Darius Songaila

Darius Songaila

Songaila playing for Lietuvos rytas Vilnius
San Antonio Spurs
Position	Assistant coach
League	NBA
Personal information
Born	(1978-02-14) February 14, 1978 (age 46) Kapsukas, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union
Nationality	Lithuanian
Listed height	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight	248 lb (112 kg)
Career information
High school	New Hampton School (New Hampton, New Hampshire)
College	Wake Forest (1998–2002)
NBA draft	2002: 2nd round, 50th overall pick
Selected by the Boston Celtics
Playing career	2002–2015
Position	Power forward / center
Number	25, 9
Coaching career	2015–present
Career history
As player:
2002–2003	CSKA Moscow
2003–2005	Sacramento Kings
2005–2006	Chicago Bulls
2006–2009	Washington Wizards
2009–2010	New Orleans Hornets
2010–2011	Philadelphia 76ers
2011–2012	Galatasaray
2012	Blancos de Rueda Valladolid
2012–2013	Donetsk
2013–2014	Lietuvos rytas Vilnius
2014–2015	Žalgiris Kaunas
As coach:
2015–2018	Žalgiris Kaunas (assistant)
2020–present	San Antonio Spurs (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
Russian champion (2003) Turkish Super Cup winner (2011) Lithuanian champion (2015) Lithuanian Federation Cup winner (2015) AP honorable mention All-American (2002) Second-team All-ACC (2002) Third-team All-ACC (2000) As assistant coach: 2× King Mindaugas Cup winner (2017, 2018) 3× LKL champion (2016, 2017, 2018)
Career NBA statistics
Points	3,415 (6.9 ppg)
Rebounds	1,689 (3.4 rpg)
Assists	589 (1.2 apg)
Stats   at NBA.com
Stats   at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals Men's Basketball Representing   Lithuania Summer Olympic Games 2000 Sydney EuroBasket 2003 Sweden 2007 Spain

Darius Songaila (born February 14, 1978) is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach and former player. He serves as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has represented the Lithuania national team. He played at the power forward and center positions.

Early years

Songaila started his basketball career with Lietuvos rytas Marijampolė in second-tier Lithuanian league, the LKAL in 1995. ^[1] In 1997, he moved to the United States where he attended the New Hampton School in New Hampton, New Hampshire. Songaila played the Nike Hoop Summit in 1998. He was also named to the All-European Under-22 Championship Second Team.

College career

Darius Songaila played college basketball at Wake Forest University. He was named Third Team All-ACC in 2000 and Second Team All-ACC in 2002. He was also named Honorable Mention All-American by the Associated Press as a senior.

Professional career

Songaila defending LeBron James

Songaila during his tenure with the Washington Wizards

Songaila was selected with the 50th pick of the 2002 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics, who eventually dealt his rights to the Sacramento Kings. ^[2]

He joined CSKA Moscow for the 2002–03 season and won the Russian Basketball Super League. He signed with the Kings in June 2003, and averaged 6.1 points and 3.7 rebounds in 154 games (28 starts) over two seasons.

Songaila signed a one-year deal with the Chicago Bulls in September 2005. ^[3] He had his most successful season yet with the Bulls, averaging 9.2 points and 4.0 rebounds in 62 games (7 starts). However, he suffered an ankle injury in March 2006 and missed the final 20 games.

On July 17, 2006, Songaila signed with the Washington Wizards. The deal reportedly was worth $23 million over five years. ^[4] He missed the first 45 games after a surgery for a herniated disc and averaged 7.6 points and 3.6 rebounds in 37 games (1 start).

Songaila eventually became a big part of the Wizards' bench and an occasional starter. He averaged 6.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in 2007–08. At the end of the 2008–09 season, Songaila became a starter because of the injuries suffered by teammates Brendan Haywood and Andray Blatche. He started a career-high 29 games and averaged 7.4 points and 2.9 rebounds.

On June 23, 2009, he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves along with Oleksiy Pecherov, Etan Thomas, and a first-round draft pick for Randy Foye and Mike Miller. ^[5]

On September 9, 2009, he was traded to the New Orleans Hornets along with Bobby Brown in exchange for Antonio Daniels and a 2014 second round pick. ^[6]

On September 23, 2010, he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers along with rookie forward Craig Brackins in exchange for Willie Green and Jason Smith. ^[7] Songaila had career lows with the 76ers, notably in points (1.6 ppg). With the 2010–11 season coming to an end, he became an unrestricted free agent.

In July 2011, he signed a one-year contract with Galatasaray in Turkey worth $1.5 million. ^[8]

In March 2012, several weeks after leaving Galatasaray, Songaila signed with Blancos de Rueda Valladolid. Later that year, he signed with BC Donetsk. ^[9]

On October 8, 2013, he signed with Lietuvos rytas Vilnius for one season. ^[10] On July 22, 2014, he signed a one-year deal with Žalgiris Kaunas. ^[11]

At the end of the 2014–15 season, he retired from the professional basketball. ^[12]

Coaching career

Songaila with Žalgiris Kaunas in 2018

On August 5, 2015 Songaila was appointed as an assistant coach for Žalgiris Kaunas. ^{[13] [14] [15]}

In August 2018, he became a quality assurance assistant in the video department for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). ^[16] In September 2019, Songaila was promoted to a player development assistant. ^[17] In November 2020, Songaila was promoted to assistant coach. ^[18]

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2003–04	Sacramento	73	7	13.4	.487	.000	.807	3.1	.7	.6	.2	4.6
2004–05	Sacramento	81	21	20.6	.527	.000	.847	4.2	1.4	.6	.2	7.5
2005–06	Chicago	62	7	21.4	.481	.400	.817	4.0	1.4	.6	.3	9.2
2006–07	Washington	37	1	18.9	.524	.000	.852	3.6	1.0	.5	.3	7.6
2007–08	Washington	80	13	19.4	.458	.000	.918	3.4	1.7	.7	.2	6.2
2008–09	Washington	77	29	19.8	.532	.000	.889	2.9	1.2	.8	.3	7.4
2009–10	New Orleans	75	1	18.8	.494	.167	.811	3.1	.9	.8	.2	7.2
2010–11	Philadelphia	10	0	7.1	.467	.000	.500	1.0	0.2	.0	.0	1.6
Career		495	79	18.6	.499	.158	.844	3.4	1.2	.7	.2	6.9

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2004	Sacramento	7	0	12.1	.625	.000	1.000	1.9	.3	.0	.1	3.7
2005	Sacramento	5	0	15.0	.421	.000	.800	2.8	.6	.4	.2	4.0
2007	Washington	4	0	22.5	.488	.000	1.000	3.3	1.0	.8	.0	10.8
2008	Washington	5	0	15.4	.421	.000	.867	2.6	.8	.2	.0	5.8
Career		21	0	15.6	.484	.000	.897	2.5	.6	.3	.1	5.6

EuroLeague

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

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG	PIR
2002–03	CSKA Moscow	18	16	21.6	.475	.286	.847	3.9	1.1	.6	.2	12.8	10.8
2011–12	Galatasaray	10	10	15.3	.455	.000	.714	2.8	.4	.4	.0	6.5	3.3
2013–14	Lietuvos rytas	10	8	21.9	.473	.000	.667	4.8	1.3	.7	.1	8.2	8.0
2014–15	Žalgiris	24	2	14.5	.492	.000	.778	2.5	.9	.6	.1	5.8	4.5
Career		62	36	17.8	.477	.286	.794	3.3	1.0	.6	.1	8.3	6.7

See also

•   Sportsportal
• List of European basketball players in the United States

References

1. Songaila started his career in Lietuvos Rytas Marijampolė Archived January 11, 2014, at the Wayback Machine , krepsinis.net (in Lithuanian)
2. "NBA Draft Board". nba.com. Archived from the original on March 9, 2011. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
3. "Bulls sign free agent forward Songaila". ESPN.com. September 23, 2005. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
4. "Agent: Songaila signs 5-year, $23M deal with Wizards". July 17, 2006.
5. "Source: Foye, Miller head to Wiz". June 24, 2009. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
6. "HORNETS ACQUIRE SONGAILA, BROWN FROM TIMBERWOLVES". NBA.com . September 9, 2009. Archived from the original on December 16, 2009. Retrieved September 9, 2009.
7. "Rookie Craig Brackins traded to 76ers". September 23, 2010. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
8. Galatasaray lands big man Songaila
9. Darius Songaila signs in Ukraine
10. Lietuvos Rytas signs Darius Songaila (in Lithuanian)
11. "Zalgiris Kaunas announces Songaila". Euroleague.net. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
12. "Darius Songaila baigia profesionalaus krepšininko karjerą". ve.lt (in Lithuanian). June 7, 2015. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
13. "Suformuotas Kauno "Žalgirio" trenerių štabas – su Dariumi Songaila ir Šarūnu Jasikevičiumi" (in Lithuanian). 15min.lt. August 5, 2015. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
14. "Songaila Calls It A Day, Turns To Coaching". FIBA Europe. August 5, 2015. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
15. "Zalgiris names Saras head coach through 2018". Euroleague.net. August 5, 2015. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
16. Garcia, Jeff (August 26, 2018). "Darius Songaila announces he's set to start work in player development for Spurs". WOAI. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
17. Garcia, Jeff (September 20, 2019). "Spurs announce coaching staff additions, basketball operations promotions". WOAI. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
18. Tracy, Gerald (November 12, 2020). "Spurs promote from within for Tim Duncan replacement". WOAI. Retrieved March 16, 2021.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from NBA.com  and  Basketball-Reference.com
• Darius Songaila at Eurobasket.com
• Darius Songaila at euroleague.net
• Darius Songaila at Olympedia
• Darius Songaila at Olympics.com
• Darius Songaila at the Lietuvos tautinis olimpinis komitetas (in Lithuanian)