Mindaugas Kuzminskas
|
Kuzminskas with Lithuanian national team | ||||||||||||||||
| No. 91 – New York Knicks | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Small forward | |||||||||||||||
| League | NBA | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
| Born |
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 | ||||||||||||||||
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Medals
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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
- ↑ "Zalgiris inks Kuzminskas". Sportando.com. 11 September 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
- ↑ "Unicaja announce Mindaugas Kuzminskas". Eurobasket.com. 28 June 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
- ↑ "Rekordinio Mindaugo Kuzminsko vakaro atgarsiai: „Nesustabdomas. Užkariautojas. Žvaigždė"". 24sek.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 23 October 2015.
- ↑ "CSKA Moscow vs. Unicaja Malaga - Game". Euroleague.net. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ↑ "Mindaugas Kuzminskas sužaidė geriausias karjeros Eurolygoje rungtynes". BasketNews.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ↑ "Ispanija ekstazėje – su Kuzminsku nors ir į pasaulio kraštą". 24sek.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ↑ "Knicks Sign Mindaugas Kuzminskas". NBA. 9 July 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
- ↑ "M. Kuzminskas – jau oficialiai NBA žaidėjas: tapau „Knicks" šeimos nariu!" (in Lithuanian). Delfi. 9 July 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
- ↑ "Mindaugas Kuzminskas: apie atradimus Niujorke, Porzingio pagalbą ir muzikinius sugebėjimus". BasketNews.lt. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
- ↑ "James has triple-double as Cavs rout Knicks 117-88 in opener". ESPN.com. 25 October 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
- ↑ "S.Kuzminskas pranešė apie karjeros pabaigą" (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 6 May 2015.
External links
- Mindaugas Kuzminskas at draftexpress.com
- Mindaugas Kuzminskas at euroleague.net
- Mindaugas Kuzminskas at fiba.com
- Mindaugas Kuzminskas on Twitter
