Lukas Lekavicius: “The thing I missed most was Zalgiris’ locker room” 2

Having grown up in the Zalgiris system, Lukas Lekavicius is set to make a return after a two-year break. The guard spent time abroad in Panathinaikos, but is happy to be back in Kaunas.

“I really didn’t have to think twice when I received interest from Zalgiris. It all happened pretty quickly. As I said, it’s fun to be back. We’ve got the same coach, the organization is very good. Even better than I remember. There won’t be anything really new with my role. The way it was a couple years ago, I’ll be coming off the bench. I’ll try to bring in energy, change up the pace of the game. Those are the tasks. That’s what we talked about with Saras.”

Lekavicius first joined Zalgiris main team in the 2014-2015 season, where the 183 cm tall guard played three seasons, taking in the LKL championship each year.

After a successful 2016-2017 EuroLeague campaign, when Lekavicius averaged 8.5 points and 3.5 assists, he received interest from Panathinaikos in Greece.

During his two seasons in Athens, he took on a back-up role behind Nick Calathes and averaged 4 points and 1.3 assists.

“Those two years gave more to me as a personality. Going away to a different country, to a new coach, new team was difficult, but I think it helped me mature. The good thing is that we had a lot of individually strong players, so it’d be difficult in practices, playing against Nick Calathes. It was nice to take something from their game, just being around them, seeing how they play, how they cope with the pressure. It was an interesting experience and I think I grew as a player, too.”

Lekavicius first joined the Zalgiris system in his teenage years after moving from Silale. He will be getting back into an environment that he’s grown to love and states that he’s missed the locker room more than anything.

“It’s good to be back, that’s what I missed most. The locker room, the atmosphere, the coaches. Everyone all the way from the masseur to the physio. I’ve missed them all and I want to start as soon as possible. It’ll be interesting. Everywhere I played before, I’d be one of the younger guys, both in Athens and here. I come back a little bit older.”