The 17-year professional career of long-time Turkish Airlines EuroLeague player Mantas Kalnietis will come to a close at the end of this month, Zalgiris Kaunas, the team he grew up with and plays for now, announced on Wednesday.
Kalnietis, 36 years old, will hang up his basketball shoes following a Lithuanian League game on Sunday, January 29. Due in part to injuries, he has appeared in just two EuroLeague games for Zalgiris this season, in Round 5 and Round 12.
"This 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. I will look for new goals in life," Kalnietis told Zalgiris TV. "I have no doubt that there will be no shortage of emotions on the last day."
A classic tall guard who could score, pass, drive and run a team, Kalnietis will have played a total of 10 seasons with Zalgiris, beginning and ending his career in the EuroLeague with his hometown club. He also spent five seasons with Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, with whom he won the 7DAYS EuroCup title for the 2012-13 season.