Mantas Kalnietis, who has become a symbol of Zalgiris Kaunas over the years and has repeatedly declared his love for the club, is putting an end to his professional career. The 36-year-old 196 cm tall guard will hang them up after the 29 January Betsafe-LKL Championship game against Jonava CBet in Zalgirio Arena.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a special event for me, I want to announce to everyone that I am finishing my basketball career. I still have a week left before I play my farewell game, but this phase of my life, which has lasted since November 1993, is over. We will look for new goals in life,\u201d Kalnietis told Zalgiris TV.<\/p>\n
The Kaunas-born player, who made his debut in Zalgiris\u2019 main team in the 2005-2006 season and spent almost 10 seasons with the club, has also worn the jerseys of Lokomotiv-Kuban Krasnodar, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan and ASVEL Villeurbane.<\/p>\n
He returned to Zalgiris for the last stage of his career in the summer of 2021, and played a more prominent role in the local championship, where he averaged 13 minutes with 3.7 points and 3 assists to show.<\/p>\n
According to Kalnietis, his decision to retire in the middle of the 2022-2023 season was due to his reduced importance for the team and the line-up changes in Zalgiris.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were many reasons. Basketball has always been a pleasure for me, not a job. I always enjoyed playing basketball. There came a point when I couldn\u2019t get the role that I used to play in the team. You just don\u2019t feel like you\u2019re fulfilling yourself.<\/p>\n
There came a moment when I realized that maybe I will be more useful to the team when I leave rather than when I was here. Injuries and signings of new players have imposed new financial burdens on the club, and I decided that this would make me more useful to Zalgiris,\u201d explained Kalnietis, who will terminate his contract on February 1st.<\/p>\n
For the final game of Kalnietis\u2019 career, Zalgiris is preparing a celebration for the player and the fans. On the 29th of January, the green-and-white fans are invited to fill Zalgirio Arena and thank Kalnietis for his years of dedication to the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I won\u2019t be marking down the days until the end of my career, but I have no doubt that there will be no shortage of emotions on the last day,\u201d the Zalgiris player said with a smile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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