A recent New York Knicks draft selection is out indefinitely after incurring a major ailment while playing for his country at EuroBasket.
New York may not have a ton of active players competing for their countries at the continental competition beyond French power forward Guerschon Yabusele, but another technical Knicks asset is sadly ailing.
Point guard Rokas Jokubaitis, a 2021 New York draft-and-stash selection (the Knicks selected him with the No. 34 pick), hurt his left knee while playing for his native Lithuania in a win against Utah Jazz All-Star forward Lauri Markkanen's Finnish national team.
According to a press statement from his EuroLeague club Bayern Munich, Jokubaitis will now be on the shelf for not just the rest of EuroBasket, but also a sizable chunk of the impending 2025-26 basketball season.
"Injuries are unfortunately part of sports, but this one is, of course, devastating for Rokas," FCBB Sports Director Dragan Tarlac said Tuesday. "We have enjoyed watching Rokas so much at EuroBasket – he has been outstanding and has led his team as a true leader. But we have no doubt that with his spirit and fighting mentality, he will come back stronger from this."
Exact details of the injury have yet to be divulged. According to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com, the injury extends to the 6-foot-4 guard's ACL and meniscus.
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"We're waiting for him and will now support him in every possible way so that he can return to the court next year," Tarlac added. "The same goes for Jo Voigtmann, for whom we also kept our fingers crossed in pursuit of his EuroBasket dream. At least we'll have him back with us soon. We will now support the coaches as best we can during preseason and the early phase of the season to get through this challenging period together."
Jokubaitis hurt the knee while attempting a drive.
Instead of exploring the NBA (the Knicks have his rights, should he want to give the world's most competitive league a go at some point), Jokubaitis suited up for FC Barcelona and then Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Lithuania has already nailed an appearance in the round of 16, although it'll be doing so without its best passer. In his four healthy bouts with his home country, Jokubaitis averaged 17.3 points on 49.1 percent shooting from the floor (55.6 percent from deep), 8.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He'll no doubt be missed.
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