Basketball Club Žalgiris commonly known as BC Žalgiris, is a professional basketball club based in Kaunas, Lithuania. They compete domestically in the Lithuanian Basketball League and internationally as a long-term licensed EuroLeague team. Since the 2011–12 season, Žalgiris has played its home games in Žalgiris Arena in the New Town district of Kaunas.
Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, also known as Betsafe LKL for sponsorship reasons, is the premier professional men's club basketball league in Lithuania. It is composed of 10 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.
Rytas Vilnius is a professional basketball club based in Vilnius, Lithuania. They compete domestically in the Lithuanian Basketball League and the King Mindaugas Cup, while internationally in the FIBA Champions League since 2020–21. Rytas have won two EuroCup titles, seven Lithuanian League titles, five LKF / King Mindaugas Cups and three Baltic championships. The team plays its domestic home games in the Jeep Arena and they share the ASG Arena with BC Wolves for their European home games. The club was founded in 1997 from another club, BC Statyba.
The Lithuania men's national basketball team represents Lithuania in international basketball competitions. They are controlled by the Lithuanian Basketball Federation, the governing body for basketball in Lithuania. Despite Lithuania's small size, with a population of less than 3 million, the country's devotion to basketball has made them a traditional force of the sport in Europe.
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.
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.
BC Lietkabelis, commonly known as Lietkabelis Panevėžys, also known as 7bet-Lietkabelis for sponsorship reasons, is a Lithuanian professional basketball club based in Panevėžys, Lithuania, participating in the Lithuanian Basketball League and internationally in the EuroCup. The team plays its home games at Kalnapilis Arena, a multi-purpose facility that also doubles as a velodrome. Founded as Lietkabelis in 1964, the team was known by other names between 1996 and 2012. In 2012, after a change in ownership, the team's historic name was restored. It comes from the team's main sponsor, a wire and cable manufacturing company.
Kęstutis Kemzūra is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach and former player who is currently the head coach of Juventus Utena of the Lithuanian Basketball League. During his playing career, at a height of 1.91 m (6'3") tall, he played at the point guard position.
Martynas Pocius is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. He was also a member of the Lithuanian national basketball team.
Deividas Gailius is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Neptūnas Klaipėda of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL). Standing at 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m), he plays the small forward and shooting guard positions.
BC Juventus, also known as Uniclub Bet Juventus for sponsorship reasons, is a Lithuanian professional basketball club based in Utena, Lithuania. Founded in 1999, the club currently plays in the Lithuanian Basketball League.
BC Prienai was a Lithuanian professional basketball club based in Prienai. They played domestically in the Lithuanian Basketball League every year since winning the promotion in 2009. During the 2008–09 season, then called Rūdupis, they became the champion of the NKL and won the challenge match for a slot in the LKL. In their debut LKL season Rūdupis took seventh place, while next two seasons brought BC Prienai two bronze LKL medals. BC Prienai played in EuroCup 2011–12 with moderate success; the team won 3 games out of 6, but nonetheless failed to qualify for the next stage. More recently, the team has become a strong competitor in domestic tournaments, more than once upsetting teams such as Žalgiris Kaunas and Lietuvos rytas Vilnius. In December 2017, in a highly publicized move, Vytautas signed American basketball players and brothers LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball.
BC Statyba was a basketball club from Vilnius, Lithuania. It was renamed to Lietuvos rytas in 1997.
Juozas Petkevičius is Lithuanian basketball coach, masseur, and former rugby player. He is often regarded as mascot of Lithuanian national basketball team.
Basketball is the most popular sport in Lithuania. During public opinion polls in Lithuania, the Lithuanians regularly describe basketball as their priority interest sport. A research in 2015 indicated that nearly 41% of all population in Lithuania watched the EuroBasket 2015 final between Lithuania and Spain and it became the most watched event of the 21st century in Lithuania. The popularity of basketball among Lithuanians led to it being nicknamed as the "second religion" in Lithuania.
Martynas Echodas is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Manisa Basket of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL).
Gedvydas Vainauskas is a Lithuanian journalist, publishing company Lietuvos rytas Chief Editor, shareholder, founder and former BC Lietuvos rytas president.
Arvydas Gronskis is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach, most notable for his successful long-term working in Lietuvos rytas Vilnius coaching staff. He is currently the head coach of Žalgiris-2 Kaunas.
Evaldas Kandratavičius is a Lithuanian professional athletic trainer, who has worked with some of the best professional basketball teams in Europe for multiple years, including: Lithuania men's national basketball team, Lithuania women's national basketball team, CSKA Moscow, Lietuvos rytas Vilnius and many famous Women's National Basketball Association players. He graduated Lithuanian Sports University and successfully defended his dissertation in Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. He signed with BC Khimki in the summer of 2019.
The history of BC Rytas begins from the founding of the club with a name BC Statyba in 1963 in Lithuania's capital city Vilnius. The BC Statyba was renamed to BC Statyba-Lietuvos rytas in 1997 when Gedvydas Vainauskas, the owner of the daily newspaper Lietuvos rytas, had purchased the club, and in 1998 the old name Statyba was removed completely when the club was renamed to BC Lietuvos rytas. The final name change of the club to BC Rytas occurred in 2018 when its owners has changed and Gedvydas Vainauskas left the club, therefore the new owners of the club sought to remove the affiliation of the club with the newspaper Lietuvos rytas, however the club was domestically and internationally well known as Rytas, thus its name remained similar.
