Darius Songaila facts for kids
Songaila playing for Lietuvos rytas Vilnius
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| BC Šiauliai | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Head coach | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | February 14, 1978 Marijampolė, Lithuania |
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| Nationality | Lithuanian | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| High school | New Hampton School (New Hampton, New Hampshire) |
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| Listed height | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 248 lb (112 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| College | Wake Forest (1998–2002) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NBA Draft | 2002 / Round: 2 / Pick: 50th overall | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Selected by the Boston Celtics | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pro career | 2002–2015 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coaching career | 2015–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | LKL | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| As player: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | CSKA Moscow | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003–2005 | Sacramento Kings | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Chicago Bulls | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006–2009 | Washington Wizards | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2010 | New Orleans Hornets | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2011 | Philadelphia 76ers | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Galatasaray | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Blancos de Rueda Valladolid | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Donetsk | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Lietuvos rytas Vilnius | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Žalgiris Kaunas | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| As coach: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2018 | Žalgiris Kaunas (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020–2024 | San Antonio Spurs (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | Manisa Basket (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2025–present | BC Šiauliai | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||||||||
As assistant coach:
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| Career NBA statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Points | 3,415 (6.9 ppg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rebounds | 1,689 (3.4 rpg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assists | 589 (1.2 apg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Darius Songaila was born on February 14, 1978. He is a famous Lithuanian basketball coach and a former player. He is currently the head coach for BC Šiauliai in Lithuania's top basketball league, LKL. Darius also played for the Lithuanian national team. During his playing career, he was a power forward and a center.
Contents
Early Basketball Journey
Darius Songaila began his basketball journey in 1995. He started with a team called Lietuvos rytas Marijampolė. This team played in Lithuania's second-tier league, the LKAL.
In 1997, Darius moved to the United States. He went to the New Hampton School in New Hampton, New Hampshire. He also played in a special event called the Nike Hoop Summit in 1998. He was even named to the All-European Under-22 Championship Second Team.
College Basketball Career
Darius Songaila played college basketball at Wake Forest University. He was a very good player there. In 2000, he was named Third Team All-ACC. Then, in 2002, he was named Second Team All-ACC. As a senior, he also received an Honorable Mention All-American award from the Associated Press.
Professional Playing Career
Darius Songaila was chosen in the 2002 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics. He was the 50th player picked overall. The Celtics later traded his rights to the Sacramento Kings.
Before playing in the NBA, Darius joined CSKA Moscow for the 2002–03 season. He helped them win the Russian Basketball Super League championship.
Playing for the Sacramento Kings
In June 2003, Darius signed with the Sacramento Kings. He played for them for two seasons. During this time, he averaged 6.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. He played in 154 games and started 28 of them.
Time with the Chicago Bulls
Darius signed a one-year deal with the Chicago Bulls in September 2005. This was one of his best seasons as a player. He averaged 9.2 points and 4.0 rebounds in 62 games. He started 7 games for the Bulls. However, he got an ankle injury in March 2006. This injury made him miss the last 20 games of the season.
Years with the Washington Wizards
On July 17, 2006, Songaila joined the Washington Wizards. He signed a five-year deal with them. He missed the first 45 games of his first season due to a back surgery. He then averaged 7.6 points and 3.6 rebounds in 37 games.
Darius became an important player off the bench for the Wizards. He also started games sometimes. In the 2007–08 season, he averaged 6.2 points and 3.4 rebounds. Towards the end of the 2008–09 season, he became a starter more often. This happened because some of his teammates were injured. He started a career-high 29 games that season. He averaged 7.4 points and 2.9 rebounds.
Other NBA Teams
On June 23, 2009, Darius was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was traded along with Oleksiy Pecherov and Etan Thomas. They were traded for Randy Foye and Mike Miller.
Later, on September 9, 2009, he was traded again. This time, he went to the New Orleans Hornets with Bobby Brown. They were traded for Antonio Daniels.
On September 23, 2010, Darius was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. He was traded with Craig Brackins for Willie Green and Jason Smith. His time with the 76ers saw his lowest career averages. He averaged only 1.6 points per game. After the 2010–11 season, he became a free agent. This meant he could sign with any team.
Playing in Europe
In July 2011, Darius signed a one-year contract with Galatasaray in Turkey.
In March 2012, he left Galatasaray and signed with Blancos de Rueda Valladolid in Spain. Later that year, he joined BC Donetsk in Ukraine.
On October 8, 2013, he signed with Lietuvos rytas Vilnius for one season. On July 22, 2014, he signed a one-year deal with Žalgiris Kaunas.
Darius Songaila retired from playing professional basketball at the end of the 2014–15 season.
Coaching Career
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After retiring as a player, Darius Songaila started his coaching career. On August 5, 2015, he became an assistant coach for Žalgiris Kaunas.
In August 2018, he moved to the National Basketball Association (NBA). He joined the San Antonio Spurs as a quality assurance assistant in their video department. In September 2019, he was promoted to a player development assistant. Then, in November 2020, Songaila became an assistant coach for the Spurs.
On November 1, 2024, he signed with Manisa Basket in Turkey. He joined them as an assistant coach to Kazys Maksvytis. As of July 2025, he is the head coach for BC Šiauliai.
Darius Songaila's Achievements
Darius Songaila has won many awards and championships throughout his career.
As a Player
- He was a Russian champion in 2003.
- He won the Turkish Super Cup in 2011.
- He became a Lithuanian champion in 2015.
- He also won the Lithuanian Federation Cup in 2015.
- In college, he was an Honorable Mention All-American in 2002.
- He was named Second-team All-ACC in 2002 and Third-team All-ACC in 2000.
As an Assistant Coach
- He won the King Mindaugas Cup twice (2017, 2018).
- He helped his team become LKL champions three times (2016, 2017, 2018).
Olympic and EuroBasket Medals
Darius Songaila also represented Lithuania in international competitions:
- He won a Bronze Medal at the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympic Games.
- He won a Gold Medal at EuroBasket 2003 in Sweden.
- He won a Bronze Medal at EuroBasket 2007 in Spain.
Images for kids
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Songaila defending LeBron James
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Songaila during his time with the Washington Wizards
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Songaila with Žalgiris Kaunas in 2018
See also
In Spanish: Darius Songaila para niños
