Zalgiris and Lithuanian legend Javtokas finishes professional career 0

Zalgiris Kaunas center Robertas Javtokas announced that he will retire at the end of the season. That goodbye from Javtokas may come as soon as Friday, with Zalgiris being one victory away from successfully defending the Lithuanian League crown.

Javtokas (2.11 meters, 37 years old) is one of the 17 players who have won both the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and the 7DAYS EuroCup titles, all after his remarkable recovery from a life-threatening motorcycle accident at start of his career. After winning EuroCup title in 2005 as MVP of the final game, two years later Javtokas went on to lift the EuroLeague trophy with Panathinaikos Athens in 2007.

He played 10 EuroLeague seasons with five different teams – Lietuvos rytas Vilnius, Panathinaikos Athens, Khimki Moscow Region, Valencia Basket and Zalgiris Kaunas – amassing 1,146 points (7.7 ppg.) and 789 rebounds (4.6 rpg.).

Javtokas in one of only two players – the other is D’or Fischer – to be a Top 10 shot blocker in both the EuroLeague and the EuroCup. He ranks eighth on the EuroLeague’s all-time blocks list (144) and third on the EuroCup’s (60). Despite not playing the EuroCup since 2009, Javtokas is still the competition’s 10th-best rebounder (397).

Javtokas was a regular member of the Lithuanian national team, eventually becoming its captain. He helped Lithuania win four medals: silver at EuroBasket 2013 and EuroBasket 2015, as well bronzes at EuroBasket 2007 and the 2010 FIBA World Cup.