Donatas Motiejunas - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Donatas Motiejūnas is a Lithuanian professional basketball player. He plays the power forward

Power forward (basketball)

Power forward is a position in the sport of basketball. The position is referred to in playbook terms as the four position and is commonly abbreviated "PF". It has also been referred to as the "post" position. Power forwards play a role similar to that of center in what is called the "post" or "low...

and center

Center (basketball)

The center, colloquially known as the five or the post, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well...

positions. He is nicknamed "D-Mo" by Houston Rockets fans. Motiejūnas was selected twentieth overall in the 2011 NBA Draft

2011 NBA Draft

The 2011 NBA Draft was held on June 23, 2011 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time , and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball...

.

Motiejūnas began his career playing with the youth team Arvydas Sabonis School

Žalgiris-Arvydas Sabonis school

Žalgiris-Arvydas Sabonis school is the second team of the basketball club Žalgiris Kaunas. The team plays in the NKL. School president and owner is legendary Lithuania basketball player Arvydas Sabonis.-Titles:*Junior Euroleague Champion: 2003, 2007...

of Kaunas

Kaunas

Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...

. He made his professional debut with the Žalgiris Kaunas

BC Žalgiris

BC Žalgiris is a professional basketball team that is based in Kaunas, Lithuania. It is one of the oldest teams in the Euroleague and plays domestically in the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga , and regionally in the VTB United League...

in a Baltic League

Baltic Basketball League

Baltic Basketball League is a Baltic states basketball league founded in 2004.Currently, the league is divided into two: the Elite division and the Challenge Cup division. The 10 strongest Baltic basketball clubs participate in the Elite division. The rest of the teams compete in the Challenge Cup...

game against the ASK Riga

ASK Riga

ASK Rīga is the name of a former professional basketball club based in Riga, Latvia. "ASK" stands for "Armijas Sporta Klubs" .-History:...

. He scored 15 points in 22 minutes.

Career in Europe

Motiejūnas began his career playing with the youth team Arvydas Sabonis School

Žalgiris-Arvydas Sabonis school

of Kaunas

Kaunas

. He made his professional debut with the Žalgiris Kaunas

BC Žalgiris

in a Baltic League

Baltic Basketball League

game against the ASK Riga

ASK Riga

ASK Rīga is the name of a former professional basketball club based in Riga, Latvia. "ASK" stands for "Armijas Sporta Klubs" .-History:...

. He scored 15 points in 22 minutes.

Motiejūnas helped Žalgiris Kaunas win a Baltic Championship, a Lithuanian Championship and a Lithuanian Cup. He averaged 5.6 points in 10.1 minutes per game in the Baltic League.

He signed with the Aisčiai-Atletas

BC Aisciai-Atletas

BC Aisčiai was a professional basketball club of Kaunas, Lithuania, which was participating in the LKL and the Baltic League. In 2009 team was united with Kaunas TRIOBET.The NBA center Žydrūnas Ilgauskas represented Atletas at the very beginning of his career...

in 2008. With Aisčiai-Atletas, he averaged 19.9 points and 7.0 rebounds in 29.3 minutes per game and he scored a season-high 29 points in a Lithuanian League game against Nevėžis

KK Nevežis

BC Kėdainiai Triobet is a profesional Lithuania basketball club which currently plays in Lithuanian Basketball League and Baltic Basketball League. BC „Nevėžis“ was founded in 1992 by Stasys Mickevičius. In 1993 BC „Nevėžis“ was renamed to KK „Notra“ because of the club supporters UAB „Notra“...

on March 22, 2009.

He moved to the Italian League club Benetton Treviso

Pallacanestro Treviso

Pallacanestro Treviso, more often known by its sponsorship name of Benetton Basket, or Benetton Treviso, is an Italian Serie A League professional basketball club from Treviso, the headquarters city of its longtime owner Benetton Group...

in August 2009. There, he got off to a great start, scoring 18 and 21 points in two friendly matches against other European clubs. In 2011, Motiejūnas won the Eurocup Rising Star award after helping his team Treviso

Pallacanestro Treviso

reach the Eurocup 2010-11 Final Four

Eurocup Basketball 2010–11 Final four

-Bracket:-Semifinals:-----Third place game:-Final:-External links:*...

, averaging 10.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, 0.9 steals, and 4.4 fouls drawn per game.

In September 2011 he signed a contract with Asseco Prokom Gdynia in Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

that includes an NBA-out clause.

NBA

He was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves

Minnesota Timberwolves

The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . Founded in 1989, the team is currently owned by Glen Taylor...

with the 20th overall pick, but was traded in a package with Jonny Flynn

Jonny Flynn

Jonny William Flynn is an American professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association...

to the Houston Rockets

Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...

for Brad Miller

Brad Miller (basketball)

Bradley Alan Miller is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA...

and Nikola Mirotic

Nikola Mirotić

Nikola Mirotić is a naturalized Spanish professional basketball player of Montenegrin origin. He is a 2.09 m tall power forward. He plays for Real Madrid.-Pro career:Mirotić began his professional career with the Spanish ACB League club Real Madrid...

(the 23rd overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft). Donatas Motiejūnas will wear Houston Rockets

Houston Rockets

jersey with number 20. Because of his hard to say name and last name for foreigners, Donatas Motiejūnas was called D-Mo by Kevin McHale

Kevin McHale

Kevin Edward McHale is a retired American professional basketball player and current head coach of the Houston Rockets. After his playing career, he worked for the Minnesota Timberwolves as the team's general manager and later its coach. He was fired as coach in June 2009...

at the first Houston Rockets

Houston Rockets

press conference.

Personal life

Motiejūnas has a large tattoo on his chest of an eagle clutching a basketball that he describes as, "I really like the attitudes of eagles. They never give up. When they grab a fish or something else, they never let it go. It doesn't matter. In a book, they write they find a skeleton of [an] eagle and there is no fish. It means that the fish beat him and killed him, but he didn't let go."

Lithuanian national team

Motiejūnas was a part of the Lithuanian Under-16, Under-18, and Under-20 junior national teams. With Lithuania's junior national teams, he played at the: 2006 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship

FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship

FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, previously known as European Championship for Cadets, is a basketball competition inaugurated in 1971. Until 2003 it was held every second year, but from 2003 onwards it is held every year. The current champions are Croatia.-Results:-Performances by nation:-MVP...

, both the 2007 and 2008 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship

FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship

FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was inaugurated in 1964 and for the following 40 years it had been held biannually. From 2004 onwards, it is held every year.-Summaries:-Performances by nation:...

s, the 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship

FIBA Under-19 World Championship 2009

The 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship was an international basketball competition held in Auckland, New Zealand from July 2, 2009 until July 12.-Qualification:*FIBA Africa Under-18 Championship 2008*#*#*FIBA Asia Under-18 Championship 2008*#*#*#...

, and the 2009 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship

FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship

FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, previously known as European Championship for Men 'Under22 and Under, is a basketball competition inaugurated in 1992. Until 2004 it was held biannually, but from 2004 onwards it is held every year. The current champions are Spain.Since 2005, a second level...

.

He led Lithuania's junior national team to the silver medal at the 2008 Under-18 Championship

U18 European Championship Men 2008 Division A

The 2008 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was an international basketball competition held in Greece from July 25, 2008 until August 3.-Squads:At the start of tournament, all 16 participating countries will have 12 players on their roster.- Venues :...

. Despite losing to Greece's junior national team in the gold medal game, he was named the MVP of the tournament, after averaging 18.2 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. At the 2009 Under-20 Championship, he averaged 11.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.

He was a candidate to be on the Lithuanian roster at EuroBasket 2011

Eurobasket 2011

EuroBasket 2011 was the 37th men's European Basketball Championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Lithuania. This was the second time Eurobasket had been held in Lithuania, the country having also hosted the 1939 championship. FIBA Europe asserted that Lithuania managed to...

, held in Lithuania from 31 August to 18 September.

External links

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