101 Greats of European Basketball

King without
a crown
I
remember perfectly when I saw Arturas Karnisovas
play for the first time. It was at the 1992
Olympics in Barcelona. However, more than his 17
points against Puerto Rico, 15 against Brazil or his
average of 11.2 throughout the games, I remember
a scene that I had never witnessed before or since.
In the game between Lithuania and the United States,
Karnisovas only played for 13 minutes, but he scored 10
points. In the final minutes, he was sitting on the bench
and somehow pulled a small camera from somewhere,
sat down by the basket closest to his team’s bench and,
like a photographer, recorded some unforgettable moments.
His native Lithuania, in its first appearance after
regaining independence, was playing against the first
and unrepeatable Dream Team, the American team that
took the courts by storm. The U.S.A. team won 127-76,
Michael Jordan finished with 21 points, Karl Malone had
18. Meanwhile, young Karnisovas took pictures of the
American stars but also of his own teammates: Arvydas
Sabonis, Sarunas Marciulionis, Voldemaras Chomicius
and Rimas Kurtinaitis – all of them Olympic champs
four years prior in Seoul with the USSR stars – as well as
Sergejus Jovaisa, Gintaras Krapikas and Gintaras Einikis.
Lithuania won the bronze medal, the first important
trophy in Karnisovas’s career. He was the youngest
member of the team. He was 21 years old, 15 years
younger than Jovaisa, 12 years younger than Chomicius
and seven years younger than Sabonis. However,
those Olympics were not his international debut. At 16,
he was selected to play with the USSR in the U16 European
Championship of 1987 in Hungary. The USSR finished
third, beating Spain 84-76 in the duel for bronze.
A star in Seton Hall
With an obvious talent, Karnisovas, who was born in
Klaipeda, Lithuania on April 27, 1972, left behind his beginnings
in Stayba Vilnius and in 1990 he moved to the
United States to study at Seton Hall and play basketball.
Both things turned out well. His studies in economics
were no problem for him while in his four basketball
seasons his numbers pointed towards a future star:
11.2 points and 4.5 rebounds in 1990-91; 17.3 plus 4.2
in 1991-92; 14.8 plus 6.0 in 1992-93; and 18.4 plus 6.8
in 1993-94. His numbers almost guaranteed a draft pick
that summer, but he was not chosen. His height was that
of a power forward, 2.04 meters, but he lacked muscle
and weight. So maybe those were the reasons why the
NBA teams didn’t trust him, apart from the fact that
there was not the same kind of confidence there is nowadays
when signing a European player.
While the criteria of the NBA teams could be understood,
it is harder to wrap one’s head around the fact
that no major European team grabbed Karnisovas. He
had to sign for humble Cholet in France, but he was
looking for a platform. And he found it. Karnisovas
ended up the 1995-95 season with 20.5 points and 6.5
rebounds on average. In the Korac Cup, those numbers
were even better (22.2 and 4.8). On November 30 of
1994, Cholet faced off against Fortitudo Bologna and
won 83-79. The duo formed by Antoine Rigaudeau (27
points) and Karnisovas (21) defeated the one on the
other side formed by Vincenzo Esposito (26) and Djordjevic
(18). Not long afterward, Djordjevic and Karnisovas
would be teammates in Barcelona.
101 greats of european basketball
Arturas Karnisovas
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