Then, Arturas served as an international scout for the Rockets. It was all interesting when he gathered most of the limelight with his contract with the Nuggets.
First, a player then opted for an executive; Arturas Karnisovas is quite a famous name in the world of basketball.
To remain specific about his work, he serves as the Chicago Bulls‘ basketball operations executive vice president.
Arturas is a native of Klaipeda who landed up in the United States as an eighteen-year-old teenager to fulfill his dreams.
He has enjoyed a series of international careers, starting from playing overseas to being part of the most reputed organization as a manager or executive.
FACTS ABOUT ARTURAS KARNISOVAS
- Full Name: Artūras Karnišovas
- Birth Date: April 27, 1971 (51 Years)
- Birth Place: Klaipėda, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union
- Nationality: Lithuanian
- Education: Seton Hall University
- Horoscope: Taurus
- Father’s Name: Mykolas
- Mother’s Name: Irena
- Height: 6 feet 8 inches (2.04 m)
- Weight: 103 kg (227 lbs)
- Hair Color: Black
- Eye Color :Black
- Marital Status: Gina Karnisovas in 1997
- Children: Two sons (Eric and Michael)
- Occupation: Executive vice president of the Chicago Bulls
- Net Worth: $2 million
- Active: Since 1987- present
- Currently Works: Chicago Bulls(NBA)
Arturas Karnisovas | Early Life and Family
Arturas Karnisovas, Bulls’ President, was born on April 27, 1971, to his parents, Mykolas and Irena, in Lithuania SSR, Soviet Union.
Well, nothing has been retrieved regarding his siblings from internet sources. So maybe, he is only the kid in the family.
Moreover, his father was also a basketball player at Vilnius for the club Stayba which is the same club that Arturas played for during his high school days.
And they were the only father-son duo to pop in for some games together at some point in their careers. The basketballer started his career in Lithuania and played until 1990.
As an eighteen-year-old teenager, Arturas always held the dream of playing in the United States. And side by side, he also wished to do well in academics.
College Career
Arturas unlocked his way to further his career in basketball and received an invitation from Seton Hall University. It was all possible under Arturas Marciulonis and head coach PJ Carlesimo’s recommendation during the 1990 FIBA World Championship.
As a matter of fact, Arturas was the first-ever player from the USSR to get enrolled in an American College who knew not even a word of English.
In his four years of career at Seton Hall University, he led his team to win two Big East Tournaments and was certified for the NCAA Tournament four times in a row.
Not to mention, Karnisovas was the only player to bring himself up as a leader for all four teams. He also took studies side by side. As a result, economics was never a problem during the four seasons of his basketball career.
Arturas Karnisovas | Professional Playing Career
The basketballer opted and tried quite a lot harder for the NBA but could not draw any attention from the NBA team in the 1994 NBA draft.
He then initiated playing overseas until 2002. Then, finally, his college coach P. J. Carlesimo sensed his inability to perform in North America.
And later, his coach instead directed him to Europe as he would be covered with maximum financial return.
Not only that, Arturas is one of the few players to have made a name in Europe’s four biggest national domestic league championships, Spain (for FC Barcelona), Italy (Fortitudo Bologna), and Greece (Olympiacos Piraeus), and France (Cholet).
Furthermore, his major career highlight began when he made it to the EuroLeague’s EuroLeague Final Four three times.
Arturas headed the 1998–99 EuroLeague season in free throw percentage. He was also named FIBA’s European Player of the Year in 1996.
Arturas Karnisovas | National Team Career
He is a proud Lithuanian, a sign itself that Arturas must have indulged in the national team. Arturas headed the senior men’s Lithuanian national basketball team to grab the bronze medals at the Summer Olympic Games in 1992 and 1996.
He also remained the player for Eurobasket 1995 and won the silver medal in 1995 and 1997.
Arturas played for 13 minutes as per sources, but he scored 10 points during the 1992 Olympics game.
Going through the internet, look what we found; here is a video where Arturas competed with Michael Jordan in 1997.
Is Arturas Karnisovas playing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics?
No, the two-time Olympian will not be present at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as he is a retired player. Hence, he hasn’t played professional basketball since 2002 and is in his 50s.
So, he probably won’t be an asset to the Lithuania men’s national basketball team. However, during his playing career, he helped lead Lithuania to two consecutive bronze medals in the 1992 and 1996
In 1992, the executive VP’s team defeated Brazil in the quarterfinals but got defeated by the USA in the semi-finals. Thereafter they played against CIS to claim the Bronze medal.
Similarly, in 1994, the Lithuania men’s national basketball team defeated Greece in the quarterfinals but got beaten by FR Yugoslavia national basketball team in the semi-finals.
Arturas Karnisovas | Post Playing Career
After wrapping up his playing career in 2002, Arturas landed a job at National Basketball Association’s basketball operations office from 2003 to 2008.
Later on, he also served as an international scout for the Houston Rockets for five years.
Meanwhile, Arturas also directed the players picked in the NBA draft—in 2011 and 2012 in the Adidas Eurocamp, a preparation tournament.
Later on June 15, 2017, he took the job of general manager for Nuggets while Tim Connelly was promoted to president’s post.
