Artūras Karnišovas
Denver Nuggets | |
---|---|
Position | Assistant general manager |
League | NBA |
Personal information | |
Born | Klaipėda, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union | April 27, 1971
Nationality | Lithuanian |
Listed height | 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) |
Listed weight | 92 kg (203 lb) |
Career information | |
College | Seton Hall (1990–1994) |
NBA draft | 1994: undrafted |
Playing career | 1987–2002 |
Position | Small forward |
Career history | |
1987–1990 | Statyba |
1994–1995 | Cholet |
1995–1997 | FC Barcelona[a] |
1997–1998 | Olympiacos |
1998–2000 | Fortitudo Bologna[b] |
2000–2002 | FC Barcelona |
Career highlights and awards | |
As player:
| |
Medals |
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
- Summer Olympic Games – Bronze: 1992, 1996
- EuroBasket – Silver: 1995
- FIBA EuroStars MVP – 1997
- 3x FIBA EuroStars participant – 1997, 1998, 1999
- European Player of the Year award by FIBA – 1996
- Spanish National Cup Champion – 2001
- Italian League champion – 2000
- Spanish League champion – 1996, 1997, 2001
- McDonald's Championship finalist – 1997 (most points scored - 19)
References
Notes
Sources
- ^ "Arturas Karnisovas, king without a crown". Euroleague. November 16, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
- ^ a b "Where Are They Now? Arturas Karnisovas". Seton Hall Pirates. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Eurobasket - Arturas Karnishovas Player Profile basketball", Eurobasket.com, accessed August 25, 2007.
- ^ "Arturas Karnisovas stats". Draft Express. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
- ^ "Arturas Karnisovas stats". Basketball Reference. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
- ^ "Q & A with Arturas Karnisovas". Houston Rockets. August 25, 2008. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
- ^ "Denver Nuggets Name Arturas Karnisovas Assistant GM". Denver Nuggets. July 16, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
- ^ "Woj: Arturas Karnisovas, Sean Marks appear to be front-runners for Brooklyn Nets GM". Nets Daily. February 16, 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
External links
- Artūras Karnišovas at draftexpress.com
- Artūras Karnišovas at euroleague.net
- 1971 births
- Living people
- Basketball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics
- Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Basketball players from New Jersey
- BC Statyba players
- Cholet Basket players
- Expatriate basketball people in Italy
- FC Barcelona Bàsquet players
- Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna players
- Liga ACB players
- Lithuanian basketball players
- Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in the United States
- Lithuanian expatriates in Greece
- Lithuanian expatriates in Italy
- Lithuanian expatriates in Spain
- Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Olympiacos B.C. players
- Olympic basketball players of Lithuania
- Olympic bronze medalists for Lithuania
- Olympic medalists in basketball
- Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball players
- Small forwards
- Soviet basketball players
- Sportspeople from Klaipėda