Joseph John Arlauckas (born July 20, 1965) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player of Lithuanian descent. During his playing career, he played at the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

position. In 2018, he was named one of the 101 Greats of European Basketball. Arlauckas is well-known for holding the record for the most points scored in a modern-era single

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

game, including only games played since the 1991–92 season. He scored 63 points in a FIBA European League (EuroLeague) game, while playing with the Spanish club

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, in a game against the Italian club

Virtus Bologna Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...

. The game took place during the 1995–96 season, and occurred on February 26, 1996. Radivoj Korać holds the overall all-time

(FIBA European Champions Cup) single-game scoring record, at 99 points scored, counting all games played since the competition began during the 1958 season.

Early years

Arlauckas was born on July 20, 1965, in Rochester,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. He was born to an immigrant father from

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, and to an

Italian American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

mother. Arlauckas attended Thomas Jefferson High School, in Rochester, where he played high school basketball.

College career

Arlauckas played four years of

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

in the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

, at

Niagara University Niagara University (NU) is a private Catholic university in the Vincentian tradition in the census-designated place Niagara University, New York, in the town of Lewiston near Niagara Falls. It is run by the Congregation of the Mission and ...

, with the Purple Eagles. He attended school and played there from 1983 to 1987. During his college career, he was a three-time All-

North Atlantic Conference The North Atlantic Conference (NAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. Member schools are primarily small liberal arts colleges in the New England state ...

(NAC)Second Team selection (1985, 1986, 1987). Arlauckas was inducted into the Niagara Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992. He was inducted into the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC)'s Hall of Fame in 2019.

Professional career

NBA career

Arlauckas was drafted with the 74th pick of the

1987 NBA draft The 1987 NBA draft was held on June 22, 1987, in New York City. This draft included two future members of the NBA 50 Greatest Players list, David Robinson and Scottie Pippen, as well as fellow Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, who was named to t ...

by the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

, along with their first round draft pick Kenny Smith. In his first season in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, the Kings had a poor regular season record of 24–58 (6th place of the Midwest Division), which started with Hall-of-Famer

Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played Center (basketball), center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. He was t ...

's brief stint as the Kings'

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

(during which time the Kings had a record of 17–41). During his sole season in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, Arlauckas appeared in nine games, averaging four points per game, in roughly 10 minutes of play per game.

Europe

On December 14, 1987, Arlauckas was cut by the

Kings Kings or King's may refer to: *Kings: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations. *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'', an 11th-century epic Persia ...

. He then went to Italy, where he played for 6 months of time in the Italian top-tier level LBA with Snaidero Caserta. He went on to have a highly successful career playing in Spain (one exact decade), playing in the Spanish top-tier level

ACB League The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

. In Spain, he played with Caja de Ronda, Taugrés, and

, winning several individual and team accolades; with the latter, he formed one of European basketball's most fearsome front courts, along with center

Arvydas Sabonis Arvydas Romas Sabonis (; born 19 December 1964) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player and businessman. Sabonis won the Euroscar six times and the Mr. Europa Award twice. He played in a variety of leagues, including the Spanish ...

, and he notably won the championship of the top-tier level European league, the FIBA European League (EuroLeague), with Real Madrid, in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, against

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

. With Real Madrid, he also won the 2nd-tier level European league, the

FIBA EuroCup FIBA EuroChallenge (called the FIBA Europe League in 2003–05, and FIBA EuroCup in 2005–08) was the 3rd-tier continental club basketball competition in Europe, from 2003 to 2015. It was organized and run by FIBA Europe. It is not to be confus ...

(FIBA Saporta Cup), during the 1996–97 season. On February 26, 1996, Arlauckas scored 63 points, a record in the modern era of the EuroLeague, against Kinder Bologna in Italy. Real Madrid won the game, by a score of 115–96. In six seasons out of ten played in Spain, Arlauckas averaged more than 20 points per game. He scored 7,543 points in the Liga ACB, for a scoring average of 20.7 points per game. He retired in 2000, at the age of 35, after playing two years in Greece – playing one season apiece with the Greek top-tier level Basket League clubs

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

and

Aris Thessaloniki Athlitikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis, means Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki (), is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club founded on 25 March 1914 in Thessaloniki. Nicknamed ''God of War'', Aris was one of the strongest Greek clubs during t ...

Post-playing career

After he retired from playing basketball, Arlauckas became a

sports commentator In Broadcasting of sports events, sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real time (media), real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present t ...

, working for

EuroLeague TV EuroLeague TV is an internet specialty channel that covers the European professional club basketball system, primary level European-wide men's professional club basketball league, the EuroLeague, as well as the secondary level European-wide baske ...

Honors and awards

Italian Cup Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

winner: 1988 * 4× Spanish League All-Star: 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995 *

Spanish Cup The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanish f ...

winner:

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

MVP:

* Spanish League champion: 1993–94 * FIBA European League (EuroLeague) champion: 1994–95 * FIBA European League (EuroLeague) Top Scorer: 1995–96 *

(FIBA Saporta Cup) champion: 1996–97 * Greek League All-Star: 1998 * 101 Greats of European Basketball: 2018

References

External links

Real Madrid archives

"The czar's best partner"

Joe Arlauckas, the "recordman"

Italian League Profile

Spanish League Profile

Greek Basket League Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arlauckas, Joe 1965 births Living people AEK B.C. players American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players American people of Lithuanian descent Aris B.C. players Baloncesto Málaga players Basketball players from Rochester, New York Juvecaserta Basket players Liga ACB players Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball players Power forwards Real Madrid Baloncesto players Sacramento Kings draft picks Sacramento Kings players Saski Baskonia players 20th-century American sportsmen