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Artūras Karnišovas

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Artūras Karnišovas
Denver Nuggets
PositionAssistant general manager
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1971-04-27) April 27, 1971 (age 53)
Klaipėda, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union
NationalityLithuanian
Listed height2.04 m (6 ft 8 in)
Listed weight92 kg (203 lb)
Career information
CollegeSeton Hall (1990–1994)
NBA draft1994: undrafted
Playing career1987–2002
PositionSmall forward
Career history
1987–1990Statyba
1994–1995Cholet
1995–1997FC Barcelona[a]
1997–1998Olympiacos
1998–2000Fortitudo Bologna[b]
2000–2002FC Barcelona
Career highlights and awards
As player:
Medals
Men's Basketball
Representing  Lithuania
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1992 Barcelona National team
Bronze medal – third place 1996 Atlanta National team
EuroBasket
Silver medal – second place 1995 Greece National team

Artūras Karnišovas (born April 27, 1971) is a Lithuanian retired professional basketball player.[1]

Early life and college career

Born in Klaipėda, Karnišovas started his early career in Lithuania, with Statyba Vilnius, while in high school, and played there until 1990. Expressing an interest in playing and studying in the United States, Karnišovas earned an invitation to play college basketball at Seton Hall University following a recommendation of Šarūnas Marčiulionis to Seton Hall coach P.J. Carlesimo during the 1990 FIBA World Championship. Karnišovas was the first player from the USSR to play in an American college, and arrived there without knowing a single word of English. In four years playing for the Seton Hall Pirates, Karnišovas helped the team win two Big East Tournaments and qualify for four straight NCAA championships, being the only player in all squads.[2][3]

Professional playing career

After trying and failing to draw interest from an NBA team, Karnišovas began playing overseas. His former coach Carlesimo attributed his lack of play in North America due to insufficient scouting and guaranteed financial return in Europe. Karnišovas is one of the few players to have been in Europe's four strongest championships, Spain (for FC Barcelona), Italy (Fortitudo Bologna), Greece (Olympiacos), and France (Cholet).[3][4] He reached the Euroleague's Euroleague Final Four 3 times, and he led the 1998–99 Euroleague in free throw percentage (89.6%). He was chosen as FIBA’s European Player of the Year in 1994.[3][5]

Lithuanian national team

Karnišovas helped lead the senior men's Lithuanian national basketball team to consecutive Bronze medals at the Summer Olympic Games in 1992 and 1996. He was also a first-team All-Star in the 1998 FIBA World Championship.[6]

Post-playing career

Karnišovas worked for the NBA's Basketball Operations office from 2003 to 2008, and afterwards became an international scout for the Houston Rockets for five years, while also directing the adidas Eurocamp – a preparation tournament for European players picked in the NBA draft – in 2011 and 2012.[7]

On July 16, 2013, it was announced that he became the assistant general manager of the Denver Nuggets.[3][8]

Karnišovas was considered as one of the candidates for the place of general manager of the Brooklyn Nets.[9]

Personal life

Karnišovas is married to Gina, whom he met at Seton Hall, and they live in North Jersey with their two sons.[2][3]

Awards and achievements

References

Notes

  1. ^ Team was known as FC Barcelona Banca Catalana (1994–1997) for sponsorship reasons.
  2. ^ Team was known as Teamsystem Bologna (1995–1999) and Paf Wennington Bologna (1999–2001) for sponsorship reasons.

Sources

  1. ^ "Arturas Karnisovas, king without a crown". Euroleague. November 16, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Where Are They Now? Arturas Karnisovas". Seton Hall Pirates. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Arturas Karnisovas, former Seton Hall and Lithuania star, heads charge to rebrand Denver Nuggets". NJ.com. July 22, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  4. ^ "Eurobasket - Arturas Karnishovas Player Profile basketball", Eurobasket.com, accessed August 25, 2007.
  5. ^ "Arturas Karnisovas stats". Draft Express. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  6. ^ "Arturas Karnisovas stats". Basketball Reference. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  7. ^ "Q & A with Arturas Karnisovas". Houston Rockets. August 25, 2008. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  8. ^ "Denver Nuggets Name Arturas Karnisovas Assistant GM". Denver Nuggets. July 16, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  9. ^ "Woj: Arturas Karnisovas, Sean Marks appear to be front-runners for Brooklyn Nets GM". Nets Daily. February 16, 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2016.