Modestas Paulauskas
Paulauskas in 1970, as a member of the USSR national team
Personal information
Born (1945-03-19) 19 March 1945
Kretinga, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union
NationalityLithuanian
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight206 lb (93 kg)
Career information
Playing career1962–1976
PositionSmall forward
Number5
Coaching career1977–1998
Career history
As player:
1962–1976Žalgiris Kaunas
As coach:
1991–1992Žalgiris Kaunas
1997–1998Statyba-Lietuvos rytas Vilnius
Career highlights and awards
As a player:
FIBA Hall of Fame as player
Medals
Representing the  Soviet Union
Summer Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place1972 MunichTeam
Bronze medal – third place1968 Mexico CityTeam
FIBA World Cup
Gold medal – first place1967 UruguayTeam
Gold medal – first place1974 Puerto RicoTeam
Bronze medal – third place1970 YugoslaviaTeam
FIBA Eurobasket
Gold medal – first place1965 Soviet UnionTeam
Gold medal – first place1967 FinlandTeam
Gold medal – first place1969 ItalyTeam
Gold medal – first place1971 West GermanyTeam
Bronze medal – third place1973 SpainTeam
Summer Universiade
Gold medal – first place1970 TurinTeam
Bronze medal – third place1965 BudapestTeam
European Championship for Juniors
Gold medal – first place1964 ItalyUnder-20

Modestas Paulauskas[note 1] (19 March 1945) is a former Soviet and Lithuanian professional basketball coach and basketball player.

As a player, he was the youngest EuroBasket MVP in history, being only 20 years old at the time he won the award. He is known for having been one of the best Lithuanian basketball players of all time, and for having excellent dribbling ability. He was selected as the Lithuanian Sportsman of the Year, a record seven times, in 1965–1967, and 1969–1972.[1] He was a member of the Soviet team that achieved Olympic Gold in 1972 in Munich.

In 1991, he was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players.

In 2021, he was included into the FIBA Hall of Fame.[2]

Playing career

Club career

Paulauskas spent his whole club career with Žalgiris Kaunas, despite getting attention from teams based in Western Europe and the National Basketball Association (NBA). He could not join them due to various reasons, one of such is Lithuania was part of the Soviet Union at that time, and it was very hard to travel abroad USSR. The other reason was he never actually wanted to leave his homeland -Lithuania. He was also asked to join Žalgiris Kaunas's main rival, CSKA Moscow, but he declined.[3]

Soviet national team

Paulauskas was a part of the senior Soviet Union national basketball teams that won the bronze medal at the 1968 Summer Olympic Games, and the gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games.[4] Paulauskas became the captain of the senior Soviet national team in 1969.[5]

Coaching career

After retiring from playing basketball competitions, Paulauskas worked as a coach of the Soviet Union junior national teams from 1977 to 1989. In the early 1990s, he was the head coach of his native club, Žalgiris Kaunas.[6] After that, he coached basketball in schools, both in Lithuania and in Russia.[7]

Notes

  1. ↑ Lithuanian: Modestas Juozapas Paulauskas
    Russian: Модестас Йозапас Феликсович Паулаускас

References

  1. ↑ Stankovic, Vladimir. "Modestas Paulauskas, the first Lithuanian "King"". Euroleague.net. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  2. ↑ "Modestas Paulauskas kartu su Nashu ir Pesičiumi įtrauktas į FIBA Šlovės muziejų". BasketNews.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  3. ↑ Butkus, Saulius (7 April 2015). "Į NBA kviestas M. Paulauskas: jei būčiau išvykęs, būtų nukentėję mano artimieji". DELFI (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  4. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Modestas Paulauskas". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
  5. ↑ Andzelis, Paulius. "M.Paulauskas: "Marškinėlių pakėlimas – didžiausias įvertinimas žaidėjui"". Žalgiris.lt. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  6. ↑ Khodorkovskii, Boris. Баскетбол. Три секунды и тридцать лет. evasport.ru
  7. ↑ Nagornyh Elena (17 November 2008) Уроки Паулаускаса. rg.ru

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