Rimas Kurtinaitis (born 15 May 1960) is a Lithuanian professional

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

and former player who is currently the head coach of the Lithuania men's national team and Sabah BC. As a player, he was a member of the senior

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and Lithuanian national basketball teams and won a gold medal at the

1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were repres ...

. At a height of tall, he played at the

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

position. He is the only non-

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 ...

player to ever participate at the NBA All-Star Weekend's

Three-Point Contest The Three-Point Contest is a National Basketball Association (NBA) contest held on the Saturday before the annual All-Star Game as part of All-Star weekend. The 2019 iteration of the contest involved ten participants. From its introduction in 1 ...

, doing so in 1989, where he scored 9 points.

Club playing career

Kurtinaitis' former club teams as a player, include Žalgiris Kaunas,

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

, and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. He was the only European player to participate in the NBA All-Star Weekend's

, without ever having played in the

by participating in the event in

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

. Kurtinaitis was also the first European player to play as an import, in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL), while playing for the Townsville Suns, in 1993.

Coaching career

In 1997, Kurtinaitis was named to the Lithuanian Ministry of Sport. In the years 2002–2006, he took the position of

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the Azerbaijan national basketball team. Also from 2002 to 2006, he was a player for four seasons (till the age of 46!), with Gala Baku, working as a

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

. He became Sakalai's head coach during the mid-2000s. In December 2007, he became the head coach of the Polish League men's basketball team,

Śląsk Wrocław Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known as WKS Śląsk Wrocław (), is a Polish professional Association football, football club based in Wrocław that plays in , the second level of the Polish football leagu ...

. In 2008, he became head coach of

Lietuvos Rytas ''Lietuvos rytas'' (lit. 'Morning of Lithuania') is a Lithuanian daily newspaper. History and profile "Lietuvos rytas" was established in 1990 on a basis of newspaper "Komjaunimo tiesa". The paper is printed in Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is ...

, with whom, he won the EuroCup 2008–09 season's title. After winning the championship at the Final-Eight tournament, in Turin (Torino), Italy, in a game against Khimki Moscow Region (final score 80–74). In 2012, Kurtinaitis won the EuroCup again, this time with

Khimki Khimki (, ) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It is located approximately northwest from central Moscow, and is part of the Moscow metropolitan area. History Origins and formation Khimki was initially a railway station that had existed sin ...

. As of 2015, he is the only coach to win the EuroCup three times. On 21 June 2012 Kurtinaitis was named the best EuroCup coach of all time. On 15 March 2016 Khimki parted ways with Kurtinaitis. On 2 August 2016 Kurtinaitis become the head coach of

Pallacanestro Cantù Pallacanestro Cantù, known for sponsorship reasons as Acqua S.Bernardo Cantù, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Cantù, Lombardy. On the European-wide club competition scene, Cantù is second to Real Madrid – agai ...

, of the Italian LBA. However, on 30 November 2016 he was fired from the team. Kurtinaitis agreed to return to Lietuvos rytas on 10 February 2017, following the resignation of Tomas Pačėsas, from the club's head coaching position. This tenure with Rytas was not as successful – Rytas only finished in 3rd place in the LKL in the 2016–2017 season, a fiasco for the team. In the 2017–2018 season, the team played much better, reaching the Eurocup Top16 phase, as well as reaching the KMT and LKL finals, but lost each to Žalgiris Kaunas. In what stirred a lot of controversy, it was announced during the semifinals of the LKL that Kurtinaitis would be replaced by Dainius Adomaitis in the following season, and in June Kurtinaitis left the team. On 21 January 2019 Kurtinaitis returned to Khimki in a surprising decision. Two years later, on 15 January 2021, he was dismissed from this position because of unsatisfactory results. On 26 January 2024 Kurtinaitis became the head coach of Sabah BC of Azerbaijan Basketball League.

Lithuanian national team

On 1 October 2024, the

Lithuanian Basketball Federation The Lithuanian Basketball Federation (), also known as LKF, is a national governing body of basketball in Lithuania. It was founded in 1936, but due to Occupation of the Baltic states, Soviet occupation, the federation disappeared from FIBA. It w ...

announced Kurtinaitis as the new head coach of the senior Lithuanian national team.

Awards and achievements

As player:

Pro clubs

* 5× USSR Premier League Champion: 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986 1987 * USSR Cup Winner: (1982) * FIBA Saporta Cup Finals Top Scorer: (1985) *

FIBA Intercontinental Cup The FIBA Intercontinental Cup, previously known to as the FIBA World Cup for Champion Clubs and the FIBA Club World Cup, is an annual international men's basketball competition organised by FIBA, the sport's global governing body. The competit ...

Champion:

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

* NBA All-Star Weekend

Participant: 1989 * German League Top Scorer: (1990) * German All-Star Game Three-point Champion: 1991 *

Spanish ACB League The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

Champion: 1994 * 2× Lithuanian All-Star Game: 1996, 1998 * Lithuanian All-Star Game MVP: 1996 * Lithuanian League Champion: 1996 * Lithuanian League Finals MVP: 1996

Soviet senior national team

* 1985 EuroBasket: *

1986 FIBA World Championship The 1986 FIBA World Championship was the 10th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. It was hosted by Spain and was held from 5 to 20 July 1986. The final phase of the tournament was hel ...

: * 1988 Summer Olympic Games: * 1989 EuroBasket:

Lithuanian senior national team

* 1992 Summer Olympic Games: *

1995 EuroBasket The 1995 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1995, was the 29th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1996 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to e ...

: *

1996 Summer Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

As head coach

* 3× EuroCup Champion:

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

* 2× Lithuanian LKL League Champion: 2009, 2010 * Baltic BBL League Champion: 2009 * 2× Lithuanian Federation Cup Winner: 2009, 2010 *

VTB United League The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...

Champion:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

* Named Best EuroCup Coach of All Time: 2012 * VTB United League Coach of the Year:

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

VTB United League Hall of Fame The VTB United League Hall of Fame (, VTBHOF) is a hall of fame that honours individuals that have made important contributions to the premiere professional basketball league in Russia, the VTB United League, through their sporting contributions i ...

: 2019

Coaching record

EuroLeague

, - , align="left",

Lietuvos rytas ''Lietuvos rytas'' (lit. 'Morning of Lithuania') is a Lithuanian daily newspaper. History and profile "Lietuvos rytas" was established in 1990 on a basis of newspaper "Komjaunimo tiesa". The paper is printed in Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is ...

, align="left", 2009–10 , 10 , , 4 , , 6 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in group stage , - , align="left",

, align="left", 2012–13 , 24 , , 13 , , 11 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in TOP 16 stage , - , align="left",

, align="left", 2015–16 , 20 , , 10 , , 10 , , , , align="center", ''Fired'' , - , align="left",

, align="left", 2018–19 , 11 , , 2 , , 9 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in regular season , - , align="left",

, align="left", 2019–20 , 28 , , 13 , , 15 , , , , align="center", Season stopped due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, - , align="left",

, align="left", 2020–21 , 20 , , 2 , , 18 , , , , align="center", ''Fired'' , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan=2, Career, , 113, , 44, , 69, , , ,

Notes

References

External links