The 24-year-old Bayern guard proved it in the EuroBasket 2025 opener
Rokas Jokubaitis is new-look Lithuania's leader
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3 Minute de lecture
In the opening game of the tournament, Rokas Jokubaitis of FC Bayern Munich took the first opportunity he had to prove he is ready to lead Lithuania at EuroBasket 2025. Lithuania defeated Great Britain 70-94 in Group B in Tampere, Finland, and Jokubaitis played a masterful role, finishing with 12 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists.
Jokubaitis made sure to be noticed soon after the opening tip, helping his team erase a quick 5-0 deficit with a couple of driving layups and finding Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz captain Tadas Sederkeskis under the basket. Jokubaitis had 7 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists in the opening stretch, including a dish to Laurynas Birutis of Zalgiris Kaunas for an alley-oop dunk. He helped Lithuania build a 12-23 lead late in the first quarter.
Even though Great Britain got within 33-41 at halftime, Jokubaitis kept rolling after the break with another driving layup, a step-back three-pointer and 3 more assists. All of a sudden, Lithuania led 38-58 midway through the third quarter and was well on its way to a comfortable victory.
In less than 18 minutes on the floor, Jokubaitis recorded a plus-minus of +21. He committed his fourth foul early in the fourth quarter and never returned to the game. Jonas Valanciunas led five Lithuanian scorers in double digits with 18 points, Azoulas Tubelis of Zalgiris added 17 and Arnas Velicka of Neptunas Klaipeda scored 10.
Lithuania came to the tournament with a younger team, which allowed Jokubaitis an opportunity to lead the squad with the full confidence of three-time EuroCup-winning coach Rimas Kurtinaitis. Jokubaitis went from a young standout in Zalgiris Kaunas to win the EuroLeague Rising Star award with FC Barcelona in the 2021-22 campaign, to play a critical role for Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv, averaging 12.6 points and 4.6 assists in 28 EuroLeague games last season. Jokubaitis has taken all the right steps in his career, and his good choices are paying off right now.
Bayern fans have many reasons to be excited this season about Jokubaitis leading a backcourt filled with great scorers such as Andi Obst, Xavier Rathan-Mayes and Kamar Baldwin.