Lithuania men's national basketball team

• 1. Introduction

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  The Lithuania men's national basketball team carries the name Lietuvos nacionalinė vyrų krepšinio rinktinė, and it belongs to a country with fewer than 3 million people. That small population has never stopped Lithuania from standing among the most formidable basketball nations on earth. The questions worth asking are: how did a Baltic country barely a century old forge an identity so tied to a single sport? Who were the diaspora players who arrived to transform a struggling team into European champions? And what happened when the Soviet Union collapsed and a band of NBA stars chose to wear the colors of a newly free Lithuania, funded by an American rock band?

• 2. Diaspora and the First Gold

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  On the 13th of December 1925, in the Latvian capital Riga, Lithuania played its first international basketball game and lost 41-20 to a Latvian side coached by American YMCA instructors. The Latvians would go on to crush Lithuania 123-10, and basketball nearly faded from the country altogether, overshadowed by football and hampered by a cold climate and the absence of indoor arenas.

  The turnaround began in 1934, when the Physical Culture Palace opened in Kaunas with a spacious hall built for tennis but suitable for basketball. A year later, a World Lithuanian Congress drew ethnic Lithuanians from across the globe to temporary capital Kaunas, and among the visitors were athletes from Chicago. Two of them, Juozas Zukas and Konstantinas Savickas, stayed to coach and play. Savickas took over as player-coach, and within a year the team that had been crushed 123-10 was trailing the Latvians by only 7-14 at halftime.

  The decisive figure for EuroBasket 1937 was Frank Lubin, an American-born player of Lithuanian descent who had won gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Going by the Lithuanian name Pranas Lubinas, he spent five months in the country as its first knowledgeable coach. Lubinas and Zukas together helped Lithuania beat Latvia for the first time, 35-27. Two more Lithuanian Americans, Pranas Talzūnas and Feliksas Kriaučiūnas, arrived just one month before the tournament after a Latvian newspaper had printed a dismissive article calling Lithuania the weakest team in the field. Player Leonas Baltrūnas was so stung by the article that he lobbied for their inclusion through the director of the Physical Culture Palace.

  To keep their preparations secret, all warmup games were cancelled and sessions were held behind closed doors. Opponents at EuroBasket 1937 were skeptical about the Lithuanian Americans, with Talzūnas recalling that "everyone thought that a good player must be tall, raising his hand and dunking into the basket." Lithuania defeated every opponent to claim the European title, and Talzūnas was named the tournament's most valuable player. After the final victory over Italy, tenor Kipras Petrauskas interrupted his own performance at the State Theatre to announce the result, and the crowd rose and sang the Lithuanian anthem.

  The return home was extraordinary. Kriaučiūnas compared the welcome at the train station to "like we, here in America, greet the president." Future team coach Vladas Garastas recalled that as a child he and his friends built hoops from barrels and stuffed grass or whatever they could find into makeshift balls. Player Stepas Butautas remembered: "In every yard hoops are being made from barrels. Children, teenagers are throwing balls into them, others even a sock crammed with clouts."

  For EuroBasket 1939, Lithuania built the Kaunas Sports Hall, described as Europe's first dedicated basketball arena. Lubinas returned as player-coach alongside four other American-born players, drawing protests from rival nations. He scored the buzzer-beater in the decisive final against Latvia, winning 37-36, to give Lithuania a second continental title.

• 3. Soviet Years and Four Starting Lithuanians

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  Following Lithuania's annexation by the Soviet Union during World War II, Lithuanian players regularly formed the core of the Soviet national team. The most concentrated example came at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, where four Lithuanians started for the gold medal-winning Soviet squad: Valdemaras Chomičius, Rimas Kurtinaitis, Šarūnas Marčiulionis, and Arvydas Sabonis. That gold medal would later take on an ironic weight, as all four men would return to wear Lithuanian colors once independence was restored.

• 4. The Grateful Dead and the Skeleton Jersey

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  After Lithuania's independence was restored in 1990, the four stars of the 1988 Soviet squad made clear they wanted to represent Lithuania. Sabonis and Marčiulionis refused a request to play for the Soviet Union at the 1990 Goodwill Games. In September 1991, the International Olympic Committee welcomed Lithuania back, and in December that year LKF president Stanislovas Stonkus attended the FIBA congress in Springfield, Massachusetts, where FIBA president George E. Killian granted Lithuania full membership.

  The practical obstacle was money. Lithuania's economic transition had left the country in severe financial difficulty, and the federation could barely count on state funding. Marčiulionis had a connection to the American financial world as the first USSR player in the NBA, having played for the Golden State Warriors. He and Donnie Nelson, son of his then-coach Don Nelson, went looking for financial supporters. George Shirk wrote a story about the Lithuanian situation in the San Francisco Chronicle, and when the American rock band Grateful Dead read the article, they decided to help.

  Drummer Mickey Hart said the story resonated because it was "a struggle for life, liberty and freedom." The band donated $5,000 to Marčiulionis and helped launch a trade in tie-dyed jerseys featuring Lithuania's national colors and a trademarked image created by New York artist Greg Speirs: a skeleton dunking a flaming basketball, nicknamed "Skully." Speirs described it as his interpretation of how the Lithuanian team rose from the ashes. According to Donnie Nelson, the Lithuanians loved the vivid design because it was a great contrast to "all those years of those Soviet colors, nothing but blues and grays." Arvydas Sabonis said of his first impression: "Wow, this really is a free Lithuania."

  Skully was later enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as the only cartoon character to be enshrined in any sports Hall of Fame. New versions of the jerseys were worn at the following two Olympic Games.

• 5. Barcelona 1992: Bronze as Soul

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  Preparation for the 1992 Summer Olympics was complicated from the start. Key players Sabonis, Marčiulionis, and Artūras Karnišovas were missing for early warmup games, including a Nordic Countries Championship where Lithuania finished second, losing to Latvia 80-95. Head coach Vladas Garastas was a Žalgiris veteran who had served as assistant for the 1988 Soviet squad, and he spent the pre-Olympic months assembling a coaching staff that eventually included Donnie Nelson and Spanish Liga ACB veteran Javier Imbroda.

  At the 1992 Pre-Olympic Basketball Tournament in Spain, held from the 22nd of June to the 5th of July, Lithuania won all 11 of their games to claim one of four qualifying spots from 25 participants, with expenses covered by the Spanish city of Melilla.

  The Olympic group stage began with a 112-75 win over China, featuring 31 points from Rimas Kurtinaitis on five of six three-pointers. Against Venezuela, Marčiulionis scored 27 and Sabonis 24 to secure an 87-79 win. The most anticipated group game was against the Unified Team, composed of former Soviet republics. Lithuania had led 59-57 at halftime before losing 92-80, despite a combined 42 points from Sabonis and Marčiulionis.

  In the quarterfinals, Lithuania defeated Brazil 114-96. Sabonis played all 40 minutes and scored 32 points, Marčiulionis added 29, and Kurtinaitis 20. The semifinal brought the United States "Dream Team," the first American Olympic team built from NBA players. Lithuania took a lopsided 76-127 loss, still the biggest defeat in Lithuanian basketball history, with the team shooting only 34.2% from the field. Even so, Larry Bird said "we knew the Lithuanians were capable of scoring, so we didn't take them lightly," and Magic Johnson acknowledged "they're a dangerous team, so we had to pick up our intensity."

  The bronze medal game was a rematch with the Unified Team, with each side having won once that year. Captain Chomičius declared before the game: "We lost to them once already, we couldn't let that happen again." Coach Garastas told his players: "Men, you're playing for the people of Lithuania. Forget about your personal ambitions. People are watching you, losing sleep over you." Marčiulionis described the country's attention: "Some were listening on radios, others were watching on television. All of Lithuania was stopped."

  Lithuania won 82-78, with Marčiulionis playing all 40 minutes and scoring 29, and Sabonis adding 27. Donnie Nelson described the locker room afterward as "like winning the NBA championship times five." De jure Head of State Vytautas Landsbergis visited the team there, and they sang the national anthem together. At the medal ceremony, the team wore the Skeleton Jerseys to honor Speirs and the Grateful Dead. Kurtinaitis described the moment: "Well, we cried. It was really from joy. Words cannot even express feelings like that." Sabonis put his two Olympic medals in perspective: "The medal in Seoul was gold, but this bronze is our soul."

• 6. EuroBasket 1995 and the Contested Final

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  Lithuania's absence from EuroBasket 1993, after a loss to Belarus in qualifying, was the only time the team failed to appear at a European Championship following independence. That setback directly prompted the creation of Lithuania's first professional basketball league.

  At EuroBasket 1995 in Greece, Lithuania recovered powerfully. They won five group games and then defeated 1994 World Championship silver medalists Russia 82-71 in the quarterfinals. A 90-80 semifinal win over Croatia, led by centers Stojko Vranković and Dino Rađa, put Lithuania into the final for the first time in 56 years.

  The final against Yugoslavia became deeply controversial. With five minutes left and Lithuania trailing 76-83, Arvydas Sabonis fouled out. Lithuania closed to 83-84, then 87-83 after a shot by Saulius Štombergas was ruled out for an offensive foul called by referee George Toliver. The team protested and received three technical fouls, with Sabonis, Marčiulionis, and the whole squad penalized in sequence. Aleksandar Đorđević, the game's top scorer with 41 points, converted the resulting free throws. Lithuania lost 90-96. Greek fans, who had seen their own team eliminated by Yugoslavia, shouted "Lithuania is the champion" and booed during the medal ceremony. Tournament MVP Marčiulionis later said that "we felt robbed and we still feel that," while conceding that a thin bench and Yugoslavia's ability to "provoke other players and initiate psychological battles" also played a role.

• 7. Atlanta 1996: Second Bronze, Farewell to Legends

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  At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Lithuania opened with an 83-81 double-overtime win over Croatia, whose roster included Toni Kukoč, Stojko Vranković, and Dino Rađa. A loss to Argentina and a defeat to the host United States, in front of 31,000 spectators, put Lithuania in a position where group-stage wins over Angola and China were needed to advance. Both were secured.

  The quarterfinal produced a convincing 99-66 win over Greece, setting up another semifinal against Yugoslavia. Lithuania led 18-9 early, and held a 54-51 advantage with five minutes left, only to go scoreless in the final three minutes and lose 58-66.

  The bronze medal game against Australia was tight throughout, with the score 73-72 with one minute remaining. Sabonis hit a three-point shot with 30 seconds left to secure the lead, and Lithuania won 84-74. Sabonis finished with 30 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, and 5 blocks.

  The 1996 bronze was the last game Sabonis and Marčiulionis played together. Marčiulionis retired from the national team, and head coach Vladas Garastas also stepped down. A generational shift was beginning.

• 8. Sydney 2000 and the Near-Miracle

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  By the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Lithuania had transformed into an almost entirely new side. Veterans Saulius Štombergas and Eurelijus Žukauskas were reserves who had been reserves at Atlanta, while eight of the players were Olympic debutants: Ramūnas Šiškauskas, Darius Songaila, Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Mindaugas Timinskas, Andrius Giedraitis, Kęstutis Marčiulionis, Darius Maskoliūnas, and Tomas Masiulis.

  After a narrow 48-50 opening loss to Italy, Lithuania beat France 81-63, then faced the third incarnation of the American Dream Team. The final score of 85-76 represented Team USA's lowest point total and smallest margin since NBA players had entered Olympic competition. Lithuania actually led in the second quarter.

  The quarterfinal against Yugoslavia, a team Lithuania had not beaten in previous years, started with Lithuania trailing 8-2. They steadily erased the gap and led 72-58 with three minutes left, winning 76-63. Coach Jonas Kazlauskas called winning against Yugoslavia and its coach "every team and every coach dream."

  The semifinal against the United States was arguably the most dramatic game in Lithuanian Olympic history. The United States won the first quarter 48-36, but Lithuania tied the game 50-50 five minutes into the second quarter. With 1:36 remaining, Lithuania led 80-79. Then Vince Carter restored the American advantage; Kevin Garnett missed two free throws; Antonio McDyess put the Americans up 81-84 with 25 seconds left. Šarūnas Jasikevičius made two free throws for 83-84. With five seconds left, Jason Kidd converted one of two free throws for 83-85. A last-second long attempt by Jasikevičius was an air ball. The Dream Team's margin of victory was 85-83, the smallest ever against them. American coach Rudy Tomjanovich acknowledged that the Lithuanians "played focused and played the high level basketball. At the end, they were unlucky to make a few free-throws."

  For the third straight Olympics, only bronze remained. Lithuania defeated host Australia 89-71, with a shooting percentage of 67%, to claim a third consecutive Olympic bronze medal. Coach Kazlauskas noted the young squad "didn't let down the lath lower than it was raised."

  Following a humiliating group-stage exit at EuroBasket 2001, Lithuania entered EuroBasket 2003 in Sweden having had to qualify through a ten-game qualifying tournament, which they won entirely. The team was led by Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Arvydas Macijauskas, Ramūnas Šiškauskas, and Saulius Štombergas.

  The opening game against Latvia, the team responsible for the 2001 elimination, nearly ended in disaster. Lithuania lost the first quarter 14-23, trailed at halftime 34-40, and only tied by the third quarter 58-58. Latvia still led 66-58 with 23 seconds remaining. Then Eurelijus Žukauskas tied it at 81-81 to force overtime, and Jasikevičius made two free throws with four seconds left in extra time for a 92-91 win.

  In the quarterfinals, Lithuania defeated defending world and European champions Serbia and Montenegro 98-82. Serbian coach Božidar Maljković said after the game that "Lithuania plays the best team-play in this championship" and that "by game-play, Lithuania is only worth gold."

  The semifinal against France required surviving a four-minute stretch in the fourth quarter when France led 70-65 with three minutes remaining. Lithuania clawed back to 72-70 with 15 seconds left, and Ramūnas Šiškauskas stopped a final attack by French NBA star Tony Parker before adding two free throws to seal the result.

  In the final against Spain, Lithuania won their third European title 93-84 after a 64-year gap from their 1939 championship. Spanish press was candid in defeat: El Periódico de Catalunya wrote that "when Lithuania was leading 62-48, what the Spanish players wished the most was to end the game and to head into the locker rooms just to finish this suffering." Italian outlet Tuttosport described the winners as "a true Lithuania national team. Without NBA stars." Jasikevičius was named tournament MVP. The ten-year anniversary of the title was celebrated on the 14th of September 2013 at Žalgiris Arena, where most of the 2003 squad played a friendly against a team of European stars and won 85-68.

  At the 2004 Athens Olympics, captain Saulius Štombergas carried the Lithuanian flag at the opening ceremony. The team advanced through a group that included an unlikely 94-90 win over the United States, only the fourth American defeat in Olympic basketball history. Šarūnas Jasikevičius, who had narrowly missed a buzzer-beater against the Dream Team four years earlier, scored 28 points including a decisive 10-point run in 69 seconds that gave Lithuania the lead in the final minutes. The American squad that year included Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan, and LeBron James.

  Lithuania swept China in the quarterfinals, then fell to Italy in the semifinals 91-100 after leading 78-73 in the fourth quarter. In the bronze medal game against the United States, Lithuania converted 21 of 37 three-point attempts but trailed 49-44 at halftime and 74-71 after three quarters. Closing to 83-82 in the final quarter, Lithuania ultimately lost 96-104, leaving them without an Olympic medal for the first time since independence.

  On the 12th of December 2009, Lithuania was granted a wild card for the FIBA World Championship in Turkey the following year. In the group stage, Lithuania beat New Zealand 92-79, erased a 17-point deficit to defeat Canada 70-68 on a missed buzzer three-pointer by Jermaine Anderson, and then recovered from 18 points down to upset defending champion Spain 76-73 with Linas Kleiza sealing the win from the free-throw line. They swept the group undefeated after beating France 69-55 and Lebanon 84-66.

  After wins over China and Argentina in the knockout rounds, Lithuania lost to Team USA by 15 points in the semifinals. In the bronze medal game, Lithuania defeated Serbia 99-88. It remains Lithuania's best result at a FIBA World Championship.