Robertas Javtokas

Robertas Javtokas

#15 Javtokas in national team jersey.
Nickname(s)	"El Tiburó" (Valencian for "The Shark")
Position	Center
Height	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Weight	270 lb (120 kg)
League	Lithuanian Basketball League Baltic Basketball League VTB United League Euroleague
Team	Žalgiris Kaunas
Born	March 20, 1980 (1980-03-20) Šiauliai, Lithuania
Nationality	Lithuanian
College	Arizona (1999-00)
Draft	55th overall, 2001 San Antonio Spurs
Pro career	1997–present
Career history	Šiauliai (1997–99) Lietuvos Rytas (2000–06) Panathinaikos (2006–07) Dynamo Moscow (2007–09) Khimki Moscow (2009–10) Valencia (2010–11) Žalgiris (2011-present)
Awards	Lithuanian League Rookie of the Year (2001) 2x LKL Slam Dunk Champion (2000, 2001) 3x LKL All-Star (2001, 2002, 2006) LKL All-Star Game MVP (2002) Eurocup Finals MVP (2005) Lithuanian League Finals MVP (2006)

Robertas Javtokas (born March 20, 1980, in Šiauliai) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player. Javtokas is 2.11 m (6'11") in height and weighs 122 kg (270 lbs). He plays the center position. He has been a member of the Lithuanian national team since 2000. In the 2001 NBA Draft he was selected by the San Antonio Spurs with the 55th overall pick.

Player profile

Javtokas has very good athletic ability, long arms and good coordination. He is a good jumper who has a 40-inch vertical leap and can easily dunk in traffic. He still has to work on his technique and to improve his free-throw shooting. He can run the floor and make plays on the perimeter with his good athletic ability, nice size, and good hops. He is a good rebounder and a good defender as well. He once set a world record by dunking on a 12 foot high basketball goal.

Motorcycle crash

On May 1, 2002, while driving his Honda CBR1100XX motorcycle at a speed of around 140 kilometers per hour (87 miles per hour) towards Vilnius, he had a serious accident. Approaching a side road, Javtokas started to pass a van, but the van driver did not see the motorcycle and turned left. There was no chance for Javtokas to stop and he hit the van, losing control but not the bike, which crashed into a car in the opposite lane. Javtokas flew dozens of meters and landed in bushes off the road, crushing his thighbone, breaking his shoulder, and injuring his knee and kidneys. He returned to basketball for the 2003-04 season.

Pro career

Europe

In 2000 Javtokas joined Lietuvos Rytas and quickly became the best center in the Lithuanian League. Javtokas, playing alongside with Ramūnas Šiškauskas, Arvydas Macijauskas, Simas Jasaitis and Rimantas Kaukėnas won the 2002 Lithuanian League championship and also the North European League Championship. After the motorcycle crash, Javtokas missed the entire 2003 season and came back in 2004. In 2005, he won the Eurocup Championship and he was named the Eurocup Finals MVP.

In 2006, with his help, Rytas made a strong debut in the Euroleague, and also beat their main rival Žalgiris 4-0 in Lithuanian league finals series. The team also won the Baltic League Championship. After the season, Javtokas was disappointed that Rytas was not able to offer him a bigger pare of money and also was returning to the Eurocup instead of the Euroleague, so he decided to play in another club.

He joined Panathinaikos for the 2006-07 season and with them he won the Greek Championship, the Greek Cup, and the Euroleague (thus winning the coveted Basketball Triple Crown), although he played very limited minutes all season. On July 24, 2007, he signed a two-year contract with Dynamo Moscow of the Russian League. In Dynamo, he improved his free throw percentage from 35.5% to 54.5%, and he improved in scoring average to 12.2 points per game. In 2009, he joined the Russian club Khimki Moscow Region. On July 15, 2010 he signed a two-year contract with the Spanish club Power Electronics Valencia. In June 2011 he signed a three-year contract with the pro club Žalgiris of the Lithuanian LKL.

NBA

Javtokas was selected by the San Antonio Spurs with 56th overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft. Although Javtokas has not yet played with the Spurs, they still retain his NBA draft rights.

Lithuanian national team

Medal record
Competitor for Lithuania
FIBA European Championship
Bronze	2007 Spain	National Team
FIBA World Championship
Bronze	Turkey 2010	National Team

Javtokas debuted at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He averaged 8.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 0.5 assists per game. At the 2005 FIBA European Championship he played in 6 games for the Lithuanian national basketball team. During the tournament he averaged 11.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game. His 2-point field goal percentage was 61.7% and his free-throw percentage was 47.1%.

He also played for Lithuania at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, which won Bronze medals.

Awards and achievements

Team titles

• 3x Lithuanian League Champion - 2000, 2002, 2006
• North European League Champion - 2002
• Eurocup Champion - 2005
• Baltic League Champion - 2006
• Greek Cup Champion - 2007
• Euroleague Champion - 2007
• Greek League Champion - 2007
• Triple Crown Champion - 2007
• 2007 FIBA European Championship - Bronze Medalist
• 2010 FIBA World Championship, Turkey - Bronze Medalist

Personal awards

• Lithuanian League All-Star Game - 2001, 2002, 2006
• Lithuanian League Rookie of the Year - 2001
• Lithuanian All-Star Game MVP - 2002
• Eurocup Finals MVP - 2005
• Lithuanian League Finals MVP - 2006
• Led the Lithuanian League in blocked shots - 2006
• Led the Baltic League in blocked shots - 2006
• 2x LKL Slam Dunk Champion - 2000, 2001

Personal

Javtokas attended to St. Vincent - St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio, the same secondary school that LeBron James went to growing up. Javtokas also attended Bishop McGuinness High School in Winston Salem, North Carolina, for one year of high school during the 1997–1998 school year.

External links

• NBA.com Draft Profile
• Euroleague.net Profile
• Youtube: Robertas Javtokas Video
• Robertas Javtokas' Profile (InterBasket)