The path that Barça and Jasikevicius undertook together three years ago has come to an end. The Lithuanian will not continue on the Barça bench, news that La Vanguardia has been able to confirm. Roger Grimau (44 years old), a former Barça player who has coached the subsidiary this season, will be his substitute for the next two seasons.
Jasikevicius’s contract was up and it was the club’s priority to continue on the bench of the basketball team, brilliant champion of the Endesa League, but ultimately both parties have not reached an agreement to prolong their relationship with the coach.
The club, which is immersed in a deep cut in the budget of the section, of around 25%, had the intention of renewing the Kaunas coach, one of the best paid in the squad, downwards. After a few months in which relations between the parties had not been the best, in the last month the negotiation seemed to have been on track and the technician had agreed to lower his salary. Hence the capital surprise at his goodbye.
Jasikevicius, an idol as Barça’s point guard in his two spells at the Palau, architect among others of the club’s first Euroleague in 2003, thus leaves the club for the third time after having won two Copas del Rey and two Copas del Rey on the Barça bench. Endesa Leagues, the latter just a few days ago. However, he would be left with the bitter taste of not having won the Euroleague despite having qualified his team for the final four in his three seasons. In Cologne, in 2021, they lost in the final against Anadolu Efes. And both in Belgrade (2022) and in Kaunas (2023), his hometown to make matters worse, he lost in the semifinals against Real Madrid, making that European wound even bigger.
For his part, Roger Grimau had spent two seasons coaching the Barça subsidiary and the junior team with notable successes and the continuous training of players. His choice also has enormous symbolism since he was the captain who lifted the last Euroleague that Barça won, in 2010 in Paris.
Jasikevicius’ goodbye is part of a context of changes at Barça, which has already made the painful (and controversial) decision to do without Nikola Mirotic due to his high salary.
