Joe Arlauckas

Joe Arlauckas
Personal information
Born (1965-07-20) July 20, 1965
Rochester, New York
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight 230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High school Thomas Jefferson
(Rochester, New York)
College Niagara (1983–1987)
NBA draft 1987 / Round: 4 / Pick: 74th overall
Selected by the Sacramento Kings
Playing career 1987–2000
Position Power forward
Number 53
Career history
1987 Sacramento Kings
1988 Snaidero Caserta
1988–1990 Caja Ronda
1990–1993 Taugrés
1993–1998 Real Madrid
1998–1999 AEK
1999–2000 Aris
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Joseph John "Joe" Arlauckas (born July 20, 1965) is an American retired professional basketball player of Lithuanian descent.[1] He played at the power forward position. Arlauckas is well known for holding the record for the most points scored in a single FIBA European League game, including only games played since the 1991–92 season. He scored 63 points in a FIBA European League game, while playing for Real Madrid against Virtus Bologna, during the 1995–96 season, on February 26, 1996.[2] Radivoj Korać holds the all-time EuroLeague (former FIBA European League) single-game scoring record, at 99 points scored, counting all games played since the competition began during the 1958 season.[3]

Playing career

College career

The son of Lithuanian immigrants, Arlauckas played four years of NCAA Division I college basketball at Niagara University, with the Purple Eagles.

NBA career

Arlauckas was drafted with the 74th pick of the 1987 NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings, along with their first round draft pick Kenny Smith. In his first season in the NBA, the Kings had a poor regular season record of 24–58 (6th place of the Midwest Division), which started with Hall-of-Famer Bill Russell's brief stint as the Kings' head coach (during which time the Kings had a record of 17–41).[4][5]

During his sole season in the National Basketball Association, Arlauckas appeared in nine games, averaging four points per game, in roughly 10 minutes of play per game.

Europe

On December 14, 1987, Arlauckas was cut by the NBA's Kings. He then went to Italy, where he played for 6 months of time in the Italian top-tier level Lega Basket Serie A with Snaidero Caserta. He went on to have a highly successful career playing in Spain (one exact decade), playing in the Spanish top-tier level ACB League.

In Spain, he played with Caja de Ronda, Taugrés, and Real Madrid, winning several individual and team accolades; with the latter, he formed one of European basketball's most fearsome front courts, along with center Arvydas Sabonis, and he notably won the championship of the top-tier European league, the FIBA European League, with Real Madrid in 1995, against Olympiacos.[6][7] With Real Madrid, he also won the 2nd-tier European league, the FIBA Saporta Cup, during the 1996–97 season.

In 6 seasons out of 10 in Spain, Arlauckas averaged more than 20 points per game. He scored 7,543 points in the Liga ACB, for a scoring average of 20.7 points per game.

He retired in 2000, at age 35, after playing two years in Greece – playing one season apiece with the Greek top-tier level Basket League clubs AEK and Aris.

Post-playing career

After he retired from playing basketball, Arlauckas became a sports commentator, working for EuroLeague TV.

Honours and awards

References

  1. ↑ Cress, Doug (October 31, 1991). "In Spain, a Lithuanian Giant Awakens for the Olympics". The New York Times. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  2. ↑ Joe Arlauckas, the "recordman".
  3. ↑ Radivoj Korac's 99 points.
  4. ↑ Cress, Doug (October 31, 1991). "In Spain, a Lithuanian Giant Awakens for the Olympics". The New York Times. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  5. ↑ Wilson, Stephen (April 11, 1992). "Basketball is More Than a Game in Independent Lithuania". Associated Press. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  6. ↑ Stankovic, Vladimir (November 10, 2012). "Joe Arlauckas, the "recordman"". Euroleague. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  7. ↑ Lahman, Sean (May 6, 2015). "RocJocks: Jefferson grad Joe Arlauckas was hoops star in Spain". Democrat & Chronicle. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
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