Joe Arlauckas

Joseph John Arlauckas (born July 20, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player of Lithuanian descent. During his playing career, he played at the power forward 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 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, in a game against the Italian club Virtus Bologna. The game took place during the 1995–96 season, and occurred on February 26, 1996. Radivoj Korać holds the overall all-time EuroLeague (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. He was born to an immigrant father from Lithuania, and to an Italian American mother. Arlauckas attended Thomas Jefferson High School, in Rochester, where he played high school basketball.

College career Arlauckas played four years of college basketball in the NCAA Division I, at Niagara University, 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 (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 by the Sacramento Kings, along with their first round draft pick Kenny Smith. In his first season in the NBA, the Kings had a poor regular season record of 24–58 (sixth place of the Midwest Division), which started with Hall of Famer Bill Russell's brief stint as the Kings' head coach, during which time the Kings had a record of 17–41.

During his sole season in the NBA, 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 NBA's Sacramento Kings. He then went to Italy, where he played for six months of time in the top-tier level Serie A with Snaidero Caserta. He went on to have a successful career playing in Spain, playing in the top-tier level Liga ACB.

In Spain, he played with Caja de Ronda, Taugrés, and Real Madrid, winning several individual and team accolades. He signed with Madrid in 1993 after they paid Taugrés 25 million pesetas for the transfer and the loan of young player Ignacio Castellanos. At Real Madrid, he formed one of European basketball's most fearsome front courts, along with center Arvydas Sabonis, and he won the championship of the top-tier level European league, the FIBA European League, with Real Madrid in 1995 against Olympiacos. With Madrid, he also won the second-tier level European league, the FIBA EuroCup, 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 as Madrid won the game 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 and Aris Thessaloniki.

Post-playing career After he retired from playing basketball, Arlauckas became a sports commentator, working for EuroLeague TV.

Career statistics

NBA Source

Regular season

Honors and awards Italian Cup winner: 1988 4× Spanish League All-Star: 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995 Spanish Cup winner: 1993 Spanish Cup MVP: 1993 Spanish League champion: 1993–94 FIBA European League champion: 1994–95 FIBA European League Top Scorer: 1995–96 FIBA EuroCup champion: 1996–97 Greek League All-Star: 1998 101 Greats of European Basketball: 2018