BC Statyba was a basketball club from

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

, Lithuania. It was renamed to

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 ( , ; see also ...

in 1997.

History

In 1963, Vilnius's first basketball club, called Žalgiris, was established. In 1964, the team changed its name to Plastikas, but was renamed to Statyba before the start of the season. In 1965, Statyba became the Žalgiris association champions, and finished third in the Lithuanian cup tournament. The next year they improved and finished in second place in the Lithuanian cup tournament. In 1966, the team made their debut in the USSR A class championship, which was a second-tier championship, where they finished in fourth place. Statyba's most successful season came in 1979, when they finished in third place in the top division – 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 ...

. Over the years, Statyba became one of the biggest rivals for Žalgiris Kaunas. After the leaving the USSR championship, Statyba participated in the Lithuanian championship and the

LKF Cup The LKF Cup was an annual national domestic cup competition for Lithuanian professional basketball teams. It was organised by the Lithuanian Basketball Federation (Lietuvos Krepšinio Federacija - LKF). The competition's full name was Lietuvos Kre ...

, finishing second in 1991 and 1992. Statyba joined the

Lithuanian Basketball League Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

when it was established in the 1993–94 season. Statyba won third place in the inaugural season, but over the next few years, plummeted in the standings, finishing with a disastrous last place finish in the 1996–97 season. In 1997, the club was purchased by

newspaper's owner Gedvydas Vainauskas. He denounced Statyba and its history claiming that his club is not related to Statyba and renamed the club to Statyba-Lietuvos rytas in 1997 and then to Lietuvos rytas in 1998. Many Statyba's players, coaches—present or past—and fans, condemned the actions of new owner and dissociated themselves from the new club. In 2011, Statyba's fans, players and coaches re-established the club and claimed to be the successors of the old club. In 2017, under new ownership, Lietuvos rytas took back the history of Statyba.

Notable players

Dainius Adomaitis Dainius Adomaitis (born 19 January 1974) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player and the head coach for Alvark Tokyo of Japan's B.League. Professional career He started his career in Statyba Vilnius. Later he moved to Žalgiris ...

1993–1996 * Romanas Brazdauskis 1983–1984, 1986–1988 * Rimas Girskis 1968–1983 *

Artūras Karnišovas Artūras Karnišovas (born April 27, 1971) is a Lithuanian professional basketball executive and former player. He is the current executive vice president of basketball operations of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) ...

1987–1990 *

Jonas Kazlauskas Jonas Kazlauskas (born 21 November 1954) is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach and former player. He was most recently the head coach of the Guangdong Southern Tigers in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Playing career Kazlauskas ...

1973–1985 *

Anatolij Kovtun Anatolij Kovtun (31 December 1960 – 22 February 2005) was a Ukrainian basketball player and a member of the Soviet Union men's national basketball team, Soviet Union national basketball team. He won the USSR Premier Basketball League, Soviet ch ...

1986–1987 * Linas Kvedaravičius 1985–1990 *

Šarūnas Marčiulionis Raimondas Šarūnas Marčiulionis () (born June 13, 1964) is a Lithuanian retired professional basketball player. Widely considered one of the greatest international players, he was one of the first Europeans to become a regular in the Nationa ...

1981–1989 * Algimantas Pavilonis 1973–1985 * Alvydas Pazdrazdis 1991–1992 * Alfredas Vainauskas 1979–1990, 1993–1995

Head coaches

* Antanas Paulauskas (1964–1975) (team founder) * Rimantas Endrijaitis (1975–1987) (former captain) * Rimas Girskis (1988–1990) (former captain) * Eduardas Kairys (1990–1992) (former player) * Rimantas Endrijaitis (1992–1994) (former captain) * Heino Lill (1994–1995) (former assistant coach) * Alfredas Vainauskas (1995–1997) (former player)

Achievements

* Žalgiris association ** Champions (1): 1965 * USSR Premier League ** Third place (1): 1979 *

** ''Runners-up (1):'' 1990 * LKL ** Third place (1): 1994 * Lithuanian SSR Championship ** Champions (6): 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1981, 1984 ** ''Runners-up (13):'' 1966, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1991, 1992 * Lithuanian "Sports" Cup ** Champions (5): 1968, 1969, 1981, 1983, 1985 ** ''Runners-up (2):'' 1984, 1992 ** Third place (2): 1965, 1982 * USSR A class ** Champions (2): 1971, 1974 ** ''Runners-up (1):'' 1973 ** Third place (2): 1969, 1970

References

Sport in Vilnius Basketball teams established in 1963 Basketball teams in Lithuania Basketball teams in the Soviet Union 1963 establishments in Lithuania 1997 disestablishments in Lithuania {{Lithuania-sport-stub