fundraising in the Bay Area with then-Warriors assistant Donnie Nelson (son of legendary head coach Don Nelson). The Grateful Dead — formed in Palo Alto, Calif., in 1965 by Weir, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Ron McKernan and Bill Kreutzmann — saw an article about the fundraising efforts in the San Francisco Chronicle and decided to help. Through the band’s nonprofit, the Rex Foundation, they gave the Lithuanians $5,000 and a box of tie-dye T-shirts.
Artūras Karnišovas, a forward who averaged 11.2 points per game during Lithuania’s bronze-medal run, called the 1992 Games “a truly special time in my life.” Karnišovas is now executive vice president of basketball operations for the Chicago Bulls. “The chance to represent Lithuania as an independent country after so many years made it even more meaningful,” Karnišovas told The Athletic. “What Bob Weir and the Grateful Dead did for us is something I will never forget, and we, both as a team and as a country, are incredibly grateful for their support. Without it, we probably wouldn’t have had the means to train, travel, or even qualify for the 1992 Olympics. At the time, I was just a college sophomore. Little did we know that this tie-dyed story and experience would grow into something so powerful and lasting for so many years.”