Darius Maskoliūnas

Darius Maskoliūnas (born 6 January 1971) is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach, former player, and politician.

Early life Maskoliūnas graduated from the first secondary school, in Jonava.

Professional career During his pro club playing career, Maskoliūnas won the championship of Europe's secondary level competition, the FIBA European Cup (FIBA Saporta Cup), in the 1997-98 season), and the championship of Europe's primary level competition, the EuroLeague, in the 1998-99 season. He won both championships while a member of the Lithuanian League (LKL) club Žalgiris Kaunas.

In November 2019, Maskoliūnas was appointed as the head coach of the senior Lithuania men's national basketball team, however following Lithuania's 85–96 loss to the Slovenia national team, led by Luka Dončić, in the final of the 2020 FIBA Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Kaunas, Lithuania he resigned in July 2021.

Coaching career

After his basketball playing career ended, Maskoliūnas started a career working as a basketball coach. More recently, a growing number of online Lithuanian basketball community members have dubbed him ‘’makaluotojas’’ (Eng. one who beats or does something hurriedly, usually without much regard to quality) after his use of the word in an exhibition game to encourage his players to beat defenders with trick moves.

In 2010, Maskoliūnas graduated from the Faculty of Politics and Management of Mykolas Romeris University.