By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
After spending most of the 2024-25 campaign on the injury list of Panathinaikos Aktor, Marius Grigonis is set to have surgery to deal with a serious back injury.
Efforts to resume practices and eventually get medical cleared for game action were countered by back pain. Consequently, an operation has been scheduled for the 30-year-old Lithuanian guard on Wednesday. He remains out indefinitely.
His last appearance with the Greens was in Round 3 of Greece’s Stoiximan GBL Regular Season on October 23. He scored 17 points in a winning effort against AEK Betsson before dealing with back spasms and being placed on the injury list. Starting his seventh campaign in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, third with the team based in Athens, he tallied 3.0 points, 1.0 assists, 0.8 rebounds, and 0.2 blocks per contest over four appearances, including two features in the starting lineup of head coach Ergin Ataman.
Kostas Antetokounmpo (knee) remains sidelined as well. In contrast, the remaining players are healthy heading to Round 15 of the 2024-25 Regular Season of the EuroLeague and a clash with Anadolu Efes in Istanbul’s Basketball Development Center on Friday evening.
Last season with Panathinaikos, Grigonis captured the EuroLeague championship for the first time. Earlier achievements include winning the Basketball Champions League with Iberostar Tenerife in 2017. At the domestic level, he was been crowned Greek champion in 2024. In his home country of Lithuania, he emerged as league champion from 2019 to 2021 as a member of Zalgiris.