KK Atletas () is a professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

club that is based in Kaunas district,

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. Currently the team plays in the National Basketball League, in the past Atletas participated in the LKL and the

Baltic League The Baltic League (officially known as the Triobet Baltic League) was a Baltic men's football club tournament held four times between the top club sides from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Launched in 2007 inspired by the now defunct Scandinavi ...

, before dissolving in 2007 and becoming BC Aisčiai-Atletas. In 2009, the team merged with BC Kaunas Triobet and played with the names of Kaunas, Baltai and LSU-Baltai. In 2013 club was renamed again to LSU-Atletas, which was merged with the NKL champions of the same name. Atletas are multiple time LKL finalists, and were once considered to be one of the strongest teams in Lithuania. The

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

center

Žydrūnas Ilgauskas Zydrunas Ilgauskas (; ; born June 5, 1975) is a Lithuanian-born American former professional basketball player who played the center (basketball), center position. The Ilgauskas played for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Asso ...

represented Atletas at the very beginning of his career. Lithuanian basketball star

Saulius Štombergas Saulius Štombergas (born December 14, 1973) is a retired Lithuanian professional basketball player, basketball coach and businessman. Štombergas is widely considered to be among the greatest Lithuanian basketball players of all time, known fo ...

was also a key player of the team back then.

Donatas Motiejūnas Donatas Motiejūnas (; born September 20, 1990) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for AS Monaco Basket of the French LNB Pro A and the EuroLeague. He was drafted 20th overall in the 2011 NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves be ...

also played for Atletas (at the time called Aisčiai) during the beginning of his career.

Latest seasons

Honours

Domestic competitions

* Lithuanian SSR Championship : Winners (5): 1968, 1982, 1983, 1989, 1990

Notable former players

Rimas Kurtinaitis Rimas Kurtinaitis (born 15 May 1960) is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach and former player who is currently the head coach of the Lithuania men's national basketball team, Lithuania men's national team and Sabah BC. As a player, he was ...

Tomas Pačėsas Tomas Pačėsas (born November 11, 1971) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player, basketball coach, businessman, and politician. Playing career Club career Pačėsas was the Polish League MVP, in 2004. Lithuanian senior national ...

Gvidonas Markevičius Gvidonas Markevičius (born November 22, 1969) is a Lithuanian retired professional basketball player. National team career Markevičius was a member of the Lithuanian national team which won silver medals at the EuroBasket 1995 The 1995 FIB ...

Darius Dimavičius Darius Dimavičius (born April 8, 1968) is a retired Lithuanian professional basketball player, who won the bronze medal with the Lithuania national basketball team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a cit ...

Rytis Vaišvila Rytis Vaišvila (born May 23, 1971) is a retired Lithuanian basketball player and current coach. He currently serves as head coach of BC Sūduva. National team career Vaišvila was a member of the Lithuanian national team which won bronze meda ...

Darius Sirtautas Darius Sirtautas (born July 14, 1970, in Šilutė, Lithuania) is a former Lithuanian professional basketball player, and basketball coach. During his playing career, he was a tall shooting guard. Playing career Sirtautas started his professional ...

Tomas Masiulis Tomas Masiulis (born September 19, 1975) is a retired Lithuanian professional basketball player and coach. During his playing career, at a height of 2.05 m (6'8 ") tall, he played at the power forward position. During his coaching career, he was ...

Virginijus Praškevičius Virginijus Praškevičius (born 4 March 1974) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. At a height of tall, he played at the power forward and center positions. Professional career Praškevičius started playing with Banga Kaunas ...

Artūras Milaknis Artūras Milaknis (born 16 June 1986) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player and coach. Standing at , he primarily played at the shooting guard position. Early career A native of Kaunas, Milaknis began his career in the second divi ...

Povilas Butkevičius Povilas Butkevičius (born 26 September 1987) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. Professional career From 2004-2005, till 2011-2012, he was part of the prominent Lithuanian team Žalgiris Kaunas. In August 2010 and again in ...

Šarūnas Vasiliauskas Šarūnas Vasiliauskas (born 27 March 1989) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player. He played as a point guard. Professional career On 8 August 2016, Vasiliauskas signed with Joventut Badalona. On 14 December 2016, he parted ways with Jo ...

* Siim-Sander Vene *

Jonas Mačiulis Jonas Mačiulis (born 10 February 1985) is a Lithuanian professional basketball executive and former player, currently serving as the general manager for BC Lietkabelis, Lietkabelis Panevėżys of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL). Standin ...

External links

Aisciai Sport in Kaunas 1962 establishments in Lithuania Basketball teams established in 1962 {{Lithuania-sport-team-stub