BC Žalgiris
Basketball Club Žalgiris (Lithuanian: Krepšinio klubas Žalgiris) is a professional basketball club based in Kaunas, Lithuania. They compete domestically in the Lithuanian Basketball League (Lietuvos krepšinio lyga) 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.
| Žalgiris Kaunas | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023–24 BC Žalgiris season | |||
| Nickname | Žaliai balti (The Green-Whites) | ||
| Leagues | Lithuanian Basketball League EuroLeague | ||
| Founded | 1944 | ||
| Arena | Žalgiris Arena | ||
| Capacity | 15,415 | ||
| Location | Kaunas, Lithuania | ||
| Team colors | Dartmouth green, white | ||
| President | Paulius Jankūnas | ||
| Team manager | Mindaugas Kvedaras | ||
| Head coach | Andrea Trinchieri | ||
| Team captain | Edgaras Ulanovas | ||
| Ownership | Paulius Motiejūnas (75%) Tom Okman (25%) | ||
| Affiliation(s) | BC Žalgiris-2 BC Žalgiris-3 | ||
| Championships | 1 EuroLeague 1 Saporta Cup 1 Intercontinental Cup 5 Soviet Union Leagues 1 Soviet Union Cup 1 North European League 24 Lithuanian Leagues 6 King Mindaugas Cups 5 Lithuanian Cups 5 Baltic Leagues 9 Lithuanian SSR Championships 1 Stepas Butautas Cup 1 Baltic Cup 1 Gomelsky Cup 2 Gloria Cups 1 Torneo Città di Caorle 1 Titans trophy | ||
| Retired numbers | 3 (5, 11, 13) | ||
| Website | www | ||
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Žalgiris is the most decorated basketball club in the country, having won 24 Lithuanian Basketball League championships, five Soviet Union National League championships (the second most behind CSKA Moscow), and one EuroLeague championship. Many Lithuanian basketball legends have played for Žalgiris throughout the club's history, including Arvydas Sabonis, Modestas Paulauskas and Šarūnas Jasikevičius. Eight of the fifteen Lithuanian basketball players to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA) have played for Žalgiris or were part of the Žalgiris youth program at one point in their careers (Arvydas Sabonis, Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Donatas Motiejūnas, Mindaugas Kuzminskas, Darius Songaila, Martynas Andriuškevičius, Arnoldas Kulboka, and Ignas Brazdeikis).
The club's name commemorates the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War's Battle of Žalgiris, also known as the Battle of Grunwald, in which the joint forces of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Kingdom of Poland defeated the Teutonic Order in one of medieval Europe's largest battles. Žalgiris and Grunwald translate to "green wood" in Lithuanian and German respectively.