By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Rokas Jokubaitis finally made his Bayern Munich debut on Sunday, 384 days after suffering a serious knee injury at EuroBasket. The Lithuanian guard returned in Bayern’s 108-72 win over Brose Bamberg in the German League opener.
Jokubaitis joined Bayern after the best EuroLeague season of his career with Maccabi Tel Aviv, but the injury he sustained against Finland on September 1, 2025, kept him out for the entire season.
Speaking to Euroleague.net before his return, he described the strange feeling of having spent a year at the club without playing an official game.
“It’s like my second season with Bayern, but officially, no… It was like a one-year-long rehab and I’m still waiting for my first official game for Bayern.”
The timing made the setback particularly painful.
“I think it happened in the worst moment, because I was playing the best basketball of my career – in EuroBasket and the season before with Maccabi,”
Jokubaitis initially hoped the injury was less serious, but an MRI the next morning confirmed that he needed surgery. Throughout rehab, people told him he would come back stronger. At first, he struggled to believe them.
“You have to go through the process to understand that you get stronger. Not my muscles necessarily, but my head, my mentality.”
Now back on the court, Jokubaitis wants to regain his form and confidence and help Bayern compete for a playoff place. More immediately, he wants to enjoy playing again.
“I realized that one year without basketball is too much. I felt that basketball is really important for me, and without playing, I’m not the same person. So now I have to appreciate it more.”
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