Tautvydas Šležas

Tautvydas “Tau” Šležas (born 31 March 1990) is a Lithuanian ex-basketball player, basketball TV analyst and assistant coach for BC Žalgiris-2.

Tautvydas Šležas
Personal information
Born (1990-03-31) 31 March 1990[1]
Kaunas, Lithuania
NationalityLithuanian
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
Playing career2006–2019
PositionCenter
Coaching career2022–present
Career history
As player:
2006–2008Bremena-KTU Tauragė
2008–2011Lietuvos rytas Vilnius
2009–2011→Perlas Vilnius
2011–2012Juventus Utena
2012-2013Prienai
2013–2014Dzūkija Alytus
2014–2015Fürstenfeld Panthers
2015–2016Cáceres Patrimonio de la Humanidad
2016Dominion Bilbao Basket
2016–2017RETAbet.es GBC
2017–2018Iberostar Palma
2018-2019University of Tartu
As coach:
2022-presentBC Žalgiris-2 (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
As player:
Medals
Men's Basketball
Representing  Lithuania
FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship
Silver medal – second place 2008 Greece U-18 Team

Playing career

Born in Kaunas, Lithuania, Šležas started his professional career 2006 with Bremena-KTU Tauragė of the National Basketball League.

Two years later, he signed with Lietuvos rytas Vilnius, as one of the most promising young players in Lithuania, but he rarely stepped on the court for the team, and was loaned for to its junior team Perlas Vilnius.

On 11 September 2011, signed a one-year contract with Juventus Utena. On 7 October 2011, playing in his second game of the season, Šležas suffered an ankle injury, which kept him out of the lineup for four months. After playing with Prienai and Dzūkija Alytus, Šležas left Lithuania in 2014, when he signed with the Fürstenfeld Panthers of the Österreichische Basketball Bundesliga (ÖBL). In 2015 he signed with Cáceres Patrimonio de la Humanidad of LEB Oro. On 25 January 2016, he became the MVP of the round 19 after scoring 21 points and grabbing 18 rebounds in an 81–78 win over Cocinas.com.[2]

Two weeks later, Šležas signed a contract until the end of the 2015–16 season with Dominion Bilbao Basket of Liga ACB.[3] In summer of 2016, he signed a one-year contract with RETAbet.es GBC of LEB Oro.

National team career

Šležas played for the Lithuanian under-16 national team in the 2006 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship. In 2008, he played for the Lithuanian under-18 national team in the 2008 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship where they won silver medals, and was part of the team in the 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship. In 2010, he played for the Lithuanian under-20 national team in the 2010 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship.

Coaching career

During the summertime Tautvydas individually works with players including Edgaras Ulanovas, Marius Grigonis, Tomas Dimša, Brock Motum, Malik Monk, Paulius Valinskas, and Paulius Murauskas.

On 1 August 2022 he officially became an assistant coach for BC Žalgiris-2.

On 22 April 2023 he became National Basketball League (Lithuania) Champion with BC Žalgiris-2.

TV career

After his official retirement in 2019, he became a live in-game basketball TV analyst in Lithuania. On 25 September 2022 he became the analyst of Lietuvos krepšinio lyga.

Personal life

Šležas is fluent in Lithuanian, English and Spanish.

References
  1. "Tautvydas Slezas - Player Profile - Basketball". Eurosport Asia. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  2. "J.19: Tautvydas Slezas, la décima sinfonía de su primer MVP" (in Spanish). FEB.es. 25 January 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  3. "Tautvydas Slezas joins Bilbao". Eurohoops.net. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2016.



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