Darjus Lavrinovic

Not only identical looks, but also similar playing styles do not allow us to separate these twins from each other even in analysis. In real life Darjus and Ksistof are always together when not seperated by hundreds of miles playing for different clubs. The Lavrinovic brothers’ basketball story is rather fascinating knowing some of the details of their past. We hope that this little deviation from basketball will keep our readers more interested than scared.

The brothers were sued and convicted in a rape case 5 years ago, involving a local girl, with whom they had sexual relationships. The real details of the story still remain murky. It's been speculated that the twins had become targets of blackmail. Actually, the victim allegedly changed her mind during the litigation process and even fictitiously agreed to marry one of the brothers, trying to prove that the sex had been consensual. Nevertheless, the court found the brothers guilty and sentenced them to imprisonment. They disappeared from the public eye for a few years, and during that time the twins spent all their time in jail playing against each other every single day. When they came back, only few could believe their eyes. Remembering only two tall kids with limited potential, people saw two matured players with a nice shooting touch arriving out of nowhere. However the delight of playing was soon stopped for one of the brothers, Darjus, who tore knee ligaments just before the 2003 Eurobasket (he aggravated the same injury in 2004 and started playing again only in January 2005). His brother Ksystof at the time enjoyed a gold medal at the Eurobasket that year in Sweden (though being more of a reserve) and was a much bigger part of the team in the unlucky Athens Olympics showdown for Lithuania. A few months before that Ksistof drew the interest of the Toronto Raptors, who invited him for tryouts, but his past conviction played a part here as he couldn’t get a visa in time.