{{Short description|Lithuanian professional basketball player and coach}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox basketball biography | name = Modestas Paulauskas | image = Modestas Paulauskas 1970.jpg | caption = Paulauskas in 1970, as a member of the USSR national team | height_cm = 193 | weight_kg = 93 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1945|3|19|df=y}} | birth_place = Kretinga, Lithuania <!-- Do not change to Soviet Union. The subject of Lithuania's incorporation into the USSR is controversial, and there is currently no consensus on Wikipedia whether to include people from the Baltic states as Soviet-born or not. For example, according to the official NBA website Arvydas Sabonis (Lithuanian and Soviet national teams player) is from Lithuania, not Lithuanian SSR or Soviet Union: https://www.nba.com/stats/player/717/career --> | career_start = 1962 | career_end = 1976 | career_position = Small forward | career_number = 5 | coach_start = 1977 | coach_end = 1998 | years1 = 1962–1976 | team1 = Žalgiris Kaunas | cyears1 = 1991–1992 | cteam1 = Žalgiris Kaunas | cyears2 = 1997–1998 | cteam2 = Statyba-Lietuvos rytas Vilnius | highlights = '''As a player:''' * EuroBasket MVP (1965) * 7× Lithuanian Sportsman of the Year (1965–1967, 1969–1972) * 3× FIBA European Selection (1969, 1971, 1972) * FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991) * No. 5 retired by Žalgiris Kaunas | FIBA_HOF_player = Modestas-Paulauskas | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|Men's basketball}} {{MedalCountry | the {{bk|URS}} }} {{MedalCompetition|Summer Olympics}} {{MedalGold|1972 Munich|}} {{MedalBronze|1968 Mexico City|}} {{MedalCompetition|FIBA World Cup}} {{MedalGold|1967 Uruguay|}} {{MedalGold|1974 Puerto Rico|}} {{MedalBronze|1970 Yugoslavia|}} {{MedalCompetition|FIBA Eurobasket}} {{MedalGold|1965 Soviet Union|}} {{MedalGold|1967 Finland|}} {{MedalGold|1969 Italy|}} {{MedalGold|1971 West Germany|}} {{MedalBronze|1973 Spain|}} {{MedalCompetition|Summer Universiade}} {{MedalGold|1970 Turin|}} {{MedalBronze|1965 Budapest|}} {{MedalCompetition|European Championship for Juniors}} {{MedalGold|1964 Italy| Under-20}} }}
'''Modestas''' "'''Iron Modė'''" '''Paulauskas'''<ref name=n1 group=note/> (19 March 1945) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player and coach.
As a player, he was the youngest EuroBasket MVP in history, being only 20 years old at the time he won the award. He is known for having been one of the best Lithuanian basketball players of all time, and for having excellent dribbling ability. He was selected as the Lithuanian Sportsman of the Year, a record seven times, in 1965–1967, and 1969–1972.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Stankovic|first1=Vladimir|title=Modestas Paulauskas, the first Lithuanian "King"|url=http://www.euroleague.net/features/voices/2012-2013/vladimir-stankovic/i/111065/modestas-paulauskas-the-first-lithuanian-king|website=Euroleague.net|access-date=25 March 2013}}</ref> He was a member of the Soviet Union team that won gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
In 1991, he was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players.
In 2021, he was included into the FIBA Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite web |title=Modestas Paulauskas kartu su Nashu ir Pesičiumi įtrauktas į FIBA Šlovės muziejų |url=https://www.basketnews.lt/news-150614-modestas-paulauskas-kartu-su-nashu-ir-pesiciumi-itrauktas-i-fiba-sloves-muzieju.html |website=BasketNews.lt |access-date=30 March 2021 |language=lt}}</ref>
==Club career== Paulauskas spent his whole club career with Lithuanian teams: Neptūnas Klaipėda, Atletas Kaunas, Žalgiris Kaunas, despite getting attention from teams based in Western Europe and the National Basketball Association (NBA). He could not join them due to various reasons, one of such is Lithuania was part of the Soviet Union at that time, and it was very hard to travel abroad USSR. The other reason was he never actually wanted to leave his homeland – Lithuania. He was also asked to join Žalgiris Kaunas's main rival, CSKA Moscow, but he declined.<ref name="Butkus">{{cite web|last1=Butkus|first1=Saulius|title=Į NBA kviestas M. Paulauskas: jei būčiau išvykęs, būtų nukentėję mano artimieji|url=https://www.delfi.lt/krepsinis/naujienos/i-nba-kviestas-m-paulauskas-jei-buciau-isvykes-butu-nukenteje-mano-artimieji-67635566|website=DELFI|access-date=21 June 2017|language=lt|date=7 April 2015}}</ref><ref name="Mode">{{cite web |last1=Inčiūra |first1=Gediminas |title=Žmonių likimus keitęs Geležinis Modė – apie antausius Maskvai, užtartą Sabą ir Šaro vardą palubėse |url=https://www.delfi.lt/krepsinis/naujienos/zmoniu-likimus-keites-gelezinis-mode-apie-antausius-maskvai-uztarta-saba-ir-saro-varda-palubese-79952355 |website=DELFI |access-date=29 August 2025 |language=lt}}</ref><ref name="TSD">{{cite web |title=Modestas Paulauskas. Krepšinio Švyturys |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1mbL9oOn8w |website=TV Sporto Dokumentika via YouTube.com |date=28 July 2017}}</ref><ref name="Vle">{{cite web |last1=Stonkus |first1=Stanislovas |title=Modestas Paulauskas |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/modestas-paulauskas/ |website=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija |access-date=31 August 2025 |language=lt}}</ref>
Paulauskas, nicknamed "Iron Modė", would often score half points for his team even before the introduction of the three-point line.<ref name="Mode"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Staniulis |first1=Alvydas |title=Geležinis Modė mėgaujasi provincija |url=https://www.lrytas.lt/zmones/veidai-ir-vardai/2008/03/07/news/gelezinis-mode-megaujasi-provincija-5914605/amp/ |website=Lrytas.lt |access-date=29 August 2025 |language=lt}}</ref><ref name="TSD"/>
==National team career== Then just 20-year-old Paulauskas debuted in the senior Soviet Union men's national basketball team during the EuroBasket 1965, led the Soviet team to a EuroBasket title and was named the FIBA EuroBasket MVP (he is the all-time youngest player to receive this award).<ref name="Vle"/> Subsequently, he won three more EuroBasket titles in the EuroBasket 1967, EuroBasket 1969, EuroBasket 1971, and a bronze medal in the EuroBasket 1973.<ref name="Vle"/>
Paulauskas also was a part of the senior Soviet Union men's national basketball teams that won the bronze medal at the 1968 Summer Olympic Games, and the gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games.<ref name=sr/><ref name="Vle"/> Paulauskas became the captain of the senior Soviet national team in 1969.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Andzelis|first1=Paulius|title=M.Paulauskas: "Marškinėlių pakėlimas – didžiausias įvertinimas žaidėjui"|url=http://www.zalgiris.lt/lt/naujienos/id/9466/|website=Žalgiris.lt|access-date=8 September 2015}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="Vle"/>
Moreover, Paulauskas two-times became a FIBA World Champion in the 1967 FIBA World Championship, 1974 FIBA World Championship, and won a bronze medal in the 1970 FIBA World Championship.<ref name="Vle"/>
Paulauskas is the all-time most titled Lithuanian basketball player of the FIBA championships and Olympic Games.<ref name="Butkus"/><ref>{{cite web |title="Iš istorijos puslapių": M.Paulauskas – tituluočiausias Lietuvos krepšininkas |url=https://www.sportas.lt/naujiena/19394/is-istorijos-puslapiu-m-paulauskas-tituluociausias-lietuvos-krepsininkas |website=Sportas.lt |access-date=29 August 2025 |language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Abromaitis |first1=Arūnas |title=Olimpinis čempionas Modestas Paulauskas: Niekada nesakykite, kad pralaimėsite |url=https://ve.lt/naujienos/sportas/olimpinis-cempionas-modestas-paulauskas-niekada-nesakykite-kad-pralaimesite-1612886 |website=Vakarų ekspresas |access-date=29 August 2025 |language=lt |date=7 February 2018}}</ref><ref name="Vle"/>
==Coaching career== After retiring from playing basketball competitions, Paulauskas worked as a coach of the Soviet Union junior national teams from 1977 to 1989. In the early 1990s, he was the head coach of his native club, Žalgiris Kaunas.<ref name=r1/> After that, he coached basketball in schools, both in Lithuania and in Russia.<ref name=r2/>
==Notes== {{Reflist|group=note|refs= <ref name=n1 group=note>{{langx|lt|Modestas Juozapas Paulauskas}}<br /> {{langx|ru|Модестас Йозапас Феликсович Паулаускас}}</ref>}}
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=sr>{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/pa/modestas-paulauskas-1.html |title=Modestas Paulauskas |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418000504/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/pa/modestas-paulauskas-1.html |archive-date=2020-04-18}}</ref> <ref name=r1>Khodorkovskii, Boris. [http://www.nevasport.ru/articles.php?id=2753 Баскетбол. Три секунды и тридцать лет]. evasport.ru</ref> <ref name=r2>Nagornyh Elena (17 November 2008) [http://www.rg.ru/2008/11/17/trener.html Уроки Паулаускаса]. rg.ru</ref> }}
==Further reading== * {{in lang|lt}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20100119174125/http://www.eurobasket.lt/lt/interviu/49518 INTERVIU: M.Paulauskas: "Noriu būti reikalingas" (FOTO)]. Eurobasket.lt. * {{in lang|lt}} [http://kauno.diena.lt/dienrastis/kita/modestas-paulauskas-19224 Modestas PAULAUSKAS]. Kauno diena.
==External links== {{Commons category|Modestas Paulauskas}} *{{sports links}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20190119174310/http://archive.fiba.com/pages/eng/fa/p/rpp//q/Modestas%20Paulauskas/pid//_//players.html FIBA Player Profile]
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