Veteran Nuggets govt Martynas Pocius is leaving the NBA to turn into a deputy common supervisor for Spanish powerhouse Actual Madrid, studies Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com.
Pocius has spent the previous eight years working in Denver’s entrance workplace, most not too long ago holding the title of assistant director of professional personnel, Urbonas writes. The 39-year-old has additionally served as a Nuggets scout each within the NBA and across the globe.
Pocius performed school basketball for — and graduated from — Duke and competed within the EuroLeague for a number of years previous to retiring in 2017, as Kendra Andrews wrote for The Athletic in 2020. Pocius, who was a guard, performed for Zalgiris Kaunas in his native Lithuania in addition to Actual Madrid and Galatasaray (Turkey).
“Since I performed at Duke, I had seven surgical procedures,” Pocius instructed Andrews. “It took a toll on my physique and I used to be on this cycle of getting injured, having surgical procedure, making an attempt rehab, all to return again after which have it occur once more … I used to be reaching a degree the place I wasn’t having fun with basketball as a lot as I used to. I used to be a fitness center rat and I liked the fitness center, and it wasn’t enjoyable being there anymore.”
Pocius additionally received a pair of medals — a bronze on the 2010 World Cup and a silver at EuroBasket 2013 — with the Lithuanian nationwide crew, Urbonas notes.
Pocius shall be working alongside former Actual Madrid backcourt mate Sergio Rodriguez in operating the crew’s entrance workplace. Rodriguez, a former NBA first-round decide, retired as a participant final 12 months.
It’s value noting that Pocius received his begin with the Nuggets as a result of his connection to childhood buddy Tommy Balcetis. In line with Andrews, whereas they had been each attending Balcetis’ marriage ceremony, former head of basketball operations Tim Connelly provided Pocius a job if he determined to retire, one thing he wound up doing a 12 months later.
The Nuggets determined to not retain Balcetis in June after the crew’s former assistant GM had spent 12 years with the group.
