Rimantas "Rimas" Kaukėnas (born 11 April 1977) is a Lithuanian former 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 ...

player. His long career has taken him to a number of countries, finding the most success in Italy. He has also been a member of the senior men's Lithuanian national team. Playing primarily 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 positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

position, he can also play as a

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

Professional career

Kaukėnas was a longtime member of

Montepaschi Siena Mens Sana 1871 Basket is an Italian professional basketball club based in Siena. It is a section of the sports club Polisportiva Mens Sana, founded in 1871. Under the name Montepaschi Siena, derived from sponsor Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, ...

of the Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

. On 5 August 2012 he signed for his homeland team Žalgiris Kaunas. He joined

Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia Pallacanestro Reggiana, also known for sponsorship reasons as UnaHotels Reggio Emilia, is an Italian professional basketball team based in Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna. It plays in the LBA as of the 2022-23 season. History 1970s Pallacanestro ...

in December 2013, helping the side reach the finals of the

2014–15 Lega Basket Serie A The 2014–15 Lega Basket Serie A was the 93rd season of the Lega Basket Serie A, the highest professional basketball league in Italy. The regular season started on 12 October 2014 and finished on 10 May 2015, after all teams had played 30 games e ...

. In July 2015, his contract was extended for another season. On 7 July 2016 Kaukėnas retired from professional basketball. On 7 January 2017 Kaukėnas came out of retirement and rejoined Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia for the rest of the season.

National team

Kaukėnas played with the senior men's

Lithuanian 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 ...

at the

EuroBasket 2001 The 2001 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2001, was the 32nd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2002 FIBA World Championship, giving a b ...

, the

EuroBasket 2007 The 2007 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2007, was the 35th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2008 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to th ...

, where he won a bronze medal, and the

EuroBasket 2011 EuroBasket 2011 was the 37th men's EuroBasket, European Basketball Championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Lithuania. This was the second time EuroBasket had been held in Lithuania, the country having also hosted t ...

. He also played at both the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

and the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Personal life

Kaukėnas established the Rimantas Kaukenas Charity Group, which aims to provide "magical moments" for children with life-threatening medical conditions. He is married with former Swedish-Serbian basketball player

Tanja Kostić Tanja Kostić ( sr, Тања Костић, translit=Tanja Kostić; born November 10, 1972) is a Sweden, Swedish retired women's basketball player best known for playing with the Oregon State Beavers from 1993 to 1996. She won a EuroLeague Women in 1 ...

, with whom he has three daughters. Tanja follows the activities of RK Charity Group, while Rimantas is playing during the season. He is fluent in English, Italian and Russian.

EuroLeague career statistics

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2005–06 , style="text-align:left;",

, 14 , , 12 , , 28.5 , , .442 , , .302 , , .847 , , 1.9 , , 2.0 , , 1.7 , , .0 , , 15.1 , , 12.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , style="text-align:left;", Montepaschi Siena , 9 , , 5 , , 28.8 , , .431 , , .290 , , .882 , , 2.6 , , 2.6 , , 1.6 , , .1 , , 14.1 , , 13.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;", Montepaschi Siena , 18 , , 5 , , 28.8 , , .518 , , .368 , , .847 , , 2.3 , , 1.7 , , 1.1 , , .0 , , 14.8 , , 12.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;",

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, 18 , , 10 , , 21.4 , , .545 , , .353 , , .829 , , 1.1 , , 1.3 , , 1.6 , , .0 , , 10.3 , , 8.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, style="text-align:left;", Montepaschi Siena , 20 , , 11 , , 25.3 , , .445 , , .308 , , .902 , , 2.0 , , 1.9 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , 12.0 , , 9.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , style="text-align:left;", Montepaschi Siena , 6 , , 6 , , 25.3 , , .580 , , .643 , , 1.000 , , 2.2 , , 2.5 , , 1.2 , , .0 , , 14.5 , , 15.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris Kaunas , 24 , , 11 , , 20.3 , , .395 , , .344 , , .882 , , 2.1 , , 1.9 , , .8 , , .0 , , 7.8 , , 6.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;",

Laboral Kutxa Laboral Kutxa is a Basque credit union that provides banking, savings and investment services. It was created in March 2012 as a result of the merger of two smaller credit unions. The Caja Laboral Popular Sociedad Cooperativa de Crédito (known ...

, 5 , , 1 , , 12.3 , , .583 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 1.4 , , 1.0 , , .6 , , .2 , , 3.6 , , 3.8 , - , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 114 , , 61 , , 23.8 , , .510 , , .337 , , .874 , , 1.9 , , 1.8 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 11.6 , , 10.2

Awards and achievements

* Lithuanian League Champion: 2002 * North European League Champion: 2002 * German League All-Star Game

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

: 2004 *

Eurobasket.com Eurobasket.com also commonly referred to as "Eurobasket News", is a basketball-centered website that provide coverages of every professional and semi-professional leagues around the world. Although primarily focusing on European basketball, th ...

's German League Player of the Year: 2004 * Italian League MVP ''Runner Up'': 2005 * 2×

Italian SuperCup The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seas ...

Winner: 2007, 2008 * Italian League MVP ''Runner Up'': 2007 * 4×

Italian League The Italic League or Most Holy League was an international agreement concluded in Venice on 30 August 1454, between the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, and the Kingdom of Naples, following the Tr ...

Champion: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 * Italian League Finals MVP: 2007 *

: * EuroLeague 3rd Place: 2008 * His number 13 was retired by

in 2009.

References

External links

Euroleague Profile

Serie A Profile

Liga ACB Profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaukenas, Rimantas 1977 births Living people Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics BC Rytas players BC Oostende players Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Belgium Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Israel Hapoel Galil Elyon players Israeli Basketball Premier League players Lega Basket Serie A players Liga ACB players Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Germany Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Italy Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Spain Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in the United States Lithuanian men's basketball players Mens Sana Basket players Olympic basketball players of Lithuania Pallacanestro Cantù players Pallacanestro Reggiana players Real Madrid Baloncesto players Saski Baskonia players Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball players Shooting guards Basketball players from Vilnius Telekom Baskets Bonn players