BC Žalgiris

Žalgiris Arena

Basketball Club Žalgiris (Lithuanian: Krepšinio klubas Žalgiris) is a professional basketball team that is based in Kaunas, Lithuania. Founded in 1944, it is one of the oldest teams in the EuroLeague and plays domestically in the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL). Žalgiris is one of 11 European clubs that hold EuroLeague A Licenses, which provide their holders with a guaranteed place in the regular-season phase of the EuroLeague. Since the 2011–12 season, Žalgiris plays its home games in the new Žalgiris Arena, built just before the EuroBasket 2011. The club's name commemorates the victorious Battle of Žalgiris (Battle of Grunwald) (both names: Žalgiris and Grunwald are translated as "green grove"). Žalgiris has featured many Lithuanian basketball legends during their history, including Arvydas Sabonis, Modestas Paulauskas and Šarūnas Jasikevičius. Eight of the thirteen Lithuanian basketball players to ever play in the National Basketball Association (NBA) have played for Žalgiris or were part of the Žalgiris youth program at one point in their careers (Arvydas Sabonis, Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Donatas Motiejūnas, Mindaugas Kuzminskas, Darius Songaila and Martynas Andriuškevičius). The team is the most decorated Lithuanian basketball club ever, having won twenty Lithuanian championships, five Soviet championships, one European championship, and have reached the Lithuanian league finals every season in league history.