LKL Finals | |
Status: | Active |
Genre: | Sporting event |
Date: | June |
Frequency: | Annual |
Country: | Lithuania |
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.
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.
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 winning 5 LKL Finals series, and Žalgiris Kaunas winning 6 LKL Finals series.
Starting with the 2011 LKL Finals, Žalgiris Kaunas began another long run of dominance, winning 10 straight LKL Finals series, from 2011 to 2021.
Season | Champion | Result | Runner-up | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1994 | Žalgiris | 3–1 | ||
1995 | Žalgiris | 3–0 | Atletas | |
1996 | Žalgiris | 3–2 | Atletas | |
1997 | Žalgiris | 3–0 | Olimpas | |
1998 | Žalgiris | 3–1 | Atletas | |
1999 | Žalgiris | 3–0 | Lietuvos rytas | |
2000 | Lietuvos rytas | 3–1 | Žalgiris | |
2001 | Žalgiris | 3–2 | Lietuvos rytas | |
2002 | Lietuvos rytas | 4–3 | Žalgiris | |
2003 | Žalgiris | 4–2 | Lietuvos rytas | |
2004 | Žalgiris | 4–0 | Lietuvos rytas | |
2005 | Žalgiris | 4–0 | Lietuvos rytas | |
2006 | Lietuvos rytas | 4–0 | Žalgiris | |
2007 | Žalgiris | 4–2 | Lietuvos rytas | |
Žalgiris | 4–1 | Lietuvos rytas | ||
Lietuvos rytas | 4–1 | Žalgiris | ||
2010 | Lietuvos rytas | 4–3 | ||
2011 | Žalgiris | 4–1 | Lietuvos rytas | |
2012 | Žalgiris | 3–0 | Lietuvos rytas | |
2013 | Žalgiris | 4–0 | Lietuvos rytas | |
2014 | Žalgiris | 4–2 | Neptūnas | |
2015 | Žalgiris | 4–0 | Lietuvos rytas | |
2016 | Žalgiris | 4–1 | Neptūnas | |
2017 | Žalgiris | 4–1 | Lietkabelis | |
Žalgiris | 4–1 | Lietuvos rytas | ||
2019 | Žalgiris | 3–0 | Rytas | |
2020 | Finals were not held | |||
2021 | Žalgiris | 3–0 | Rytas | |
2022 | Rytas | 4–1 | Lietkabelis | |
2023 | Žalgiris | 3–2 | Rytas | |
2024 | Rytas | 3–1 | Žalgiris |
List of winning head coaches:
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 Marcus Foster.
Member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame | ||
Member of the FIBA Hall of Fame | ||
Member of both the Naismith and FIBA Halls of Fame | ||
Denotes player whose team won championship that year | ||
Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player has received the Finals MVP award |
Season | Finals MVP | Position | Nationality ! | Club | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gintaras Einikis (2×) | ||||||
Arvydas Macijauskas (2×) | ||||||
Tanoka Beard (2×) | ||||||
Paulius Jankūnas (2×) | ||||||
[1] | ||||||
[2] | ||||||
[3] | ||||||
Edgaras Ulanovas (2×) | [4] | |||||
Finals not held | ||||||
[5] | ||||||
[6] | ||||||
[7] | ||||||
[8] |
Player | Team(s) | No. | Years | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1994, 1995 | ||||
2002, 2003 | ||||
2004, 2007 | ||||
2011, 2014 | ||||
2017, 2019 |
Number | Country |
---|---|
Lithuania | |
United States | |
Ukraine | |
Number | Team |
---|---|
Žalgiris Kaunas | |
Lietuvos rytas Vilnius/Rytas Vilnius | |