 | |
| Founded | April 22, 1993; 32 years ago (1993-04-22) |
|---|---|
| First season | 1993–94 |
| Country | Lithuania |
| Confederation | FIBA Europe |
| Number of teams | 9 |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Relegation to | NKL |
| Domestic cup | King Mindaugas Cup |
| International cup(s) | EuroLeague EuroCup Champions League FIBA Europe Cup |
| Current champions | Žalgiris (25th title) (2024–25) |
| Most championships | Žalgiris (25 titles) |
| President | Remigijus Milašius |
| TV partners | BTV,Telia Play[1] |
| Website | en |
 2025–26 season | |
Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL; English:Lithuanian Basketball League), also known asBetsson-LKL for sponsorship reasons, is the premier men's professional clubbasketball league inLithuania. It is composed of 9 teams, and it is a member of theLithuanian Basketball Federation. The best LKL clubs are also annual participants of the top European-wide basketball competitions, includingthe top-tier levelEuroLeague.
On April 22, 1993, theLietuvos krepšinio asociacija (LKA; English:Lithuanian Basketball Association) was founded. It was the first professional sports organisation in Lithuania. Lietuvos krepšinio lyga was built on the foundation of the LKA. Former basketball playerŠarūnas Marčiulionis is named as the founder of the league. He was the first president of the LKL and served from 1993 to 2002. Remigijus Milašius is the current president of the league since 2013. The league's headquarters is located inVilnius.
A total of 28 teams have competed in the LKL since its inception. Only two teams have been crowned champions, withŽalgiris Kaunas winning the title a record 24 times andRytas Vilnius seven times.
The league is sponsored byBetsafe, the international onlinesportsbook and casino subsidiary of Swedish gambling giantBetsson, which also sponsors four teams in the league.[2] The league was renamed to "Betsson-LKL" in august of 2025, after the Betsafe company changed its name to Betsson.[3]
The competition format follows a quadruple round-robin format, which means that during the course of a regular season, which lasts from late September to May, each club plays every other club four times, twice at home and twice away, for a total of 44 games. Teams receive one point for a win, and no points for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, with the eight highest-ranked clubs at the end of the season plays the playoffs and the winner of the playoffs is crowned a champion.
A system of promotion and relegation exists between the LKL and the NKL. The lowest placed team in LKL is relegated to the NKL, and the top team from the NKL promoted to LKL. However, the process of promotion and relegation rarely works since teams from NKL are unable to meet the league requirements. In the2021–22 LKL season, for the first time since2014–15 LKL season, 11 teams played in the league, NKL winnerBC Jonava joined the existing 10 teams, while in the following2022-23 LKL season, 12 teams played for the first time since 2013 because winners of NKL,BC Gargždai, got promoted. After bankruptcies hit some of the teams, league was left with 9 teams to start the2025-26 LKL season Below is a complete record of how many teams played in each season throughout the league's history:
| Period (in years) | No. of clubs |
|---|---|
| 1993–1994 | 10 clubs |
| 1994–1995 | 11 clubs |
| 1995–1999 | 10 clubs |
| 1999–2002 | 9 clubs |
| 2002–2004 | 10 clubs |
| 2004–2005 | 9 clubs |
| 2005–2006 | 8 clubs |
| 2006–2007 | 9 clubs |
| 2007–2008 | 10 clubs |
| 2008–2009 | 11 clubs |
| 2009–2011 | 13 clubs |
| 2011–2013 | 12 clubs |
| 2013–2015 | 11 clubs |
| 2015–2021 | 10 clubs |
| 2021–2022 | 11 clubs |
| 2022–2024 | 12 clubs |
| 2024–2025 | 10 clubs |
| 2025–present | 9 clubs |
Žalgiris directly enters theEuroLeague as a licensed club. The highest-placed team, apart from licensed club Zalgiris, gets an invite to play in theEuroCup. The second and third highest-placed teams, apart from licensed club, get an invite to play in theBasketball Champions League.
In the 2024–25 season:
The Lithuanian Basketball Association was founded on 22 April 1993, when eight of the strongest Lithuanian basketball clubs' officials met with representatives of theŠarūnas Marčiulionis basketball fund inVilnius. The original eight teams were:Žalgiris Kaunas,Atletas Kaunas,Drobė Kaunas,Statyba Vilnius,Olimpas Plungė,BC Šilutė,Lietkabelis Panevėžys andNeptūnas Klaipėda. This association would soon be renamed to Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL) due to legal issues, also announcing there that would start in the upcoming fall.[4] By the end of spring, before the season started, the LKA and their new league accepted two more teams –Lavera Kaunas andNECA Kaunas.[5]
Following the 1993–94 season, the finalists of last season'sLKAL,Sakalai Vilnius &BC Šiauliai joined the league, while Drobė Kaunas decided to withdraw due to financial difficulties. The 1994–95 season saw the league's foreign players emerge as star power, before they were more known to be role players. In the 1995–96 season the league continued to accept the champions of the LKAL to the league,Savy Alytus joined the league. SharpshooterJoe Vickery became the first foreigner to lead the LKL in scoring for Olimpas. League officials would start pressuring teams to play in better arenas by setting up certain criteria that were necessary to get accepted into the league. That's why no more teams were accepted until 1998 when Olimpas Plungė went bankrupt and was replaced byBC Kraitienė based inMarijampolė. Some of the strongest teams like Šilutė and Atletas faded away to the bottom of the league and left the league.
During this time period, the league had been dominated by Žalgiris. They won the league's championship trophy for six consecutive years, from 1994 through 1999. Their main rival during those years was Atletas Kaunas led bySaulius Štombergas and a youngŽydrūnas Ilgauskas acquired from Žalgiris' youth team. Ilgauskas was selected 20th overall in the1996 NBA draft, making him the first NBA player coming straight from the LKL. In 1999 Žalgiris, led byTyus Edney, became the first Lithuanian team to win the top European basketball competition, theEuroLeague title.
In the 1999–2000 season,Lietuvos rytas shocked defending EuroLeague champions Žalgiris by ending their dominant run. That sparked most likely the biggest rivalry in Lithuanian sports, the competitiveness has brought over to politics and society between the two biggest cities in Lithuania.[6]
2010–11 saw Žalgiris reclaim the title, beating Lietuvos rytas 4–1. In the finals of 2012 Žalgiris was the winner again, by sweeping Lietuvos Rytas 3–0. During the 2013–14 season, Žalgiris defeatedNeptūnas in the final.[citation needed]
The 2014–2015 season saw the introduction of the 'four wheel system', where all the teams have to play 40 games with no exceptions for teams competing in international competition like in the past. This year Žalgiris was able to finished 1st, but not before a dramatic win against Lietuvos rytas in the last game of the season 82–81.
"...there's no better advertisement for Lithuanian basketball than this match. The season is long, forty games, but everything is settled not only in the last game of the season, but in the last seconds of that game."
— Gintaras Krapikas, head coach of Žalgiris
Žalgiris continued to dominate in the playoffs sweeping rivals Lietuvos rytas once again in the final. Despite a familiar ending, the season was marked by the growing competitiveness of the league, Neptūnas joined Žalgiris and Lietuvos rytas as a powerhouse and this edition saw a couple of upsets and close games from teams such asPieno žvaigždės andJuventus Utena. Although a strong competitorPrienai had an underwhelming season. However, the final saw a two usual suspects once again - Žalgiris and Lietuvos Rytas. The Greens once again took the trophy back home by beating rivals 4–0. Team from Kaunas was led by all around sharpshooters inJames Anderson andArtūras Milaknis who averaged 15.3 and 14.3 points a piece. The latter was namedthe MVP of the finals.
Six2015–16 LKL season teams participated in the European tournaments:Žalgiris (EuroLeague),Lietuvos rytas andNeptūnas (EuroCup),Juventus,Pieno žvaigždės,Šiauliai (FIBA Europe Cup).[7]Lietkabelis,Vytautas andNevėžis competed in theBaltic Basketball League.[8]Dzūkija was the only LKL club not participating in any European or regional tournaments. The off-season moves by teams such as the rebranded Prienai (Vytautas Prienai–Birštonas), Lietkabelis and the continued work from last season'splayoff seeds gave fans hope for one of the most competitive seasons in league history. During the season, Žalgiris won 1st place in the regular season, over Lietuvos rytas. In the playoffs, Neptūnas shocked everyone, by beating Rytas in the semifinals, and reaching the finals for the second time in club history. In the finals, Žalgiris beat Neptūnas 4–1 to win again.
The2016–17 LKL season off-season saw the rise of Lietkabelis, astensions between FIBA and the EuroLeague resulted into them receiving a wild card as replacement in the EuroCup and greatly improving their roster which included signing the Lavrinovič twins (Darjuš andKšyštof). A record of 8 Lithuanian teams competed in a European tournament that season, which added to the ever-improving competitiveness of the league. Consequently, the LKL achieved the average attendance record,[9] with more than 2,000 spectators per game, during the regular season. Only Lietkabelis was able to fight defending champion Žalgiris, as Žalgiris easily defeated other top contenders Lietuvos rytas and Neptūnas. In the LKL semifinals, Lietkabelis beat Lietuvos rytas 3–1, to advance to the finals for the first time - they lost to Žalgiris 4–1. Rytas won the third place over Neptūnas.
"Does not matter the strength of the opponent, no matter, if Žalgiris Kaunas or Rytas Vilnius wins, the result does not mater, it is important, that the Lord is with us."
— Pope Francis, during his speech with youngsters at theCathedral Square in Vilnius, surprised by mentioning two strongest teams of the Lithuanian league.[10]
In the2018–19 LKL season,Dainius Adomaitis, the coach of theLithuania men's national basketball team, joined the renamedBC Rytas as the new head coach. During the2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification, happening during the season, many LKL players debuted in the national team to play the games. BC Vytautas was renamed asBC SkyCop Prienai, signing veteran players like the Lavrinovič twins,Mindaugas Lukauskis and others. The team played improved basketball and reached the playoffs. Rytas won theKing Mindaugas Cup, whileBC Neptūnas finished the regular season in second place, earning home-court advantage for the semifinals for the first time in club history. Žalgiris once again won 1st place in the regular season. In the playoffs, while Žalgiris and Lietkabelis beat their opponents in sweeps, Rytas struggled againstBC Juventus, 2–1, while Neptūnas defeated SkyCop 2–1. In the semifinals, Žalgiris easily swept Lietkabelis 2–0, while Rytas shocked Neptūnas with an even easier 2–0 sweep, even without home-court advantage. Setting up rematches from the previous year, the results remained the same - Neptūnas once again defeated Lietkabelis 3–0 in the 3rd place series, while Žalgiris easily defeated Rytas 3–0 in the finals.
During the2019–20 season, the LKL board ended the season prematurely due to thecoronavirus outbreak and crowned Žalgiris champions.[11]
In the2020–21 LKL season the LKL has reached a historic agreement - LKL will be broadcast in foreign countries for the first time since its establishment. During the2020–21 LKL season, it was decided that in the next2021–22 LKL season, 11 teams will participate in the tournament again after 6 years.BC Jonava joined the other 10 existing LKL teams by winning the 2020–21 NKL season.[12][13] For the2022–23 season, the number of teams was further increased to 12, with the addition of the 2021–22 NKL championsGargždai-SC.[14]
During2022–23 LKL season it was announced that the new team 2022–23NKL season runner-upMažeikiai M Basket will join other existing teams inLKL.Mažeikiai M Basket will take place ofLabas Gas because they finished in last place in2022–23 LKL season and were relegated toNKL.[15]
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| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Winning years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Žalgiris | 25 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2010–11,2011–12,2012–13,2013–14,2014–15,2015–16,2016–17,2017–18,2018–19,2019–20,2020–21,2022–23,2024–25 |
| Lietuvos rytas / Rytas | 7 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10,2021–22,2023–24 |
| Atletas | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Lietkabelis | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 | |
| Neptūnas | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| Olimpas | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Šiauliai | 0 | 0 | 9 | 7 | |
| Rūdupis/Prienai | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| Alita | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| Sakalai | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| Juventus | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| Lavera | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Statyba | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Šilutė | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Jonava | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| Alytus | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Nevėžis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Wolves | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(September 2025) |
| Players | Team(s) represented | Career seasons | Games played | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mindaugas Lukauskis | Career clubs
| 23 | 735 | 6217 |
| Rolandas Matulis | Sakalai Šiauliai | 13 | 554 | 5649 |
| Žydrūnas Urbonas | Career clubs
| 16 | 428 | 5575 |
| Paulius Jankūnas | Žalgiris Kaunas | 18 | 540 | 5252 |
