Vaidas Kariniauskas
Lithuanian basketball player (born 1993)
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Vaidas Kariniauskas (born 16 November 1993) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player and team captain for Šiauliai of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL). Standing at 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in), he primarily plays at the point guard position.
Kariniauskas with Lithuania national team in 2021 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 8 – Šiauliai | |||||||||||||||
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| Position | Point guard | ||||||||||||||
| League | LKL | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | 16 November 1993 Alytus, Lithuania | ||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Lithuanian | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 198 cm (6 ft 6 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 92 kg (203 lb) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| NBA draft | 2015: undrafted | ||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 2009–present | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| 2009–2015 | Žalgiris | ||||||||||||||
| 2009–2013 | →Žalgiris-2 | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | →Lietkabelis | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | Kymis | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Cantù | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | U-BT Cluj-Napoca | ||||||||||||||
| 2018 | Oradea | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Lietkabelis | ||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Kymis | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Igokea | ||||||||||||||
| 2020 | Nevėžis Kėdainiai | ||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | Juventus Utena | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | Rytas Vilnius | ||||||||||||||
| 2022 | Brose Bamberg | ||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Rapid București | ||||||||||||||
| 2023–2025 | Wolves Twinsbet | ||||||||||||||
| 2025–present | Šiauliai | ||||||||||||||
| Career highlights | |||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Professional career
Kariniauskas won the NKL bronze in 2012 and 2013 with BC Žalgiris-2.[1] On 19 November 2013, he was loaned to BC Lietkabelis in order to get more playing time.[2] After his loan spell, he rejoined Žalgiris for the 2014–15 season, winning the LKL league and the LKF Cup.[3]
On 19 June 2015, Kariniauskas signed a 1+1 year deal with Kymis of the Greek A2 Basket League.[4]
On 18 August 2016, Kariniauskas signed with Italian club Pallacanestro Cantù of the LBA.[5] On 1 February 2017, he parted ways with Cantù.[6] The same day, he signed with Romanian club U-BT Cluj-Napoca.[7]
On 22 July 2021, Kariniauskas signed with Rytas Vilnius of the Lithuanian Basketball League.[8]
On 2 August 2022, Kariniauskas signed a one-year deal with Brose Bamberg of the German Basketball Bundesliga.[9]
On 8 December 2022, Kariniauskas signed with Rapid București of the Romanian Liga Națională.[10]
On 14 September 2023, Kariniauskas signed a two-year contract with Wolves Twinsbet of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and the EuroCup.[11]
On 7 August 2025, Kariniauskas signed with Šiauliai of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL).[12]
National team career
Kariniauskas was an active participant on youth competitions and won a silver medal at the 2009 European U-16 Championship. In 2015, he was included into the Lithuania men's national basketball team head coach Jonas Kazlauskas extended candidates list.[13] Though, he was not invited to the training camp later on.[14] He was invited to the training camp the following year.[15] Firstly, Kariniauskas did not qualify for the Olympic roster, but later on he replaced Edgaras Ulanovas due to injury.[16]
In 2023, Kariniauskas represented Lithuania at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup. On 3 September 2023, he scored a team-high 15 points, along with four rebounds and two assists, leading Lithuania to a 110–104 win over the United States.[17]