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Arnas Velička

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Arnas Velička
Velička in 2023
No. 8 – Löwen Braunschweig
PositionPoint guard
LeagueBasketball Bundesliga
Personal information
Born (1999-12-10) 10 December 1999 (age 24)
Kaunas, Lithuania
NationalityLithuanian
Listed height1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Listed weight90 kg (198 lb)
Career information
NBA draft2021: undrafted
Playing career2015–present
Career history
2015–2016Žalgiris-2 Kaunas
2016–2018FC Barcelona B
2017–2018→Lietkabelis Panevėžys
2018–2020Žalgiris Kaunas
2018–2019→University of Tartu
2019–2020→CBet Prienai
2020–2021Champagne Châlons-Reims
2021Löwen Braunschweig
2021–2022Napoli Basket
2022–2023Niners Chemnitz
2023–2024Rytas Vilnius
2024–presentLöwen Braunschweig
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Representing  Lithuania
FIBA Under-17 World Cup
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Spain U17 National Team
FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship
Silver medal – second place 2016 Turkey U18 National Team
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Slovakia U18 National Team
FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship
Silver medal – second place 2015 Lithuania U16 National Team

Arnas Velička (born 10 December 1999) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Löwen Braunschweig of the Basketball Bundesliga.

Professional career

[edit]

In 2015, after solid performance in FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship he signed with Žalgiris-2 Kaunas. In his first season with the team, Velička reached the finals where they lost to Sūduva Marijampolė and won silver medals. Velička averaged 4.7 points and 1.7 assists in 14.3 minutes per game.

In January 2016, Velička played for Žalgiris Kaunas youth in Adidas Next Generation Tournament which was held in Kaunas. Velička and Isaiah Hartenstein helped the team to win and qualify for the final stage of the tournament where his team finished third in Group A and didn't qualify for the final game. He was selected to an All-Tournament Team, averaging 14.7 points, 8.0 assists and 4.4 rebounds in 30 minutes in 7 games of both tournaments.

On 3 July 2016, Velička signed with FC Barcelona B of LEB Oro.[1] From 7 to 10 September he participated in the Basketball Without Borders camp in Lohja, Finland and was named as the Overall Camp Most Valuable Player.[2] On 3 February 2017, Velička was loaned to Lietkabelis Panevėžys of the Lithuanian Basketball League until the end of the 2017–18 season.[3] After the 2017–18 season, Velička returned to Žalgiris Kaunas and was loaned to University of Tartu of the Estonian Basketball League for the 2018–19 season.[4]

On 23 June 2020, Velička signed with Champagne Châlons-Reims of the LNB Pro A.[5] He left the club after reaching a mutual agreement to terminate the contract on 8 February 2021,[6] and then signed with Löwen Braunschweig of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) for the remainder of the 2020–21 season.[7]

After going undrafted in the 2021 NBA draft, Velička joined the Boston Celtics for the 2021 NBA Summer League.[8] On August 20, 2021, he signed in Italy with Napoli Basket, just promoted to the Serie A.[9]

On August 11, 2022, he signed with Niners Chemnitz of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL).[10]

On July 26, 2023, he came back to Lithuania and signed with Lithuanian Basketball League runners-up Rytas Vilnius.[11] Despite winning the Lithuanian Basketball League with Rytas Vilnius, the remaining season of the 1+1 contract was mutually terminated in July 2024.[12]

On August 1, 2024, he signed with Löwen Braunschweig of the Basketball Bundesliga.[13]

National team career

[edit]

Velička debuted for the junior national team of Lithuania in the 2015 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship. He averaged 10.8 points, 4.4 assists per 22.7 minutes of action. His team won silver medals.[14] He was selected to the All-Tournament Team.[15] After leading his Lithuanian Under-17 team to bronze medals in 2016 FIBA Under-17 World Championship, he was named to the All-Tournament Team, averaging 12.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and a tournament high 4.7 assists per game.[16] Same year Velička was also invited to compete in the 2016 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. He not only was one of the silver medals winning national team leaders with 11 points, 3 rebounds and 5.7 assists, but also was the tournament leader in assists. His game-winning three-point shot at the buzzer in the quarter-final against the Russian U18 National Team was named as the top play of the tournament.[17][18]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ García-Muñoz, Sergio (3 July 2016). "El Barça ficha al base lituano junior Velicka, bronce en el Mundial Sub-17. Así juega (Vídeo)". Gigantes del Basket (in European Spanish). Archived from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  2. ^ "Perspektyviausiam Lietuvos įžaidėjui – NBA specialistų įvertinimas". 24sek.lt. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  3. ^ "Ekipą papildė A.Velička". www.kklietkabelis.lt (in Lithuanian). 3 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  4. ^ "A.Velička: "Esu laimingas, kad "Žalgiris" manimi pasitikėjo" (VIDEO)". zalgiris.lt (in Lithuanian). 29 August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  5. ^ "Arnas VELICKA signe au CCRB !". champagne-basket.fr (in French). 23 June 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  6. ^ "Arnas VELICKA quitte le CHAMPAGNE BASKET". champagne-basket.fr (in French). 8 February 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Litauischer Nationalspieler Arnas Velicka verstärkt Backcourt". basketball-loewen.de (in German). 8 February 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  8. ^ "Boston Celtics 2021 MGM Resorts NBA Summer League Roster". NBA. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  9. ^ "Ingaggiato il play lituano Arnas Velicka. Grassi: "Giocatore di talento, obiettivo di coach e società". Sacripanti: "Investimento importante, atleta di grande personalità"". napolibasket.it (in Italian). 20 August 2021.
  10. ^ "Arnas Velicka joins Niners Chemnitz". Sportando. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  11. ^ "Arnas Velička – apie puikiai pažįstamą „Ryto" branduolį, Barselonoje sutiktą Rice'ą ir pasiilgtus spragėsius". Lithuanian National Radio and Television (in Lithuanian). 4 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  12. ^ "Velička palieka „Rytą"". BasketNews.lt (in Lithuanian).
  13. ^ "Löwen gelingt Coup: Erfahrener Arnas Velička kehrt nach Braunschweig zurück". basketball-loewen.de (in German). 1 August 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  14. ^ "Bosnių lyderių nesulaikę Lietuvos šešiolikmečiai iškovojo sidabrą (2 video, foto, komentaras)". basketnews.lt (in Lithuanian). 16 August 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  15. ^ "Velička – simboliniame geriausių žaidėjų penketuke". basketnews.lt (in Lithuanian). 16 August 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  16. ^ "Sexton takes 2016 FIBA U17 World Championship MVP honours, tops All-Star Five". FIBA.com. Archived from the original on 6 July 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  17. ^ "Stebuklingas metimas: Arnas Velička paskandino Rusiją ir atvedė Lietuvą į pusfinalį". 24sek.lt (in Lithuanian). 20 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  18. ^ "Veličkos dūris rusams – gražiausias čempionato epizodas". basketnews.lt (in Lithuanian). 24 December 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
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