LKL Finals
{{Short description|Lithuanian basketball championship}}
{{Infobox recurring event
| name = LKL Finals
| logo =
| logo_size = 150px
| status = Active
| genre = Sporting event
| date = June
| frequency = Annual
| country = Lithuania
| first = {{Start date|1994|df=y}}
}}
{{LKL Awards}}
The Lietuvos Krepšinio Lyga (LKL) Finals is the championship finals series for the top-tier level professional club basketball league in Lithuania, the LKL, and the conclusion of the league's postseason. The Finals have been played in either a best-of-seven, or a best-of five format. The first LKL Finals series was held in 1994, and was contested by Žalgiris and Atletas, with Žalgiris winning the series 3–1.
Žalgiris Kaunas has been the most successful team, having won 22 out of the 27 LKL Finals series that have been played so far. Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius is the only other team to win the LKL Finals.
History
=1994–2000: Early dominance by Žalgiris Kaunas=
Žalgiris Kaunas won the first 6 LKL Finals series, from 1994 to 1999. The team's dominance in the LKL Finals came to an end in the 2000 LKL Finals, when they lost to Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius. During that same period, Žalgiris had also won the second tier level European-wide FIBA Saporta Cup in the 1997–98 season, and the first tier level European-wide 1999 FIBA EuroLeague Final Four. From 1994 to 2000, Atletas Kaunas was the only other club that came close to winning the LKL Finals, as they won the first two games of the 5 game 1996 LKL Finals.
=2000–2010: Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius and Žalgiris rivalry=
Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius finally ended Žalgiris Kaunas' run of winning the first 6 LKL Finals, when they won the finals in 2000. Over an 11-year period, from 2000 to 2010, all of the LKL Finals were won by the two clubs, with Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius winning 5 LKL Finals series, and Žalgiris Kaunas winning 6 LKL Finals series.
=2011–present: Žalgiris Kaunas dominates again=
Starting with the 2011 LKL Finals, Žalgiris Kaunas began another long run of dominance, winning 10 straight LKL Finals series, from 2011 to 2021.
LKL Finals series results
Image:Ramūnas Šiškauskas at all-star PBL game 2011.JPG won 2 LKL Finals, as a player.]]
Image:Paulius Jankūnas 13 BC Žalgiris EuroLeague 20180223.jpg has won 14 LKL Finals, as a player.]]
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left;" | |||
| Season | Champion | Result | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| style="text-align:center;"|1994 | Žalgiris | style="text-align:center;"|3–1 | Atletas |
| style="text-align:center;"|1995 | Žalgiris | style="text-align:center;"|3–0 | Atletas |
| style="text-align:center;"|1996 | Žalgiris | style="text-align:center;"|3–2 | Atletas |
| style="text-align:center;"|1997 | Žalgiris | style="text-align:center;"|3–0 | Olimpas |
| style="text-align:center;"|1998 | Žalgiris | style="text-align:center;"|3–1 | Atletas |
| style="text-align:center;"|1999 | Žalgiris | style="text-align:center;"|3–0 | Lietuvos Rytas |
| style="text-align:center;"|2000 | Lietuvos Rytas | style="text-align:center;"|3–1 | Žalgiris |
| style="text-align:center;"|2001 | Žalgiris | style="text-align:center;"|3–2 | Lietuvos Rytas |
| style="text-align:center;"|2002 | Lietuvos Rytas | style="text-align:center;"|4–3 | Žalgiris |
| style="text-align:center;"|2003 | Žalgiris | style="text-align:center;"|4–2 | Lietuvos Rytas |
| style="text-align:center;"|2004 | Žalgiris | style="text-align:center;"|4–0 | Lietuvos Rytas |
| style="text-align:center;"|2005 | Žalgiris | style="text-align:center;"|4–0 | Lietuvos Rytas |
| style="text-align:center;"|2006 | Lietuvos Rytas | style="text-align:center;"|4–0 | Žalgiris |
| style="text-align:center;"|2007 | Žalgiris | style="text-align:center;"|4–2 | Lietuvos Rytas |
| style="text-align:center;"|2008 | Žalgiris | style="text-align:center;"|4–1 | Lietuvos Rytas |
| style="text-align:center;"|2009 | Lietuvos Rytas | style="text-align:center;"|4–1 | Žalgiris |
| style="text-align:center;"|2010 | Lietuvos Rytas | style="text-align:center;"|4–3 | Žalgiris |
| style="text-align:center;"|2011 | Žalgiris | style="text-align:center;"|4–1 | Lietuvos Rytas |
| style="text-align:center;"|2012 | Žalgiris | style="text-align:center;"|3–0 | Lietuvos Rytas |
| style="text-align:center;"|2013 | Žalgiris | style="text-align:center;"|4–0 | Lietuvos Rytas |
| style="text-align:center;"|2014 | Žalgiris | style="text-align:center;"|4–2 | Neptūnas |
| style="text-align:center;"|2015 | Žalgiris | style="text-align:center;"|4–0 | Lietuvos Rytas |
| style="text-align:center;"|2016 | Žalgiris | style="text-align:center;"|4–1 | Neptūnas |
| style="text-align:center;"|2017 | Žalgiris | style="text-align:center;"|4–1 | Lietkabelis |
| style="text-align:center;"|2018 | Žalgiris | style="text-align:center;"|4–1 | Lietuvos Rytas |
| style="text-align:center;"|2019 | Žalgiris | style="text-align:center;"|3–0 | Rytas |
| style="text-align:center;"|2020 | colspan="3" style="text-align:center;" |Finals were not held | ||
| style="text-align:center;"|2021 | Žalgiris | style="text-align:center;"|3–0 | Rytas |
| style="text-align:center;"|2022 | Rytas | style="text-align:center;"|4–1 | Lietkabelis |
| style="text-align:center;"|2023 | Žalgiris | style="text-align:center;"|3–2 | Rytas |
| style="text-align:center;"|2024 | Rytas | style="text-align:center;"|3–1 | Žalgiris |
| style="text-align: center;" |2025 | Žalgiris | style="text-align: center;" |3–2 | Rytas |
LKL Finals won by head coach
File:Jonas Kazlauskas by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg won a record 6 LKL Finals]]
List of winning head coaches:
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
- 1994 – Jaak Salumets
- 1995 – Jonas Kazlauskas
- 1996 – Jonas Kazlauskas (2)
- 1997 – Jonas Kazlauskas (3)
- 1998 – Jonas Kazlauskas (4)
- 1999 – Jonas Kazlauskas (5)
- 2000 – Šarūnas Sakalauskas
- 2001 – Algirdas Brazys
- 2002 – Jonas Kazlauskas (6)
- 2003 – Antanas Sireika
- 2004 – Antanas Sireika (2)
- 2005 – Antanas Sireika (3)
- 2006 – Neven Spahija
- 2007 – Rimantas Grigas
- 2008 – Rimantas Grigas (2)
- 2009 – Rimas Kurtinaitis
- 2010 – Rimas Kurtinaitis (2)
- 2011 – Ilias Zouros
- 2012 – Aleksandar Trifunović
- 2013 – Joan Plaza
- 2014 – Gintaras Krapikas
- 2015 – Gintaras Krapikas (2)
- 2016 – Šarūnas Jasikevičius
- 2017 – Šarūnas Jasikevičius (2)
- 2018 – Šarūnas Jasikevičius (3)
- 2019 – Šarūnas Jasikevičius (4)
- 2020 – Finals were not held
- 2021 – Martin Schiller
- 2022 – Giedrius Žibėnas
- 2023 – Kazys Maksvytis
- 2024 – Giedrius Žibėnas (2)
- 2025 – Andrea Trinchieri
{{div col end}}
LKL Finals Most Valuable Player
{{More citations needed section|date=April 2019}}
{{LKL Awards}}
The LKL Finals Most Valuable Player Award is the annual award that is given by the professional Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL), to the Most Valuable Player of each season's LKL Finals.
Gintaras Einikis was the winner of the first Finals MVP award, in 1994. So far 5 players, Einikis, Arvydas Macijauskas, Tanoka Beard, Paulius Jankūnas and Edgaras Ulanovas, have won multiple Finals MVP awards. To date, Beard is the only non-Lithuanian player to win multiple Finals MVP awards. The current holder of the award is Sylvain Francisco.
=LKL Finals MVPs=
Image:Ramūnas Šiškauskas at all-star PBL game 2011.JPG was the LKL Finals MVP in 2001.]]
Image:Marcus Brown Euroleague Final Four 2005.JPG was the LKL Finals MVP in 2008.]]
Image:Chuck Eidson with an uniform of the BC Lietuvos rytas in 2007.jpg was the LKL Finals MVP in 2009.]]
Image:Paulius Jankunas by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg was the LKL Finals MVP in 2011 and 2014.]]
Image:Mindaugas Kuzminskas by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg was the LKL Finals MVP in 2013.]]
- Player nationality by national team:
| class="wikitable" |
| style="background-color:#FFFF99; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; width:6em"| * |
| style="background-color:#FF9999; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; width:6em"| **
| Member of the FIBA Hall of Fame |
| style="background-color:#FFCC99; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; width:6em"| *** |
| style="background-color:#FFE6BD; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; width:6em"| {{dagger}}
|Denotes player whose team won championship that year |
| Player (X)
|Denotes the number of times the player has received the Finals MVP award |
==Multi-time winners==
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| Player | Team(s) | No. | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| {{flagicon|LTU}} Gintaras Einikis | Žalgiris Kaunas | {{center|2}} | 1994, 1995 |
| {{flagicon|LTU}} Arvydas Macijauskas | Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius | {{center|2}} | 2002, 2003 |
| {{flagicon|USA}} Tanoka Beard | Žalgiris Kaunas | {{center|2}} | 2004, 2007 |
| {{flagicon|LTU}} Paulius Jankūnas | Žalgiris Kaunas | {{center|2}} | 2011, 2014 |
| {{flagicon|LTU}} Edgaras Ulanovas | Žalgiris Kaunas | {{center|2}} | 2017, 2019 |
==By player nationality==
| class="wikitable sortable" | |
| Number | Country |
|---|---|
| {{center|18×}} | {{flagicon|LTU}} Lithuania |
| {{center|8×}} | {{flagicon|USA}} United States |
| {{center|1×}} | {{flagicon|UKR}} Ukraine |
| {{center|1×}} | {{flagicon|FRA}} France |
==By club==
| class="wikitable sortable" | |
| Number | Team |
|---|---|
| {{center|25×}} | |
| {{center|7×}} |
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://en.lkl.lt/ Official LKL website]
- [https://www.youtube.com/user/LKLVIDEO Official LKL YouTube.com channel]
- [https://www.eurobasket.com/Lithuania/basketball.aspx Lithuanian league at Eurobasket.com]
{{LKL}}
{{LKL Finals MVP}}
{{European Basketball MVP Awards}}