Author: Monojit Mandal
Saras Jasikevicius, a legendary Lithuanian basketball figure, is expected to make a surprise return to the United States, joining the Sacramento Kings for the rest of the 2023 NBA preseason. This development was revealed exclusively on Thursday by the Lithuanian media website 15min.
Jasikevicius, who is currently a free agent, has just said goodbye to FC Barcelona at the end of the 2022-23 season. His dismissal came after a remarkable triumph in Spain’s Liga Endesa, when his team won the title with a comfortable three-game victory over arch-rivals Real Madrid in the ACB Finals. During his three-year tenure as FC Barcelona coach, Jasikevicius not only won the ACB championship in 2021 and 2023, but also the Copa del Rey in 2021 and 2022. Despite his local success, he failed to win the coveted Turkish Airlines EuroLeague championship.
Jasikevicius rose to prominence as head coach of his local team, Zalgiris, from 2016 to 2020, after a two-year stint as assistant coach. His time with Kaunas peaked in 2018, when the team reached the Final Four of the EuroLeague.
Now, Jasikevicius is preparing to return to the court in Sacramento, where he will take part in the Kings’ training camp over the next month. In particular, he will be joined by fellow Lithuanian Domantas Sabonis, an important Kings player, and Deividas Dulkys, Kings assistant coach.
Before starting his coaching career, Jasikevicius had a good career as a player in the NBA, playing 148 games for the Indiana Pacers and the Golden State Warriors. Despite huge success in European basketball, including four EuroLeague championships at club level and a EuroBasket win at international level, his NBA career was uneventful.
Jasikеvicius is widely recognized as one of Europe’s best basketball players of all time, with an incredible CV. He won the Euroleague title four times, three times with different teams: Barcеlona, Maccabi Tеl Aviv and Panathinaikos. He also won the MVP award at the Euroleague finals on two occasions. During his domestic career, he won the Lithuanian championship five times and the Slovenian Cup once. Saras Jasikеvicius continues to make an unforgettable impression on the sport, both as a player and coach, as basketball fans eagerly await his tenure with the Kings.