Mindaugas Kuzminskas is not your typical NBA rookie.
For one, the Knicks small forward will celebrate his 27th birthday on Wednesday, which makes him one of the oldest rookies to play in the NBA. And for two, when asked Sunday what players have inspired him the most over the course of his life, the Lithuanian small forward listed two players that few NBA fans of heard of: Saulius and Zita Kuzminskas.
Zita Kuzminskas, his mother, played for both the Soviet Union and Lithuanian national teams. The 6-11 Saulius played for a short time at Cal Berkeley before returning to play professionally in both Lithuania and Poland.