LKL Slam Dunk Contest

Last updated
Slam Dunk Contest
Sport Lietuvos krepšinio lyga
Local nameOro Karalius (Lithuanian)
History
First award Gary Arrington, 1994
Most wins Darius Sirtautas: 3 times
Most recent Kenny Gaines

The LKL Slam Dunk Contest was an annual Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) competition, that was originally held during the LKL All-Star Day, and later during the King Mindaugas Cup. The contest has been held almost every year, from the first All-Star Day.

Contents

History

Throughout the history of the contest, there have been witnessed many famous moments. Most noticeable being the 2001 contest, in Kaunas, where Robertas Javtokas (representing Lietuvos rytas) repeated the World Record for the highest slam dunk, when he dunked a basketball on a goal set at 3.65m (12 feet) above the floor. [1]

The very first slam dunk contest was won by Gary Arrington, of BC Statyba, at the 1994 LKL All-Star Day, in Panevėžys. [2] The current champion of the LKL Dunk Contest is Kenny Gaines. [3]

Slam Dunk Contest champions

YearPlayerNationalityTeam
1994 (Panevėžys) Gary Arrington Flag of the United States.svg  United States Statyba
1995 (Alytus) Darius Sirtautas Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania Atletas
1997 (Kaunas) Darius Sirtautas (2×)Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania Žalgiris
1998 (Vilnius) Darius Sirtautas (3×)Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania Žalgiris
1999 (Kaunas) Eurelijus Žukauskas Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania Žalgiris
2000 (Kaunas) Robertas Javtokas Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania Lietuvos rytas
2001 (Kaunas) Robertas Javtokas (2×)Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania Lietuvos rytas
2002 (Kaunas) Dainius Šalenga Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania Žalgiris
2003 (Kaunas) Aaron Lucas Flag of the United States.svg  United States Lietuvos rytas
2004 (Kaunas) Marco Spears Flag of the United States.svg  United States Alita
2005 (Vilnius) Antonio Grant Flag of the United States.svg  United States Neptūnas
2007 (Vilnius) Aivaras Kiaušas Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania Sakalai
2008 (Šiauliai) Mantas Kalnietis Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania Žalgiris
2009 (Šiauliai) Arvydas Šikšnius Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania Sakalai
2010 (Panevėžys) Aron Baynes Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Lietuvos rytas
2011 (Šiauliai) Algirdas Palaima Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania Vilnius Pedagogical University, LSKL
2012 (Klaipėda) Sonny Weems Flag of the United States.svg  United States Žalgiris
2013 (Šiauliai) Šarūnas Beniušis Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania LSU-Baltai
2014 (Klaipėda) Travis Leslie Flag of the United States.svg  United States Šiauliai
2015 (Vilnius) Travis Leslie (2×)Flag of the United States.svg  United States Lietuvos rytas
2016 (Vilnius) Rafal Lipinski Flag of Poland.svg  Poland Guest
2017 (Kaunas) Gediminas Žitlinskas Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania Guest
2018 (Klaipėda) Kenny Gaines Flag of the United States.svg  United States Juventus

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BC Žalgiris</span> Basketball team in Lithuania

Basketball Club Žalgiris is a professional basketball team that is based in Kaunas, Lithuania. It competes domestically in the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga. Founded in 1944, it is one of the oldest teams in the EuroLeague. Žalgiris is one of 11 European clubs that holds long-term licenses with the EuroLeague, which provides a guaranteed place in the regular-season phase of this league. Since the 2011–12 season, Žalgiris plays its home games in Žalgiris Arena, which was built just before EuroBasket 2011. The club's name commemorates the victorious Battle of Žalgiris. Both Žalgiris and Grunwald translate to "green wood".

Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL), also known as Betsafe LKL for sponsorship reasons, is the premier professional men's club basketball league in Lithuania. It is composed of 12 teams, and it is a member of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation. The best LKL clubs are also annual participants of the top European-wide basketball competitions, including the top-tier level EuroLeague.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BC Rytas</span> Lithuanian team basketball

Rytas Vilnius is a Lithuanian professional basketball club based in Vilnius, Lithuania. The club was founded in 1997 from another club, Statyba. Rytas have won two EuroCup titles, six Lithuanian League titles, three Lithuanian Cups and three Baltic Championships. The team plays their home games at the 2,741-seat Jeep Arena.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rimas Kurtinaitis</span> Lithuanian basketball player and coach

Rimas Kurtinaitis is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach, and a retired professional basketball player, who was a member of the senior Soviet and Lithuanian national basketball teams during his playing career. He won a gold medal at 1988 Olympics in South Korea. He recently worked as the head coach for Khimki. At a height of 1.96 m (6'5") tall, during his playing career, he played at the shooting guard position. He is the only non-NBA player to ever participate at the NBA All-Star Weekend's Three-Point Contest, doing so in 1989, where he scored 9 points.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BC Neptūnas</span> Basketball team in Klaipėda, Lithuania

Basketball Club Neptūnas, commonly known as Neptūnas or Neptūnas Klaipėda, is a Lithuanian professional basketball club based in Klaipėda, Lithuania. The club participates in the Lithuanian Basketball League. It was founded in 1962 under the name BC Maistas and in 1964, BC Maistas's name was changed to BC Neptūnas. The club carries the name of the Roman sea god Neptune. Neptūnas participated in the 2014–15 EuroLeague season and is only the third Lithuanian club to participate in the premier European basketball league, after Žalgiris and Rytas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BC Šiauliai</span> Basketball team in Šiauliai, Lithuania

BC Šiauliai is the professional basketball club of Šiauliai, Lithuania. The club competes in the Lithuanian Basketball League. It has won the 3rd place award in the LKL a record 9 times.

Eurelijus Žukauskas is a retired Lithuanian professional basketball player. At a height of 2.18 m (7'2") tall, and a weight of 118 kg, he played at the center position.

The LKL All-Star Day is held every year by the professional Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL). The event takes place every February, and features a variety of basketball-related events, exhibitions, and performances, culminating with the LKL All-Star Game.

The LKL All-Star Game is the All-Star Game of the professional Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL). The game is held once every year. The participants of the game are chosen in two ways: the first is via fan ballot, with the leading vote recipients at each position starting the game; secondly the reserves are chosen by a vote among the head coaches of each squad. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own players. If a player is injured, and cannot participate, the league's commissioner will select a replacement.

The LKL All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, is an annual professional Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) award, that is given to the player(s) that are voted to be the best of the league's annual All-Star Game.

The LKL Three-point Shootout, currently known as CBet.lt Three-point Shootout for sponsorship purposes, is a Lithuanian professional King Mindaugas Cup final day contest, that is held between the cup's final and third-place matches. Formerly, it was a part of the LKL's All-Star Day, and took place before the All-Star Game.

The Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL) Finals is the championship finals series for the top-tier level professional club basketball league in Lithuania, the LKL, and the conclusion of the league's postseason. The Finals have been played in either a best-of-seven, or a best-of five format. The first LKL Finals series was held in 1994, and was contested by Žalgiris and Atletas, with Žalgiris winning the series 3–1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aaron Lucas</span> American basketball player

Aaron Lucas is an American retired professional basketball player, who played for various clubs in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arvydas Šikšnius</span> Lithuanian basketball player

Arvydas Šikšnius is a Lithuanian professional basketball player, who currently plays for Pieno žvaigždės Pasvalys of the Lithuanian Basketball League.

Tauras Jogėla is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for BC Prienai of the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL). Jogėla can play either forward position, although he's more accustomed to playing power forward. He won the Lithuanian Student Basketball League (MKL) Slam Dunk Contest in 2011. Jogėla averaged 14 points and 4.5 rebounds per game for Soproni KC during the 2019-20 season. He re-signed with the team on 26 July 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artūras Gudaitis</span> Lithuanian basketball player

Artūras Gudaitis is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Panathinaikos of the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague. Standing at 2.08 m, he plays at the center position. He was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 47th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Łapeta</span> Polish basketball player

Adam Łapeta is a Polish professional basketball player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King Mindaugas Cup</span> Lithuanian basketball cup

Karaliaus Mindaugo taurė is an annual national domestic basketball cup competition between Lithuanian professional teams. It is organised by the Lithuanian Basketball League. The tournament is named in honor of Mindaugas, the first and only King of Lithuania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurynas Birutis</span> Lithuanian basketball player

Laurynas Birutis is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Žalgiris Kaunas of Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and the EuroLeague.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Karaliaus Mindaugo taurė</span>

The 2018 Karaliaus Mindaugo taurė, also known as SIL – Karaliaus Mindaugo taurė for sponsorship purposes, was the third edition of the Lithuanian King Mindaugas Cup. On 7 December 2017 it was announced that Klaipėda would host the tournament.

References

  1. "Nuo rekordo iki kuriozo: įsimintiniausi LKL Žvaigždžių dienos dėjimai". alfa.lt (in Lithuanian). 4 January 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  2. Ramoška, Saulius (18 February 2017). "Rankas smailina tritaškininkai ir dėjikai". Lietuvos žinios (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  3. "KMT "Oro karaliumi" tapo A.Bestą nurungęs 175 cm ūgio G.Žitlinskas". Krepsinis.net (in Lithuanian). 18 February 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2017.