KK Atletas ( lt, Kauno rajono Krepšinio Klubas 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 (appr ...

club that is based in

Kaunas district Kaunas District Municipality (''Kauno rajono savivaldybė'') is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania. The seat of the municipality is the city of Kaunas, which does not belong to the municipality but is a separate administrative unit. It surround ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), 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. Lithuania ...

. 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. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

center

Žydrūnas Ilgauskas Zydrunas Ilgauskas ( lt, link=no, Žydrūnas Ilgauskas; ; born June 5, 1975) is a Lithuanian-born American former professional basketball player who played the center position. The 7'3" Ilgauskas played for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the Nationa ...

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 one of the greatest Lithuanian basketball players of all time, and he was also considered to be ...

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 LNB Pro A and the EuroLeague. He was drafted 20th overall in the 2011 NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves before going on ...

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 May 15, 1960) is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach, and a retired professional basketball player, who was a member of the senior Soviet and Lithuanian national basketball teams during his playing career. He won ...

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 The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpico ...

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 medal ...

* Darius Sirtautas *

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 *

Artūras Milaknis Artūras Milaknis (born 16 June 1986) is a Lithuanian professional basketball for Tofaş of Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL). Standing at , he primarily plays as a shooting guard position. Early career A native of Kaunas, Milaknis began his career in ...

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 Lithuanian powerhouse Žalgiris Kaunas. On 17 August 2010 he was loaned to ...

* Šarūnas Vasiliauskas *

Siim-Sander Vene Siim-Sander Vene (born 12 November 1990) is an Estonian professional basketball player for Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Basketball Premier League and the Basketball Champions League. Standing at 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in), he plays both the small ...

Jonas Mačiulis Jonas Mačiulis (born 10 February 1985) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. Standing at , he mainly plays at the small forward position. As a member of the senior Lithuanian national team, he earned an All-EuroBasket Team sel ...

External links

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