Journeyman center Jonas Valanciunas has become the unofficial king of the NBA play-in tournament.
Valanciunas, who now appropriately plays for the Sacramento Kings, is set to appear in the 2025 play-in tournament after his team clinched its spot in the postseason event earlier this week. Once the Lithuanian sets foot on the court for the Kings’ play-in tournament game against the Dallas Mavericks, he will extend his run as the only player in NBA history who has played in every play-in tournament since its inception.
The factoid recently went viral on social media.
This is wild: Jonas Valanciunas is heading to his 6th straight play-in tournament, leading back to its inception in 2020.
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) April 10, 2025
He also has the most points AND rebounds in play-in history. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/YbdzqzTn6U
It’s not exactly a flex to make the tournament year after year. Valanciunas’ constant appearance in the play-in competition simply means that his teams have been consistently mediocre over the last several seasons.
The former fifth-overall pick had a standout performance in the first-ever play-in tournament game during the COVID-shortened season in 2019-20. Valanciunas had a monster stat line of 22 points and 17 rebounds as the starting center of the Memphis Grizzlies in a 126-122 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
After two play-in stints with the Grizzlies, Valanciunas played in the tournament for three consecutive seasons as the starting center of the New Orleans Pelicans.
Valanciunas’ 123 points and 87 rebounds across eight career play-in tournament games are the most in NBA history.
Jonas’ play-in participation streak was in jeopardy earlier this season, given that he had started the year on the lowly Washington Wizards. But a midseason trade to the Kings allowed Valanciunas to keep his play-in run alive for at least one more year.
