Marius Grigonis

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Marius Grigonis
Marius Grigonis by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg
Grigonis with the Lithuanian national team
No. 40Panathinaikos
Position Small forward / shooting guard
League GBL
EuroLeague
Personal information
Born (1994-04-26) 26 April 1994 (age 30)
Kaunas, Lithuania
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
NBA draft 2016: undrafted
Playing career2009–present
Career history
2009–2014 Žalgiris Kaunas
2009–2013Žalgiris-2
2013–2014Peñas Huesca
2014–2016 Manresa
2016–2017 Tenerife
2017–2018 Alba Berlin
2018–2021Žalgiris Kaunas
2021–2022 CSKA Moscow
2022–present Panathinaikos
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania
FIBA World Under-19 Championship
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2013 Czech Republic U-19 Team
FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2012 Latvia/Lithuania U-18 Team
FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2010 Montenegro U-16 Team

Marius Grigonis (born 26 April 1994) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Panathinaikos of the Greek Basketball League (GBL) and the EuroLeague. Standing at a height of 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), he plays at the small forward and shooting guard positions.

Contents

Early career

Before starting his professional career, Grigonis played in the NKL with the Žalgiris-Arvydas Sabonis school for four seasons. He was an important contributor to the team during his debut season, and established himself as a leader by his third season. He won bronze medals during his last two seasons with the Sabonis school team.

Professional career

On 15 May 2013, Grigonis was brought into the main Žalgiris roster for a game against BC Nizhny Novgorod in the VTB United League.

Playing in Spain (2013–2017)

For the 2013–14 season, Grigonis was loaned to the Spanish second division team Peñas Huesca. He was included in the All-LEB Oro team. [1]

On 14 August 2014, Grigonis signed a two-year deal with Bàsquet Manresa of the Liga ACB. After spending two seasons with Manresa, he signed a "2+1" deal with Iberostar Tenerife on 28 July 2016. [2] He was named the Final Four MVP of the Basketball Champions League 2016–17 season. On 13 July 2017, Grigonis parted ways with Tenerife. [3]

Alba Berlin (2017–2018)

On 13 July 2017, he signed a three-year deal with German club Alba Berlin. [4]

Return to Žalgiris (2018–2021)

On 3 July 2018, Grigonis returned to Žalgiris Kaunas when he signed a three-year contract. [5] His season was cut short due to an injury in November 2019. Grigonis averaged 11.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game in the first 10 games of the 2019–20 season. On 8 July 2020, he re-signed with the team. [6]

CSKA Moscow (2021–2022)

On 12 June 2021, Grigonis signed a three-year contract with VTB United League champions and EuroLeague mainstays CSKA Moscow. He averaged 8.5 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game during his first season the Russian powerhouse.

On 28 February 2022, upon the outbreak of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, he departed the club. [7] [8] [9] The team accused him of violating his contract. [8] [10]

Panathinaikos (2022–present)

On 14 July 2022, Grigonis signed a two-year contract with Panathinaikos of the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague, after a settlement agreement between the Greek club and CSKA Moscow was reached. [11]

Grigonis received an improved role in the team rotation during his second season, under the supervision of new head coach Ergin Ataman. On 8 April 2024, Grigonis agreed upon a three-year contract extension that would keep him with the Greek powerhouse through 2027. [12] On July 11 of the same year, the deal was made official. [13]

National team career

Grigonis represented Lithuania in the U–16, U–18, U–19 and U–20 youth tournaments. He led his team to two silver medals and a bronze medal while participating in four tournaments. During the 2012 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship semifinal game, he scored the winning shot against Serbia. As a result of his contributions to the team's success, he was chosen to be included in the All–Tournament Team. [14] In 2014, coach Jonas Kazlauskas included Grigonis in the preliminary 24–player candidate list for the senior national basketball team. [15] Though, he was invited to the national team training camp for the first time only in 2016 and immediately qualified into the Olympic roster. [16] [17]

Career statistics

Legend
  GPGames 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

EuroLeague

Denotes season in which Grigonis won the EuroLeague
*Led the league
YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPGPIR
2018–19 Žalgiris 341820.8.466.442.9352.11.9.68.79.3
2019–20 101025.7.447.386.8462.62.0.5.111.511
2020–21 343427.6.481.456.9442.13.3.8.113.413.7
2021–22 CSKA Moscow 16319.4.424.431.9171.41.9.68.57.4
2022–23 Panathinaikos 27717.9.435.435.8401.61.6.48.17.6
2023–2441*3624.7.483.417.9002.71.3.69.18.7
Career16210822.9.465.432.9052.12.0.6.09.99.7

EuroCup

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPGPIR
2017–18 Alba Berlin 16825.1.449.475.8973.12.6.911.613.5
Career16825.1.449.475.8973.12.6.911.613.5

Basketball Champions League

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
2016–17 Canarias 141020.0.460.347.8252.12.0.6.19.3
Career141020.0.460.347.8252.12.0.6.19.3

Domestic leagues

YearTeamLeagueGPMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
2009–10 Flag of Lithuania.svg Žalgiris-2 NKL 1815.8.382.324.7861.8.9.7.14.5
2010–11 Flag of Lithuania.svg Žalgiris-2 NKL 148.3.306.273.8001.1.4.2.12.3
2011–12 Flag of Lithuania.svg Žalgiris-2 NKL 4623.3.494.331.8083.62.22.0.910.5
2012–13 Flag of Lithuania.svg Žalgiris-2 NKL 3829.0.484.419.8625.03.01.2.113.9
2012–13 Flag of Lithuania.svg Žalgiris VTBUL 11.90.0
2013–14 Flag of Spain.svg Peñas Huesca LEB Oro 2825.8.491.488.8292.92.0.9.213.0
2014–15 Flag of Spain.svg Manresa ACB 2621.2.416.430.7143.2.6.4.17.7
2015–16 Flag of Spain.svg Manresa ACB 3425.2.449.394.7653.0.9.6.19.7
2016–17 Flag of Spain.svg Canarias ACB 3019.6.385.363.8571.42.0.5.16.2
2017–18 Flag of Germany.svg Alba Berlin BBL 4724.7.529.469.8792.72.61.1.112.0
2018–19 Flag of Lithuania.svg Žalgiris LKL 4020.4.504.368.8923.02.3.7.19.5
2019–20 Flag of Lithuania.svg Žalgiris LKL 717.5.405.364.9091.91.7.16.9
2020–21 Flag of Lithuania.svg Žalgiris LKL 3921.0.527.467.9132.03.41.0.012.9
2021–22 Flag of Russia.svg CSKA Moscow VTBUL 1019.0.554.512.867.62.0.312.0
2022–23 Flag of Greece.svg Panathinaikos GBL 1925.6.437.418.7782.92.7.8.012.4
2023–24 Flag of Greece.svg Panathinaikos GBL 3519.9.524.513.8752.41.6.7.09.2

References

  1. Sueños e ilusiones en el quinteto ideal de la temporada 2013/14 Archived 11 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine ; FEB.es, 9 April 2014
  2. Vanagas, Tomas. "Oficialu: Marius Grigonis keliasi į Tenerifės komandą". BasketNews.lt. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  3. "Iberostar Tenerife parts ways with Marius Grigonis, signs Rosco Allen". Sportando.com. 13 July 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  4. "ALBA inks shooting ace Grigonis". Eurocupbasketball.com. 13 July 2017. Archived from the original on 16 July 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  5. "Zalgiris product Grigonis comes back to Kaunas". Zalgiris.lt. 3 July 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  6. Borghesan, Ennio Terrasi (8 July 2020). "Marius Grigonis and Lukas Lekavicius to stay at Zalgiris Kaunas". Sportando. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  7. "Tornike Shengelia leaves CSKA Moscow: I can't play for the Russian army club". MARCA. 26 February 2022.
  8. 1 2 "5 CSKA Moscow players leave team for war between Russia, Ukraine". www.aa.com.tr.
  9. Amico, Sam (1 March 2022). "FIBA Suspends All Russian Teams, Officials From Competition".
  10. Rowienski, Alex (28 February 2022). "Grigonis leaves CSKA Moscow". Eurobasket. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  11. Panathinaikos lands Marius Grigonis
  12. "Grigonis confirms three-year contract extension with Panathinaikos". Eurohoops. 8 April 2024. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  13. "Read what Marius Grigonis stated about his commitment to Panathinaikos BC AKTOR". x.com. 11 July 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  14. "MVP Saric Heads All Tournament Team | U18 European Championship Men - Division A". Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  15. "FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014". FIBA.basketball.
  16. "J. Kazlauskas apsisprendė: rinktinės sąrašas – be L. Lekavičiaus, bet su naujais veidais". Krepsinis.lt. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  17. "Jonas Kazlauskas paskelbė galutinį Lietuvos rinktinės dvyliktuką". 24sek.lt. Retrieved 16 July 2016.