Robertas Javtokas

Robertas Javtokas

Robertas Javtokas with Lithuania men's national basketball team
No. 15 – Žalgiris Kaunas
Position	Center
League	Lithuanian Basketball League Euroleague
Personal information
Born	(1980-03-20) March 20, 1980 Šiauliai, Lithuanian SSR, USSR
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
7× LKL champion (2000, 2002, 2006, 2012-2015) LKL Rookie of the Year (2001) NEBL champion (2002) Eurocup champion (2005) BBL champion (2006) Greek Cup (2007) GBL champion (2007) Euroleague champion (2007) Lithuanian League Rookie of the Year (2001) 2× LKL Slam Dunk champion (2000, 2001) 4× LKL All-Star (2001, 2002, 2006, 2012) LKL All-Star Game MVP (2002) Eurocup Finals MVP (2005) Eurocup TOP 10 Players Of All Time (2012)
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 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 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.

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 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 League. 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. On July 15, 2010 he signed a two-year contract with the Spanish club Power Electronics Valencia.

In June 2011 he returned to Lithuania and signed a three-year contract with the pro club Žalgiris of the Lithuanian LKL. His contract was renewed in 2015. On June 20, 2012, Robertas Javtokas was named as one of the best Eurocup players of all time. He took 4th place of 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
Career		146	56	22.4	.549	.200	.485	5.0	.8	.5	1.0	7.3	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, which won Bronze medals.

Awards and achievements

Robertas Javtokas with Lithuania national basketball team

Team titles

• 7x Lithuanian League Champion – 2000, 2002, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
• North European League Champion – 2002
• Eurocup Champion – 2005
• Baltic League Champion – 2006
• Greek Cup Champion – 2007
• Euroleague Champion – 2007
• Greek League Champion – 2007
• Triple Crown Champion – 2007
• 2007 FIBA European Championship – Bronze Medalist
• 2010 FIBA World Championship, Turkey – Bronze Medalist
• 2013 FIBA European Championship - Silver Medalist

Personal awards

• Lithuanian League All-Star Game – 2001, 2002, 2006
• Lithuanian League Rookie of the Year – 2001
• Lithuanian All-Star Game MVP – 2002
• Eurocup Finals MVP – 2005
• Lithuanian League Finals MVP – 2006
• Led the Lithuanian League in blocked shots – 2006
• Led the Baltic League in blocked shots – 2006
• 2x LKL Slam Dunk Champion – 2000, 2001

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.

External links

• Robertas Javtokas at eurobasket.com
• Robertas Javtokas at euroleague.net