Another loss for the Lithuanian men’s basketball team in the World Cup qualifiers has greatly complicated their chances of securing a ticket to the tournament to be held in Qatar in 2027.
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The country’s basketball community was stirred not only by the national team’s deepening struggles but also by the attempts of head coach Rimas Kurtinaitis and the president of the “Lithuanian Basketball” association, Mindaugas Balčiūnas, to smooth over the situation.
“Usually after such shocks, we come out stronger,” M. Balčiūnas told LNK. “If you remember the situations in 1994 or 2002, when we failed to qualify for the main stages of the competitions, the following years we achieved very significant victories.”
Criticism of the head of “Lithuanian Basketball” was not spared by Kaunas “Žalgiris” president Paulius Motiejūnas, longtime national team player and Panevėžys “Lietkabelis” director Jonas Mačiulis, and the country’s president Gitanas Nausėda also responded to the fire.
“Well, first of all, we see that the system really does not work. Whose specific responsibility it is, a very open conversation is really needed. As far as I know, such a conversation is practically taking place right now, just happened, where the reasons were analyzed, but I only state the fact,” said G. Nausėda. “Considering the resources and human capital we have invested in this team, the team’s performance simply does not meet expectations, and this is not just some moral disappointment, it is simply an objective fact, since the team was too strong to lose.”
On Wednesday evening, the “Lithuanian Basketball” association issued a statement titled: “The association and league express support for the country’s basketball leaders.”
It is stated that the current leadership has the trust of the basketball community, listing ten of the twelve members of the executive committee.
“Lithuanian Basketball” Association Executive Committee
National Basketball League Association
Regional Basketball League Association
Women’s Basketball League Association
3×3 Association
Lithuanian Basketball Coaches Association
Lithuanian Basketball Referees Association
Lithuanian Professional Basketball Players Association
Lithuanian Veterans Basketball League
Lithuanian Student Basketball League
“Observing the interpretations of the Lithuanian basketball situation expressed in the public space, the attempts to exploit temporary sporting failures and systematically diminish the activities and decisions of the Lithuanian men’s basketball team and the ‘Lithuanian Basketball’ association, we express unconditional support for the leaders of the Lithuanian national team and the ‘Lithuanian Basketball’ association, who are seeking solutions to strengthen the Lithuanian basketball system,” the statement reads.
The Lithuanian Basketball League and the School Basketball League did not sign this letter.
15min tried to contact the heads of these associations and leagues and asked about the reasons for expressing or not expressing support.
“A political decision was made,” said Laimonas Kisielius, head of the Lithuanian Professional Basketball Players Association (LPKA), briefly to the 15min portal.
LPKA is managed solely by one person, so the decision was made by L. Kisielius alone.
“We, referees, do not engage in politics because later we have to referee on the court. We are not politicians,” briefly commented Tomas Jasevičius, president of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation Referees Association, to the 15min portal.
Vidas Butkus, president of the Regional Basketball League (RKL), explained his decision in detail.
“I myself participate in the ‘Lithuanian Basketball’ association’s executive committee, I see how everything is happening and what the association’s contribution is to ensuring the best conditions for the country’s men’s team. Funding has been collected and balanced so that there are no difficulties organizing the overall men’s team budget. A fantastic job has been done in this regard, huge sums of commercial funds have been collected. Financially, everything has been done by the association as well as possible. Another thing is that it is known and visible how much the ‘Lithuanian Basketball’ association contributed to forming and selecting the best basketball players in our country, especially during the last FIBA window. The coach’s initiative alone would not have been enough to gather Matas Buzelis and other NBA players to assemble such a good team. This is a huge contribution from the association. Considering that the ‘Lithuanian Basketball’ association did everything it could in the best way, criticism of the association is not fair. Perhaps people from outside do not know how everything looks. Of course, another matter is to comment on whether the players play with full dedication and whether the coach makes mistakes, but we expressed support for the association for the two aspects I mentioned,” said V. Butkus.
He also shared thoughts on the overall management of Lithuanian basketball.
“I came to RKL four years ago, the situation was terrible – zero budget, deficits, and debts… I don’t know how everything went before, so I can’t comment, but the ideas of the then strategists – Vydas Gedvilas and Mindaugas Balčiūnas – were to attract as many people from business as possible, perhaps to give business more opportunities to manage the league. I can boast and be happy with what we now have in RKL. Our budgets have grown fourfold in four years. This was achieved precisely thanks to their (V. Gedvilas and M. Balčiūnas) ideas. There is also NKL, as well as MKL. These leagues rely on the strategic advice of the ‘Lithuanian Basketball’ association. All their steps seem very correct. To this day, all leagues are growing,” said V. Butkus.
Last season, 46 clubs played in RKL, and this number is expected to exceed 50 in the upcoming season.
V. Butkus said that the RKL leadership did not consult with clubs regarding support for the “Lithuanian Basketball” leadership.
“We will have an executive committee meeting today. When making such a decision, it would be impossible to consult with everyone. We have elected members in the executive committee, so we will have a common position. Yesterday I expressed my opinion as a member of the executive committee,” said V. Butkus.
Justinas Jasiukaitis, who serves as director both in the National Basketball League (NKL) and the Lithuanian Basketball Veterans League (LKVL), also explained the reasons for expressing support for the association led by M. Balčiūnas.
“I won’t say the exact initiator of the support idea. We, all committee members, received a letter from the ‘Lithuanian Basketball’ association with material about negative information regarding ‘Lithuanian Basketball’ and a question whether we agree to support the national team. This idea arose due to negative statements about the national team appearing in the public space. We consulted, and we have authorized persons in the executive committee. This is the executive committee’s decision,” J. Jasiukaitis told 15min. “Of course, the national team’s results are what they are, but decisions, as I understand, are being sought. Perhaps it was not timely to go public announcing the search for decisions, but decisions are being made, and when the time comes, everything will be announced.
I believe that Lithuanian basketball is managed normally. The whole system works, leagues operate and function. I think the Lithuanian basketball pyramid is really good – all leagues from children to professionals function well. Interest in the leagues grows every year, the number of members increases, so competitive new teams keep coming to us. The system works.”
Interestingly, the Kaunas district “Atletas” club of this league distanced itself from this NKL step on the social network “Facebook.”
“Yesterday (Tuesday) the ‘National Basketball League’ association members’ conference took place. Two main ‘Lithuanian Basketball’ leaders participated from the first to the last minute. The agenda did not include the leaders’ ‘support’ issue, they did not ask for support, so there was no vote on this issue. This possibly also ‘supports’ all other entities listed in the text,” the “Atletas” message reads.
“Kaunas district ‘Atletas’ basically disagrees with everything, but probably it is understandable why,” J. Jasiukaitis told 15min. “They did not play in NKL for a couple of years due to possible suspicious matters. These were the first years when we cleaned up from bad things, so everything is positive.”
15min contacted the LKL, which is not among the organizations expressing support, and its head Rasa Liuimienė briefly commented on the league’s decision.
“There is no need to look for conspiracy theories, everyone expressed the opinion they wanted. In our opinion, above all else are the interests of Lithuanian basketball,” R. Liuimienė told 15min. “We all have to try and do what is best for Lithuanian basketball. That is our position. We believe that solutions need to be sought to help basketball at this time so that it gets back on the right and necessary tracks and that we are prepared for the next FIBA window.”
R. Liuimienė said that an LKL board meeting will be held at the end of July, where this Lithuanian basketball topic will also be touched upon.
The head of the School Basketball League (MKL), Petras Aleksonis, and the general secretary of the Lithuanian Basketball Coaches Association (LKTA), Airidas Nutautas, did not have time to talk with 15min, and other executive committee members could not be reached at that time.
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