Before a new career stage in Kaunas, “Žalgiris TV” prepared a collection of J. Valančiūnas’ best NBA episodes, including the fateful NBA draft night, his first points overseas, and fun memories from the locker room.
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The exclusive video is currently available only to “Žalgiris Insider” members, which you can become by clicking this link.
“Someone is still chanting Lithuania. I hope you won’t show that interview – my English might have improved a bit now, because back then it was non-existent. It’s really nice to remember, I even got chills. I don’t remember anything at all, because everything happened so quickly, unexpectedly, difficultly and easily at the same time, that all emotions came together, it was a complete dream. I remember buying the suit in Lithuania, we even tried on all the accessories. There had already been talk about my draft pick before, but it was more the agents’ job to put everything together. Of course, anything can happen, but I already knew my pick somewhat before the draft. But the sweat was dripping not from the heat, but from excitement,” J. Valančiūnas recalled the NBA draft night.
The Žalgiris player also reacted to his debut game overseas, recalled how he was “robbed” at the end of the match, and later spoke about the influence of the locker room.
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“These were Fred VanVleet’s best games at the time, I think it was his first season, so I made that poster. It really took many years of work to become a solid part of the locker room. There were many negative moments, anger and curses, throwing all sorts of things, but you have to go through it. The locker room is like a family – you go through everything, you feel it together, and then you can have good chemistry. Everything starts from the locker room and how you communicate, accept each other, and are interested in each other. We come from different countries, cultures, so it takes some time to bring everything together,” J. Valančiūnas added.
The big man also revealed the origin story of his signature deceptive move, spoke about emotions on the court, and finally reacted to his first three-pointer and an impressive dunk that forced overtime.
“It was a foul here, but they didn’t whistle. We should have won, but we went into overtime. Although I might not have made the free throw, so maybe it’s good that I didn’t have to shoot. But I think there was a foul here, or maybe not,” J. Valančiūnas mused with a smile.
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At the end of the recording, the Žalgiris player also spoke about his connection with Nikola Jokić.
