Marius Grigonis

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

Marius Grigonis
Grigonis with the Lithuanian national team
No. 40 – Panathinaikos
PositionShooting guard / Small forward
LeagueGreek Basket League
EuroLeague
Personal information
Born (1994-04-26) 26 April 1994
Kaunas, Lithuania
NationalityLithuanian
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
NBA draft2016: undrafted
Playing career2009–present
Career history
2009–2014Žalgiris Kaunas
2009–2013→ Žalgiris-2
2013–2014→ Peñas Huesca
2014–2016Manresa
2016–2017Iberostar Tenerife
2017–2018Alba Berlin
2018–2021Žalgiris Kaunas
2021–2022CSKA Moscow
2022–presentPanathinaikos
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Lithuania
FIBA World Under-19 Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Czech Republic U-19 Team
FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship
Silver medal – second place 2012 Latvia/Lithuania U-18 Team
FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship
Silver medal – second place 2010 Montenegro U-16 Team

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.[11] In 27 EuroLeague games (7 starts), he averaged 8.1 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 18 minutes per contest. Additionally, in 21 domestic league matches, he averaged 12 points, 3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 26 minutes per contest.

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.[12] In 2014, coach Jonas Kazlauskas included Grigonis in the preliminary 24–player candidate list for the senior national basketball team.[13] Though, he was invited to the national team training camp for the first time only in 2016 and immediately qualified into the Olympic roster.[14][15]

Career statistics
Legend
  GP Games 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
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2018–19 Žalgiris Kaunas 341820.4.466.442.9352.11.9.6.28.79.3
2019–20 Žalgiris Kaunas 101025.5.447.386.8462.62.5.111.511
2020–21 Žalgiris Kaunas 343427.3.481.456.9442.1 3.3.8.113.413.7
2021–22 CSKA Moscow 16319.2.429.444.9551.41.90.6.08.57.4

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. "Marius Grigonis and Lukas Lekavicius to stay at Zalgiris Kaunas". Sportando. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  7. "Tornike Shengelia leaves CSKA Moscow: I can't play for the Russian army club". MARCA. 26 February 2022.
  8. "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. "MVP Saric Heads All Tournament Team | U18 European Championship Men - Division A". Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  13. "FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014". FIBA.basketball.
  14. "J. Kazlauskas apsisprendė: rinktinės sąrašas – be L. Lekavičiaus, bet su naujais veidais". Krepsinis.lt. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  15. "Jonas Kazlauskas paskelbė galutinį Lietuvos rinktinės dvyliktuką". 24sek.lt. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
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