Stepas Butautas (alternate spellings: Stiepas, Butaustas) (25 August 1925 – 22 March 2001 in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Tra ...

) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and Lithuanian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. He trained at the VSS Žalgiris, in

. He played with the

Soviet Union men's national basketball team The Soviet Union men's national basketball team ( rus, сбо́рная СССР по баскетболу, r=sbórnaya SSSR po basketbolu) was the national basketball team that represented the Soviet Union in international competitions. After t ...

at the

1952 Summer Olympic Games The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

, where he won a silver medal. During the tournament, he played in all eight games. He was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991.

Playing career

Club playing career

Butautas started his career with Dinamo Kaunas in 1944. He then played with ASK Kaunas in 1945, before returning to Dinamo Kaunas in 1946. He played with Žalgiris Kaunas, from 1947 to 1956. With Zalgiris, he won the

USSR Premier Basketball League The USSR Premier Basketball League, or Soviet Union Premier Basketball League (also called Supreme League), was the first-tier men's professional basketball league in the former Soviet Union. The league existed from 1923 to 1991, as the top profe ...

championship in 1947 and 1951. He also won 6 Lithuanian SSR championships (1945, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955).

National team playing career

Butautas was a member of the

, from 1947 to 1954. With the Soviet Union, he won gold medals at the

EuroBasket 1947 The 1947 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1947, was the fifth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA. Fourteen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) took ...

, the

EuroBasket 1951 The 1951 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1951, was the seventh FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA. Eighteen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) e ...

, and the

EuroBasket 1953 The 1953 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1953, was the eighth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA. Seventeen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) e ...

. He also won a silver medal at the

.Soviet Union 4 - Stepas Butaustas.
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Coaching career

Clubs

After he retired from playing basketball, Butautas began a career working as a

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 ...

. On the

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album '' kelsea'' Brands and enterprise ...

level, he was the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other Coach (sport), coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manage ...

of Politechnika Kaunas women's team, from 1960 to 1966. He was then the head coach of Žalgiris Kaunas, from 1975 to 1979.

Soviet Union women's national team

Butautas was the head coach of the

Soviet Union women's national basketball team The Soviet Union women's national basketball team was the women's basketball side that represented the Soviet Union in international competitions. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the successor countries all set up their own ...

, from 1958 to 1964. He led them to gold medals at the

1959 FIBA World Championship for Women The 1959 FIBA World Championship for Women (Russian: Чемпионат мира по баскетболу среди женщин 1959) was the third FIBA World Championship for Women basketball championship held by FIBA. It was held in the Sovi ...

, and the

1964 FIBA World Championship for Women The 1964 FIBA World Championship for Women (Spanish: 1964 Campeonato Mundial FIBA Femenino) was hosted in Peru from 1964. The Soviet Union won the tournament. Preliminary round Group A Group B Group C Class ...

. He also won gold medals at the EuroBasket Women 1960, the

EuroBasket Women 1962 The 1962 European Women's Basketball Championship was the 8th regional championship held by FIBA Europe for women. The competition was held in Mulhouse, France and took place on September 22–29, 1962. The Soviet Union won their sixth gold medal ...

, and the EuroBasket Women 1964. He also won the silver medal at the

EuroBasket Women 1958 The 1958 European Women's Basketball Championship was the 6th regional championship held by FIBA Europe for women. The competition was held in Łódź, Poland and took place May 9–18, 1958. Bulgaria won their first gold medal, while the Soviet U ...

Cuba national team

Butautas was also the head coach of the Cuba men's national basketball team, from 1967 to 1968, and in 1970. He coached Cuba at the 1967

CentroBasket The Centrobasket is a FIBA-sponsored international basketball tournament where national teams from Central America and the Caribbean participate. These countries make up the Central American and Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CONCENCABA). T ...

, the

1968 Summer Olympic Games The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

, and at the

1970 FIBA World Championship The 1970 FIBA World Championship was the 6th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Yugoslavia in Sarajevo, Split, Karlovac, Skopje and Ljubljana, from 10 to 24 May 1970. It was t ...

Managerial career

Butautas was the department head of the Lithuanian State Institute of Physical Education (now Lithuanian Sports University), from 1978 to 1985. He was the President of the Lithuanian SSR Basketball Federation, from 1959 to 1961. He was also the Chairman of the Lithuanian SSR Basketball Coaches Commission, from 1980 to 1989.

Personal life

His son, Ramūnas Butautas, was the

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may no ...

coach of the

Lithuania men's national basketball team The Lithuania men's national basketball team ( lt, Lietuvos nacionalinė vyrų krepšinio rinktinė) represents Lithuania in international basketball competitions. They are controlled by the Lithuanian Basketball Federation, the governing body ...

References

External links

FIBA Profile 1Sports-Reference.com Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butautas, Stepas 1925 births 2001 deaths Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Knight's Crosses of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas Merited Coaches of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Basketball players at the 1952 Summer Olympics BC Žalgiris coaches BC Žalgiris players FIBA EuroBasket-winning players Lithuanian basketball coaches Lithuanian men's basketball players Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic basketball players of the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in basketball Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Basketball players from Kaunas Soviet basketball coaches Soviet men's basketball players