Lietuvos krepšinio lyga

"LKL" redirects here. For other uses, see LKL (disambiguation).
Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL)
FoundedApril 22, 1993; 31 years ago (1993-04-22)
First season1993–94
CountryLithuania
ConfederationFIBA Europe
Number of teams10
Level on pyramid1
Relegation toNKL
Domestic cup(s)King Mindaugas Cup
International cup(s)EuroLeague
EuroCup
Champions League
FIBA Europe Cup
Current championsRytas (7th title)
(2023–24)
Most championshipsŽalgiris (24 titles)
PresidentRemigijus Milašius
TV partnersGo3 BTV
Websiteen.lkl.lt
2024–25 season
Headquarters in Vilnius

Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL; English: Lithuanian Basketball League), 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.

On April 22, 1993, the Lietuvos krepšinio asociacija (English: Lithuanian Basketball Association) (LKA) was founded. It was the first professional sports organisation in Lithuania. Lietuvos krepšinio lyga was built on the foundation of the LKA. Former basketball player Šarūnas Marčiulionis is named as the founder of the league. He was the first president of the LKL and served from 1993 to 2002. Remigijus Milašius is the current president of the league since 2013. The league's headquarters is located in Vilnius.

A total of 28 teams have competed in the LKL since its inception. Only two teams have been crowned champions, with Žalgiris Kaunas winning the title a record 24 times and Rytas Vilnius seven times.

Competition format

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The competition format follows a quadruple round-robin format, which means that during the course of a regular season, which lasts from late September to May, each club plays every other club four times, twice at home and twice away, for a total of 44 games. Teams receive one point for a win, and no points for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, with the eight highest-ranked clubs at the end of the season plays the playoffs and the winner of the playoffs is crowned a champion.

Promotion and relegation

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A system of promotion and relegation exists between the LKL and the NKL. The lowest placed team in LKL is relegated to the NKL, and the top team from the NKL promoted to LKL. However, the last team that has been promoted from the NKL to the LKL was BC Mažeikiai in the 2014–15 LKL season. No any team has been promoted to the LKL since 2015 because they were unable to meet the league requirements. In the 2021–22 LKL season, for the first time since 2014–15 LKL season, 11 teams played in the league, NKL winner BC Jonava joined the existing 10 teams. Below is a complete record of how many teams played in each season throughout the league's history:

Number of clubs in LKL throughout the years
Period (in years) No. of clubs
1993–1994 10 clubs
1994–1995 11 clubs
1995–1999 10 clubs
1999–2002 9 clubs
2002–2004 10 clubs
2004–2005 9 clubs
2005–2006 8 clubs
2006–2007 9 clubs
2007–2008 10 clubs
2008–2009 11 clubs
2009–2011 13 clubs
2011–2013 12 clubs
2013–2015 11 clubs
2015–2021 10 clubs
2021–2022 11 clubs
2022–2024 12 clubs
2024–present 10 clubs

Qualifying for European competitions

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Žalgiris directly enters the EuroLeague as a licensed club. The highest-placed team, apart from licensed club Zalgiris, gets an invite to play in the EuroCup. The second and third highest-placed teams, apart from licensed club, get an invite to play in the Basketball Champions League.

In the 2023–24 season:

History

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Foundation and Žalgiris dominance

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The Lithuanian Basketball Association was founded on 22 April 1993, when eight of the strongest Lithuanian basketball clubs' officials met with representatives of the Šarūnas Marčiulionis basketball fund in Vilnius. The original eight teams were: Žalgiris Kaunas, Atletas Kaunas, Drobė Kaunas, Statyba Vilnius, Olimpas Plungė, BC Šilutė, Lietkabelis Panevėžys and Neptūnas Klaipėda. This association would soon be renamed to Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL) due to legal issues, also announcing there that would start in the upcoming fall.[1] By the end of spring, before the season started, the LKA and their new league accepted two more teams – Lavera Kaunas and NECA Kaunas.[2]

Following the 1993–94 season, the finalists of last season's LKAL, Sakalai Vilnius & BC Šiauliai joined the league, while Drobė Kaunas decided to withdraw due to financial difficulties. The 1994–95 season saw the league's foreign players emerge as star power, before they were more known to be role players. In the 1995–96 season the league continued to accept the champions of the LKAL to the league, Savy Alytus joined the league. Sharpshooter Joe Vickery became the first foreigner to lead the LKL in scoring for Olimpas. League officials would start pressuring teams to play in better arenas by setting up certain criteria that were necessary to get accepted into the league. That's why no more teams were accepted until 1998 when Olimpas Plungė went bankrupt and was replaced by BC Kraitienė based in Marijampolė. Some of the strongest teams like Šilutė and Atletas faded away to the bottom of the league and left the league.

During this time period, the league had been dominated by Žalgiris. They won the league's championship trophy for six consecutive years, from 1994 through 1999. Their main rival during those years was Atletas Kaunas led by Saulius Štombergas and a young Žydrūnas Ilgauskas acquired from Žalgiris' youth team. Ilgauskas was selected 20th overall in the 1996 NBA draft, making him the first NBA player coming straight from the LKL. In 1999 Žalgiris, led by Tyus Edney, became the first Lithuanian team to win the top European basketball competition, the EuroLeague title.

Golden era of Lithuanian basketball

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In the 1999–2000 season, Lietuvos rytas shocked defending EuroLeague champions Žalgiris by ending their dominant run. That sparked most likely the biggest rivalry in Lithuanian sports, the competitiveness has brought over to politics and society between the two biggest cities in Lithuania.[3]

Modern era

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2010–11 saw Žalgiris reclaim the title, beating Lietuvos rytas 4–1. In the finals of 2012 Žalgiris was the winner again, by sweeping Lietuvos Rytas 3–0. During the 2013–14 season, Žalgiris defeated Neptūnas in the final.[citation needed]

The 2014–2015 season saw the introduction of the 'four wheel system', where all the teams have to play 40 games with no exceptions for teams competing in international competition like in the past. This year Žalgiris was able to finished 1st, but not before a dramatic win against Lietuvos rytas in the last game of the season 82–81.

"...there's no better advertisement for Lithuanian basketball than this match. The season is long, forty games, but everything is settled not only in the last game of the season, but in the last seconds of that game."

— Gintaras Krapikas, head coach of Žalgiris

Žalgiris continued to dominate in the playoffs sweeping rivals Lietuvos rytas once again in the final. Despite a familiar ending, the season was marked by the growing competitiveness of the league, Neptūnas joined Žalgiris and Lietuvos rytas as a powerhouse and this edition saw a couple of upsets and close games from teams such as Pieno žvaigždės and Juventus Utena. Although a strong competitor Prienai had an underwhelming season. However, the final saw a two usual suspects once again - Žalgiris and Lietuvos Rytas. The Greens once again took the trophy back home by beating rivals 4–0. Team from Kaunas was led by all around sharpshooters in James Anderson and Artūras Milaknis who averaged 15.3 and 14.3 points a piece. The latter was named the MVP of the finals.

Six 2015–16 LKL season teams participated in the European tournaments: Žalgiris (EuroLeague), Lietuvos rytas and Neptūnas (EuroCup), Juventus, Pieno žvaigždės, Šiauliai (FIBA Europe Cup).[4] Lietkabelis, Vytautas and Nevėžis competed in the Baltic Basketball League.[5] Dzūkija was the only LKL club not participating in any European or regional tournaments. The off-season moves by teams such as the rebranded Prienai (Vytautas Prienai–Birštonas), Lietkabelis and the continued work from last season's playoff seeds gave fans hope for one of the most competitive seasons in league history. During the season, Žalgiris won 1st place in the regular season, over Lietuvos rytas. In the playoffs, Neptūnas shocked everyone, by beating Rytas in the semifinals, and reaching the finals for the second time in club history. In the finals, Žalgiris beat Neptūnas 4–1 to win again.

The 2016–17 LKL season off-season saw the rise of Lietkabelis, as tensions between FIBA and the EuroLeague resulted into them receiving a wild card as replacement in the EuroCup and greatly improving their roster which included signing the Lavrinovič twins (Darjuš and Kšyštof). A record of 8 Lithuanian teams competed in a European tournament that season, which added to the ever-improving competitiveness of the league. Consequently, the LKL achieved the average attendance record,[6] with more than 2,000 spectators per game, during the regular season. Only Lietkabelis was able to fight defending champion Žalgiris, as Žalgiris easily defeated other top contenders Lietuvos rytas and Neptūnas. In the LKL semifinals, Lietkabelis beat Lietuvos rytas 3–1, to advance to the finals for the first time - they lost to Žalgiris 4–1. Rytas won the third place over Neptūnas.

"Does not matter the strength of the opponent, no matter, if Žalgiris Kaunas or Rytas Vilnius wins, the result does not mater, it is important, that the Lord is with us."

— Pope Francis, during his speech with youngsters at the Cathedral Square in Vilnius, surprised by mentioning two strongest teams of the Lithuanian league.[7]

In the 2018–19 LKL season, Dainius Adomaitis, the coach of the Lithuania men's national basketball team, joined the renamed BC Rytas as the new head coach. During the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification, happening during the season, many LKL players debuted in the national team to play the games. BC Vytautas was renamed as BC SkyCop Prienai, signing veteran players like the Lavrinovič twins, Mindaugas Lukauskis and others. The team played improved basketball and reached the playoffs. Rytas won the King Mindaugas Cup, while BC Neptūnas finished the regular season in second place, earning home-court advantage for the semifinals for the first time in club history. Žalgiris once again won 1st place in the regular season. In the playoffs, while Žalgiris and Lietkabelis beat their opponents in sweeps, Rytas struggled against BC Juventus, 2–1, while Neptūnas defeated SkyCop 2–1. In the semifinals, Žalgiris easily swept Lietkabelis 2–0, while Rytas shocked Neptūnas with an even easier 2–0 sweep, even without home-court advantage. Setting up rematches from the previous year, the results remained the same - Neptūnas once again defeated Lietkabelis 3–0 in the 3rd place series, while Žalgiris easily defeated Rytas 3–0 in the finals.

During the 2019–20 season, the LKL board ended the season prematurely due to the coronavirus outbreak and crowned Žalgiris champions.[8]

In the 2020–21 LKL season the LKL has reached a historic agreement - LKL will be broadcast in foreign countries for the first time since its establishment. During the 2020–21 LKL season, it was decided that in the next 2021–22 LKL season, 11 teams will participate in the tournament again after 6 years. BC Jonava joined the other 10 existing LKL teams by winning the 2020–21 NKL season.[9][10] For the 2022–23 season, the number of teams was further increased to 12, with the addition of the 2021–22 NKL champions Gargždai-SC.[11]

During 2022–23 LKL season it was announced that the new team 2022–23 NKL season runner-up Mažeikiai M Basket will join other existing teams in LKL. Mažeikiai M Basket will take place of Labas Gas because they finished in last place in 2022–23 LKL season and were relegated to NKL.[12]

Teams

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Lietuvos Krepšinio Lyga teams
Team Location Arena Capacity Coordinates Founded Joined LKL Head coach
7bet-Lietkabelis Panevėžys Kalnapilio Arena 5,950 55°44′00″N 24°20′22″E / 55.7333°N 24.3394°E / 55.7333; 24.3394 (BC Lietkabelis) 1964 2007 Serbia Nenad Čanak
Cbet Jonava Jonava Jonava Arena 2,200 55°04′36″N 24°16′25″E / 55.0766°N 24.2735°E / 55.0766; 24.2735 (BC CBet Jonava) 1969 2021 Lithuania Mantas Šernius
Mažeikiai M Basket Mažeikiai Telšiai Arena 800 55°59′03″N 22°14′39″E / 55.9843°N 22.2441°E / 55.9843; 22.2441 (BC Mažeikiai) 2005 2023 Lithuania Virginijus Šeškus
Neptūnas Klaipėda Švyturys Arena 6,200 55°41′15″N 21°09′07″E / 55.6874°N 21.152°E / 55.6874; 21.152 (BC Neptūnas) 1964 1993 Greece Georgios Vovoras
Nevėžis-OPTIBET Kėdainiai Kėdainiai Arena 2,200 55°17′59″N 23°59′24″E / 55.2996°N 23.99°E / 55.2996; 23.99 (BC Nevėžis) 1992 2002 Lithuania Gediminas Petrauskas
Rytas Vilnius Jeep Arena 2,500 54°42′58″N 25°16′44″E / 54.716°N 25.279°E / 54.716; 25.279 (BC Lietuvos rytas) 1963 1993 Lithuania Giedrius Žibėnas
Šiauliai–Casino Admiral Šiauliai Šiauliai Arena 5,700 55°55′14″N 23°16′56″E / 55.9206°N 23.2823°E / 55.9206; 23.2823 (BC Šiauliai) 1994 Lithuania Žydrūnas Urbonas
Uniclub Bet - Juventus Utena Utena Arena 2,000 55°30′15″N 25°35′29″E / 55.5041°N 25.5914°E / 55.5041; 25.5914 (BC Juventus) 1999 2009 Lithuania Vytautas Buzas
Wolves Twinsbet Vilnius Avia Solutions Group Arena 10,000 54°42′59″N 25°16′50″E / 54.7165°N 25.2806°E / 54.7165; 25.2806 (BC Wolves) 2022 Italy Alessandro Magro
Žalgiris Kaunas Žalgiris Arena 15,552 54°53′25″N 23°54′54″E / 54.8903°N 23.915°E / 54.8903; 23.915 (BC Žalgiris) 1944 1993 Italy Andrea Trinchieri
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2024–25 LKL club locations

Champions by season

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Classic LKL logo
See also: LKL Finals
  • In 1994–95, 1995–96 and 1996–97 seasons no bronze medal game was played and positions were determined by regular season standings of the semifinalists.
Season Champion Runner-up Bronze Fourth place
1993–94 Žalgiris Atletas Statyba Lavera
1994–95 Žalgiris Atletas Lavera Šiauliai
1995–96 Žalgiris Atletas Olimpas Sakalai
1996–97 Žalgiris Olimpas Šilutė Šiauliai
1997–98 Žalgiris Atletas Lietuvos rytas Sakalai
1998–99 Žalgiris Lietuvos rytas Sakalai Šiauliai
1999–00 Lietuvos rytas Žalgiris Šiauliai Sakalai
2000–01 Žalgiris Lietuvos rytas Šiauliai Alita
2001–02 Lietuvos rytas Žalgiris Alita Šiauliai
2002–03 Žalgiris Lietuvos rytas Alita Šiauliai
2003–04 Žalgiris Lietuvos rytas Šiauliai Sakalai
2004–05 Žalgiris Lietuvos rytas Šiauliai Sakalai
2005–06 Lietuvos rytas Žalgiris Šiauliai Nevėžis
2006–07 Žalgiris Lietuvos rytas Šiauliai Neptūnas
2007–08 Žalgiris Lietuvos rytas Šiauliai Alytus
2008–09 Lietuvos rytas Žalgiris Šiauliai Neptūnas
2009–10 Lietuvos rytas Žalgiris Šiauliai Juventus
2010–11 Žalgiris Lietuvos rytas Rūdupis Juventus
2011–12 Žalgiris Lietuvos rytas Rūdupis Šiauliai
2012–13 Žalgiris Lietuvos rytas Neptūnas Prienai
2013–14 Žalgiris Neptūnas Lietuvos rytas Prienai
2014–15 Žalgiris Lietuvos rytas Juventus Neptūnas
2015–16 Žalgiris Neptūnas Lietuvos rytas Juventus
2016–17 Žalgiris Lietkabelis Lietuvos rytas Neptūnas
2017–18 Žalgiris Lietuvos rytas Neptūnas Lietkabelis
2018–19 Žalgiris Rytas Neptūnas Lietkabelis
2019–20 Žalgiris[a] Rytas Lietkabelis Neptūnas
2020–21 Žalgiris Rytas Lietkabelis Juventus
2021–22 Rytas Lietkabelis Žalgiris Šiauliai
2022–23 Žalgiris Rytas Lietkabelis Jonava
2023–24 Rytas Žalgiris Lietkabelis Wolves
  1. ^ Žalgiris declared champion through regular season standings after the premature ending of the league due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Performance by club

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LKL trophy in Vilnius
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Winning years
Žalgiris 24 6 1 0 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2022–23
Lietuvos rytas / Rytas 7 16 4 0 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2021–22, 2023–24
Atletas 0 4 0 0
Lietkabelis 0 2 4 2
Neptūnas 0 2 3 5
Olimpas 0 1 1 0
Šiauliai 0 0 9 7
Rūdupis/Prienai 0 0 2 2
Alita 0 0 2 1
Sakalai 0 0 1 5
Juventus 0 0 1 4
Lavera 0 0 1 1
Statyba 0 0 1 0
Šilutė 0 0 1 0
Nevėžis 0 0 0 1
Alytus 0 0 0 1
Jonava 0 0 0 1
Wolves 0 0 0 1

Awards

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Main articles: Lithuanian Basketball League awards, LKL MVP, and LKL Finals MVP

Lithuanian All-Star Game

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Main articles: LKL All-Star Game, LKL All-Star Day, LKL Three-point Shootout, LKL Slam Dunk Contest, and LKL All-Star Game MVP

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Apie mus". LKL.lt. Archived from the original on 5 February 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  2. ^ "Pirmieji LKL žingsniai – per kliūtis". lrytas.lt. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  3. ^ "Istorinis įvykis: "Lietuvos ryto" pirmasis LKL čempiono titulas - Krepsinis.net". Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  4. ^ "FIBA sprendimas: "Lietkabelio" ir "Vytauto" į turnyrą nepriėmė". Krepsinis.net. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  5. ^ "BBL reguliariajame sezone varžysis trys Lietuvos komandos". BasketNews.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  6. ^ "LKL lankomumas – didžiausias lygos istorijoje". BasketNews.lt (in Lithuanian).
  7. ^ "Katedros aikštėje kalbėdamas jaunimui popiežius Pranciškus minėjo "Žalgirį" ir "Rytą"". Lietuvos Radijas ir Televizija (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  8. ^ "Betsafe LKL season cancelled, Zalgiris crowned as champions - LKL.LT". en.lkl.lt. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  9. ^ "Historic TV rights agreement: Lithuanian Basketball League will be broadcast abroad". en.lkl.lt. 30 September 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  10. ^ "LKL valdyba nubalsavo – kitą sezoną čempionate rungtyniaus 11 komandų". lkl.lt (in Lithuanian). 27 April 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  11. ^ "LKL Valdyba nubalsavo – kitais metais "Betsafe-LKL" čempionate rungtyniaus 12 komandų". lkl.lt (in Lithuanian). 20 May 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  12. ^ "Mažeikių komandai suteikta "Betsafe-LKL" licencija". lkl.lt (in Lithuanian). 22 May 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
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