Robertas Javtokas

Robertas Javtokas

No. 15 – Žalgiris Kaunas
Position Center
League Lithuanian Basketball League
Euroleague
Personal information
Born (1980-03-20) March 20, 1980
Šiauliai, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union
Nationality Lithuanian
Listed height 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight 270 lb (122 kg)
Career information
College Arizona (1999–2000)
NBA draft 2001 / Round: 2 / Pick: 55th overall
Selected by the San Antonio Spurs
Playing career 1997–present
Career history
1996–1997 Šiauliai
2000–2006 Lietuvos rytas Vilnius
2006–2007 Panathinaikos
2007–2009 Dynamo Moscow
2009–2010 Khimki
2010–2011 Valencia
2011–present Žalgiris Kaunas
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Lithuania
FIBA World Cup
Turkey 2010
EuroBasket
2013 Slovenia
2015 France
2007 Spain

Robertas Javtokas (born March 20, 1980) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Žalgiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian Basketball League. Javtokas is 2.11 m (6'11") in height and weighs 122 kg (270 lbs). He plays the center position. He has been a member of the senior men's Lithuanian national team since 2004. In the 2001 NBA Draft, he was selected by the San Antonio Spurs with the 55th overall pick.

Player profile

Javtokas has very good athletic ability, long arms and good coordination. He is a good jumper who has a 40-inch vertical leap[1] and can easily dunk in traffic. He still has to work on his technique and to improve his free-throw shooting. He can run the floor and make plays on the perimeter with his good athletic ability, nice size, and good leaping ability. He is a good rebounder and a good defender as well. He once set a world record by dunking on a 12 foot high basket.[2]

Professional career

Europe

In 2000 Javtokas joined Lietuvos Rytas and quickly became the best center in the Lithuanian League. Javtokas, playing alongside Ramūnas Šiškauskas, Arvydas Macijauskas, Simas Jasaitis and Rimantas Kaukėnas won the 2002 Lithuanian League championship and also the North European League Championship. After the motorcycle crash, Javtokas missed the entire 2003 season and came back in 2004. In 2005, he won the Eurocup Championship and he was named the Eurocup Basketball Finals MVP.

In 2006, with his help, Rytas made a strong debut in the Euroleague, and also beat their main rival Žalgiris 4–0 in Lithuanian league finals series. The team also won the Baltic League Championship. After the season, Javtokas was disappointed that Rytas was not able to offer him a bigger pare of money and also was returning to the Eurocup instead of the Euroleague, so he decided to play in another club.

He joined Panathinaikos for the 2006–07 season and with them he won the Greek Championship, the Greek Cup, and the Euroleague (thus winning the coveted Basketball Triple Crown), although he played very limited minutes all season. On July 24, 2007, he signed a two-year contract with Dynamo Moscow of the Russian Super League A. In Dynamo, he improved his free throw percentage from 35.5% to 54.5%, and he improved in scoring average to 12.2 points per game. In 2009, he joined the Russian club Khimki Moscow Region.[3][4] On July 15, 2010 he signed a two-year contract with the Spanish club Power Electronics Valencia.[5]

In June 2011 he returned to Lithuania and signed a three-year contract with the pro club Žalgiris of the Lithuanian LKL.[6] His contract was renewed in 2015.[7] On June 20, 2012, Robertas Javtokas was named as one of the best Eurocup players of all time. He took 4th place of 10.[8] In 2015 his contract was extended for one more year.[9] In 2016 his contract was further extended with Žalgiris.[10]

NBA

Javtokas was selected by the San Antonio Spurs with 56th overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft. Although Javtokas has not yet played with the Spurs, they still retain his NBA draft rights.

Euroleague 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

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

† Denotes seasons in which Javtokas won the Euroleague
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2005–06 Lietuvos Rytas 20 20 28.8 .521 .125 .417 8.2 .9 1.0 2.0 9.6 13.9
2006–07† Panathinaikos 19 3 8.8 .613 .000 .355 1.6 .1 .3 .5 2.6 2.5
2009–10 Khimki 16 13 25.7 .591 .000 .457 6.4 .4 .2 1.2 10.1 12.3
2010–11 Valencia 21 20 24.7 .574 .500 .414 5.3 .7 .6 .7 8.2 9.1
2011–12 Žalgiris 16 14 23.4 .489 .000 .421 5.2 .5 .2 .7 6.3 6.8
2012–13 8 4 15.0 .542 .500 .714 2.9 .6 .1 .4 4.0 5.4
2013–14 23 23 24.8 .625 .273 .750 5.3 1.4 .5 1.1 9.7 12.7
2014–15 23 19 23.2 .451 .000 .667 4.3 1.1 .4 .8 5.7 6.9
2015–16 9 0 16.4 .645 .000 .444 3.7 .0 .3 .4 4.9 5.9
Career 155 56 24.1 .565 .194 .484 4.9 .7 .4 .9 7.1 9.0

Lithuanian national team

Javtokas debuted at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He averaged 8.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 0.5 assists per game. At the 2005 FIBA European Championship, he played in 6 games for the Lithuanian national basketball team. During the tournament, he averaged 11.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game. His 2-point field goal percentage was 61.7%, and his free-throw percentage was 47.1%.

He also played for Lithuania at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, where he won a bronze medal.

Awards and achievements

Robertas Javtokas with the Lithuania men's national basketball team

Team titles

Personal awards

Personal

Javtokas attended to St. Vincent – St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio, the same secondary school that LeBron James went to growing up. Javtokas also attended Bishop McGuinness High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for one year of high school during the 1997–1998 school year. His older brother Artūras Javtokas is a former basketball player.

Motorcycle crash

On May 1, 2002, while driving his Honda CBR1100XX motorcycle at a speed of around 140 kilometers per hour (87 miles per hour) towards Vilnius, he had a serious accident. Approaching a side road, Javtokas started to pass a van, but the van driver did not see the motorcycle and turned left. There was no chance for Javtokas to stop and he hit the van, losing control but not the bike, which crashed into a car in the opposite lane. Javtokas flew dozens of meters and landed in bushes off the road, crushing his thighbone, breaking his shoulder, and injuring his knee and kidneys. He returned to basketball for the 2003–04 season.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Team Draft Overview-San Antonio Spurs.
  2. ↑ Javtokas dunks on a 12 foot high rim.
  3. ↑ BCKhimki.ru Khimki Adds Javtokas (Russian).
  4. ↑ Championat.ru Khimki signs Javtokas (Russian).
  5. ↑ Power Electronics signs Javtokas.
  6. ↑ ZALGIRIS brings Javtokas back to Lithuania
  7. ↑ Zalgiris re-signs veteran center Javtokas
  8. ↑ Eurocup Top 10 – A Decade of Eurocup Greats: The Top Players!
  9. ↑ Zalgiris re-signs veteran center Javtokas
  10. ↑
  11. ↑ Interbasket.net InterBasket > profiles > Javtokas.
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