Arnoldas Kulboka

Arnoldas Kulboka
No. 98 – Brose Bamberg
Position Small forward / Shooting guard
League Basketball Bundesliga
Basketball Champions League
Personal information
Born (1998-01-04) 4 January 1998
Marijampolė, Lithuania
Nationality Lithuanian
Listed height 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)
Listed weight 96.6 kg (213 lb)
Career information
NBA draft 2018 / Round: 2 / Pick: 55th overall
Selected by the Charlotte Hornets
Playing career 2014–present
Career history
2014–2015 Žalgiris-2 Kaunas
2015–present Brose Bamberg
2015–2017 →Baunach Young Pikes
2017–2018 →Orlandina
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Lithuania
FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship
2016 Turkey U18 National Team
2015 Greece U18 National Team

Arnoldas Kulboka (born 4 January 1998 in Marijampolė) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Brose Bamberg of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL).

Professional career

Europe

Kulboka played in the youth ranks of Žalgiris Kaunas, with the club's reserve team of Žalgiris-2 Kaunas, until he signed a five-year deal with German powerhouse Brose Bamberg, in August 2015.[1] In his first year, he exclusively saw action on their affiliated teams in the German under-19 youth Bundesliga NBBL (TSV Breitengüßbach), and in the second German division 2. Bundesliga ProA (Baunach Young Pikes). He helped Breitengüßbach capture the 2016 NBBL title,[2] while averaging 6.4 points, as well as 1.5 rebounds a contest for Baunach in ProA play.[3] In 2016, he attended the Basketball Without Borders Global Camp in Toronto, Canada,[4] as well as the Adidas Eurocamp in Treviso.[5]

In the 2016–17 season, he improved his stats to 14.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2 assists per game for Baunach in ProA action. On 1 May 2017, Kulboka made his debut for Brose Bamberg in Germany's top-tier level Basketball Bundesliga, in a 61–74 win over Science City Jena, in which he recorded 13 points and 5 rebounds.[6]

In June 2017, Kulboka participated in adidas Eurocamp. He was named best sniper of the camp, by scoring 10 three-pointers in a row.[7] Furthermore, he was also named to the First Team All-Eurocamp 2017.[8][9] During the same year, Kulboka declared for the 2017 NBA draft, but he withdrew on June 12.[10][11]

On 14 July 2017, he joined Orlandina Basket of the Italian top-tier level Serie A, on a loan.[12] After averaging 10.3 points, 5 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game during the 2017–18 Basketball Champions League season, he was named the league's Best Young Player of the season.[13][14] On 23 July 2018, Brose Bamberg announced, that Kulboka would return to the team.[15]

NBA

Near the end of the 2017–18 season, Kulboka would enter his name in the 2018 NBA draft, being one of only 11 international players to declare for the draft early that year.[16] On 21 June 2018, he was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets, in the second round (55th overall).[17] He represented Hornets during the 2018 NBA Summer League.[18][19] During his debut game he scored 12 points per 13 minutes and helped his team to achieve a 88–87 victory versus the Oklahoma City Thunder.[20]

National team career

At the junior youth levels, Kulboka has represented Lithuania on the international stage on several occasions, including at the 2014 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship[21] and the 2015 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship.[22] He scored a team-high 15.7 points a game in the 2016 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, en route to a silver medal.[23] He also competed for Lithuania in the 2017 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup, averaging a team-high 13.7 points per contest.[24] On 26 February 2018, Kulboka debuted as a member of the senior Lithuanian national team, by scoring 9 points, grabbing 5 rebounds and dishing out 2 assists, and helped to crush Kosovo's national team, by a score of 106–50, during the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification.[25]

References

  1. ↑ "#11 Arnoldas Kulboka - Brose Bamberg". www.brosebamberg.de. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  2. ↑ Ahlf, Lina-Theresa. "TSV Breitengüßbach e.V. - NBBL IST DEUTSCHER MEISTER 2016". www.tsvbrgb.de. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  3. ↑ "2. Basketball-Bundesliga | Spieler". www.zweite-basketball-bundesliga.de. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  4. ↑ "DraftExpress NBA Draft Prospect Profile: Arnoldas Kulboka, Stats, Comparisons, and Outlook". www.draftexpress.com. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  5. ↑ "EUROCAMP 2016 Roster | adidas Eurocamp". www.adidaseurocamp.com. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  6. ↑ 74:61-Erfolg in Jena: Bamberg geht mit sechs Siegen in Serie in die Playoffs
  7. ↑ "10 tritaškių iš eilės pataikęs Kulboka – geriausias „Eurocamp" snaiperis". BasketNews.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  8. ↑ "2017 Awards". adidas Eurocamp. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  9. ↑ "Arnoldas Kulboka – simboliniame prestižinės stovyklos penketuke". BasketNews.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  10. ↑ "Masiulis ir Kulboka pateikė paraiškas dalyvauti NBA naujokų biržoje". BasketNews.lt (in Lithuanian).
  11. ↑ Sarapas, Jaunius. "Atsitraukė ir A. Kulboka, ir L. Birutis – NBA naujokų biržoje nebus nė vieno lietuvio". DELFI. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  12. ↑ "A New Kid In Town: Arnoldas Kulboka a Capo d'Orlando!". Orlandina Basket (in Italian). 14 July 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  13. ↑ "Arnoldas KULBOKA". championsleague.basketball. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  14. ↑ "Star Lineup revealed, Kulboka Best Young Player". championsleague.basketball. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  15. ↑ "Arnoldas Kulboka kommt nach Bamberg zurück". www.brosebamberg.de (in German). 23 July 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  16. ↑ "Forty-three international early entry candidates withdraw from NBA Draft 2018". NBA.com. 12 June 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  17. ↑ Levitt, Daniel (22 June 2018). "NBA draft 2018: Phoenix Suns select Deandre Ayton with No 1 pick – live!". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  18. ↑ "Arnoldas Kulboka Vasaros lygoje debiutuos „Hornets" gretose". BasketNews.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  19. ↑ "Hornets Announce Roster for MGM Resorts NBA Summer League 2018". NBA.com. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  20. ↑ "Tritaškį su pražanga pelnęs A.Kulboka galingai debiutavo NBA vasaros lygoje". 24sek.lt. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  21. ↑ "Arnoldas Kulboka - U16 European Championship Men (2014)". www.fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  22. ↑ "Arnoldas Kulboka - U18 Europe Championship Men - Division A". u18men.fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  23. ↑ "Lithuania at the FIBA U18 European Championship Division A 2016 - FIBA.com". FIBA.com. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  24. ↑ "Lithuanie at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017 - FIBA.basketball". FIBA.basketball (in French). Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  25. ↑ "Jauna Lietuvos rinktinė su kaupu išnaudojo savo šansą: antrąkart sutriuškintas Kosovas". DELFI.lt. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
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