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 Trakai ...

) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and

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 ...

n 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 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 FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991) is the list of the 50 greatest players in the history of FIBA international basketball, as selected in the year 1991, by FIBA Magazine. The list was created in honor of the 100th anniversary of the creation of the ...

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) en ...

, 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) en ...

. 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 enterprises ...

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 coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

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 n ...

, 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 1960 European Women's Basketball Championship was the 7th regional championship held by FIBA Europe for women. The competition was held in Sofia, Bulgaria and took place June 3–11, 1960. The Soviet Union won the gold medal, while hosts Bulg ...

, 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 The 1964 EuroBasket Women, European Women Basketball Championship, commonly called EuroBasket Women 1964, was the 9th regional championship held by FIBA Europe. The competition was held in Hungary. won the gold medal and the silver medal while w ...

. 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 ...

Cuba national team

Butautas was also the head coach of the

Cuba men's national basketball team The Cuba men's national basketball team represents Cuba at international competitions. It won the bronze medal at 1972 Summer Olympics and finished in 4th place at the 1974 FIBA World Championship. It is the only team from the Caribbean to win ...

, 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). Th ...

, the 1968 Summer Olympic Games, 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 ...

Managerial career

Butautas was the department head of the Lithuanian State Institute of Physical Education (now

Lithuanian Sports University Lithuanian Sports University or LSU is a university in Kaunas, Lithuania, specializing in sports, physical activities, and physiology. It is headquartered in Žaliakalnis neighbourhood, in close proximity to the Kaunas Sports Hall and the S. Dar ...

), 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 Ramūnas Butautas (born 22 May 1964 in Kaunas) is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach who last coached Lietkabelis Panevėžys of the Lithuanian Basketball League. He is the son of Stepas Butautas. In 2017, Butautas was elected as the he ...

, 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 ...

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 f ...

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

Playing career

Club playing career

National team playing career

Coaching career

Clubs

Soviet Union women's national team

Cuba national team

Managerial career

Personal life

See also

References

External links