Žydrūnas Urbonas

Urbonas with Juventus Utena in 2015
BC Šiauliai
Position	Head coach
League	Lithuanian Basketball League
Personal information
Born	(1976-10-04) 4 October 1976 Zarasai, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union
Nationality	Lithuanian
Listed height	6 ft 6.7 in (2.00 m)
Listed weight	220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
NBA draft	1998: undrafted
Playing career	1993–2012
Position	Small forward / power forward
Coaching career	2012–present
Career history
As player:
1993–1994	Lietkabelis Panevėžys
1994–1995	Lavera Kaunas
1995–1998	Lietkabelis Panevėžys
1998–1999	Šilutė
1999–2001	Šiauliai
2001–2002	Metallurg Magnitogorsk
2002–2003	Šiauliai
2003	AGE Chalkida
2003–2005	Šiauliai
2005–2006	Barons Riga
2006–2007	AEL Limassol
2007–2008	Lietkabelis Panevėžys
2008	Alytus
2008–2009	Donetsk
2009–2012	Juventus Utena
As coach:
2012–2017	Juventus Utena (assistant)
2017–2022	Juventus Utena
2023	Sigal Prishtina
2023–present	Šiauliai
Career highlights and awards
LKL Most Valuable Player (2001) 2× LKL All-Star (2001, 2003) No. 8 retired by Juventus Utena
Medals Men's Basketball Representing  Lithuania FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship 1994 Israel U-18 Team

Žydrūnas Urbonas (born 4 October 1976, in Zarasai, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR) is a professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for Šiauliai of the LKL.^[1]

Playing career

Urbonas made his professional debut in the 1993–94 season and continued to play for various teams in the Lithuanian Basketball League for another eight years, playing for BC Lietkabelis, BC Lavera, being one of the team leaders there, before signing with BC Šiauliai, where he reached his biggest success, helping the team finish in 3rd place in 2000 and 2001, and becoming the LKL MVP in the 2001 season. In 2001, he moved to Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Russian Basketball Super League 1, however, after the season he returned to BC Šiauliai and spent the 2002–03 season there before signing with AGE Chalkida of the Greek A2 Basket League for a brief time in 2003, though he returned to BC Šiauliai again to finish the 2003-2004 season and played a full 2004–05 season. He helped the team to win 3rd place in the LKL in 2004, and helped them win the LKL, BBL and FIBA Euro Cup Conference North 3rd places. In the 2005–06 season Urbonas signed with Barons Riga of the Latvian Basketball League and then moved to AEL Limassol of the Cyprus Basketball Division A for the 2006–07 season. Urbonas returned to Lithuania in 2007 and played there until autumn 2008 before signing with Donetsk of the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague for the 2008–2009 season. He finished his career playing for Juventus Utena from 2009 to 2012.^[2]

Coaching career

In 2009, Urbonas became a player-coach and the team's president when he joined Juventus Utena,^[3] and then became the assistant coach when he retired in 2012. He served as head coach under Rytis Vaišvila, Vitoldas Masalskis, Virginijus Sirvydis and Antanas Sireika, who coached and mentored him back during his playing days in BC Šiauliai. He was still assistant coach, this time under Gediminas Petrauskas, in the 2017-2018 season, but became head coach by October, after Petrauskas resigned due to poor results.

National team career

Urbonas won a gold medal with the Lithuanian under-18 national team in 1994 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship.^[4]

Career statistics

References