- Donatas Motiejūnas
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Donatas Motiejūnas 
Asseco Prokom Power Forward/Center Personal information Date of birth September 20, 1990 Place of birth Kaunas, Lithuania Nationality 
LithuanianListed height 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) Listed weight 224 lb (102 kg) Career information NBA Draft 2011 / Round: 1 / Pick: 20th overall Selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves Pro career 2007–present League PLK
Euroleague
VTB United LeagueCareer history 2007–2008 Kaunas Žalgiris 2008–2009 Kaunas Aisčiai 2009–2011 Treviso Benetton 2011–present Gdynia Asseco Prokom Career highlights and awards - Euroleague Youth Championship MVP (2007)
- FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship MVP (2008)
- LKL All-Star (2009)
- Eurocup Rising Star (2011)
Donatas Motiejūnas (born September 20, 1990) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player. He plays the power forward and center positions. He is nicknamed "D-Mo" by Houston Rockets fans. Motiejūnas was selected twentieth overall in the 2011 NBA Draft.[1]
Motiejūnas began his career playing with the youth team Arvydas Sabonis School of Kaunas.[2] He made his professional debut with the Žalgiris Kaunas in a Baltic League game against the ASK Riga. He scored 15 points in 22 minutes.[3]
Contents
Career in Europe
Motiejūnas began his career playing with the youth team Arvydas Sabonis School of Kaunas.[4] He made his professional debut with the Žalgiris Kaunas in a Baltic League game against the ASK Riga. He scored 15 points in 22 minutes.[5]
Motiejūnas helped Žalgiris Kaunas win a Baltic Championship, a Lithuanian Championship and a Lithuanian Cup. He averaged 5.6 points in 10.1 minutes per game in the Baltic League.[6]
He signed with the Aisčiai-Atletas in 2008. With Aisčiai-Atletas, he averaged 19.9 points and 7.0 rebounds in 29.3 minutes per game and he scored a season-high 29 points in a Lithuanian League game against Nevėžis on March 22, 2009.[7]
He moved to the Italian League club Benetton Treviso in August 2009.[8] There, he got off to a great start, scoring 18 and 21 points in two friendly matches against other European clubs. In 2011, Motiejūnas won the Eurocup Rising Star award after helping his team Treviso reach the Eurocup 2010-11 Final Four, averaging 10.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, 0.9 steals, and 4.4 fouls drawn per game.[9]
In September 2011 he signed a contract with Asseco Prokom Gdynia in Poland that includes an NBA-out clause.[10]
NBA
He was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 20th overall pick, but was traded in a package with Jonny Flynn to the Houston Rockets for Brad Miller and Nikola Mirotic (the 23rd overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft). Donatas Motiejūnas will wear Houston Rockets jersey with number 20. Because of his hard to say name and last name for foreigners, Donatas Motiejūnas was called D-Mo by Kevin McHale at the first Houston Rockets press conference.
Personal life
Motiejūnas has a large tattoo on his chest of an eagle clutching a basketball that he describes as, "I really like the attitudes of eagles. They never give up. When they grab a fish or something else, they never let it go. It doesn't matter. In a book, they write they find a skeleton of [an] eagle and there is no fish. It means that the fish beat him and killed him, but he didn't let go."[11]
Lithuanian national team
Medal record Competitor for LithuaniaMen's Basketball FIBA European U-18 Championship Silver 2008 Greece National Team FIBA European U-20 Championship Bronze 2009 Greece National Team Motiejūnas was a part of the Lithuanian Under-16, Under-18, and Under-20 junior national teams. With Lithuania's junior national teams, he played at the: 2006 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, both the 2007 and 2008 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championships, the 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship, and the 2009 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship.
He led Lithuania's junior national team to the silver medal at the 2008 Under-18 Championship. Despite losing to Greece's junior national team in the gold medal game, he was named the MVP of the tournament, after averaging 18.2 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game.[12] At the 2009 Under-20 Championship, he averaged 11.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.
He was a candidate to be on the Lithuanian roster at EuroBasket 2011, held in Lithuania from 31 August to 18 September.
References
- ^ DraftExpress.com: Mock Draft.
- ^ Donatas Motiejunas: Miscellaneous
- ^ Krepsinis.net - Donatas Motiejūnas.
- ^ Donatas Motiejunas: Miscellaneous
- ^ Krepsinis.net - Donatas Motiejūnas.
- ^ Donatas Motiejunas Player Profile At basketpedya.com
- ^ Donato Motiejūno sezono statistika
- ^ Interperformances.com Another great signing by Benetton: Donatas Motiejunas.
- ^ Motiejūnas Eurocup Rising Star.
- ^ Asseco Prokom lands Eurocup Rising Star Motiejunas
- ^ Grantland.com - Bill Simmons
- ^ Motiejunas MVP, Two Greeks In All-Tournament Team.
External links
- NBA.com Profile
- Euroleague.net Profile
- Draftexpress.com Profile
- Italian League Profile (Italian)
- NBADraft.net Profile
- Basketnews.lt Profile (Lithuanian)
- Krepsinis.net Profile (Lithuanian)
- Benetton Profile (Italian)
Houston Rockets current roster 2011 NBA Draft First round Kyrie Irving · Derrick Williams · Enes Kanter · Tristan Thompson · Jonas Valančiūnas · Jan Veselý · Bismack Biyombo · Brandon Knight · Kemba Walker · Jimmer Fredette · Klay Thompson · Alec Burks · Markieff Morris · Marcus Morris · Kawhi Leonard · Nikola Vučević · Iman Shumpert · Chris Singleton · Tobias Harris · Donatas Motiejūnas · Nolan Smith · Kenneth Faried · Nikola Mirotić · Reggie Jackson · Marshon Brooks · Jordan Hamilton · JaJuan Johnson · Norris Cole · Cory Joseph · Jimmy Butler
Second round Bojan Bogdanović · Justin Harper · Kyle Singler · Shelvin Mack · Tyler Honeycutt · Jordan Williams · Trey Thompkins · Chandler Parsons · Jeremy Tyler · Jon Leuer · Darius Morris · Dāvis Bertāns · Malcolm Lee · Charles Jenkins · Josh Harrellson · Andrew Goudelock · Travis Leslie · Keith Benson · Josh Selby · Lavoy Allen · Jon Diebler · Vernon Macklin · DeAndre Liggins · Milan Mačvan · E'Twaun Moore · Chukwudiebere Maduabum · Tanguy Ngombo · Ater Majok · Ádám Hanga · Isaiah Thomas
ULEB Eurocup Rising Star 2009: Mačvan | 2010: Claver | 2011: MotiejūnasFIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Most Valuable Player Award Categories:- 1990 births
- Living people
- Centers (basketball)
- Lithuanian basketball players
- Minnesota Timberwolves draft picks
- People from Kaunas
- Power forwards (basketball)
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