LKL All-Star Game

The Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) holds its All-Star Game once every year. The participants are chosen in two ways: the first is via fan ballot, with the leading vote recipients at each position starting the game; secondly the reserves are chosen by a vote among the head coaches of each squad. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own players. If a player is injured and cannot participate, the commissioner will select a replacement.

Features

The All-Star Game is played under normal FIBA rules, but there are notable differences from an average game.

The player introductions are usually accompanied by a significant amount of fanfare, including lighting effects, dance music, and pyrotechnics. Special uniforms are designed for the game each year, usually green for the Lithuanians and white for the Time Team. A major recording artist typically sings the national anthem prior to tipoff.

Gameplay usually involves players attempting spectacular slam dunks and alley oops. Defensive effort is limited and the final score of the game is generally much higher than an average LKL game. The coaches also try to give most of the reserve players some time on the court instead of using a limited rotation as they would in a normal game. The fourth quarter of the game is often played in a more competitive fashion if the game is close.

Halftime is also longer than a typical LKL game due to musical performances by various artists.

Every few years, LKL alternates matches from Lietuviai and Time Team (Lietuviai being the All-Star Lithuanian team and Time Team being the All-Star foreigner team) to Vilkai and Ereliai (two teams of mixed foreign and Lithuanian players).

Results

Summaries

Year	(Arena), city	Result			MVP
		Champion	Score	Runner-up
1994	Panevėžys	Rytai	99–88	Vakarai
1995	Šiauliai	Lietuviai	100–91	Time Team	Saulius Štombergas (BC Žalgiris), Patrick Jones (BC Olimpas)
1996	Vilnius	Lietuviai	83–81	Time Team	Rimas Kurtinaitis (Lietuvos Rytas)
1997	(Kaunas Sports Hall), Kaunas	Vakarai	108–107	Rytai
1998	Vilnius	Rytai	100–85	Vakarai
1999	(Kaunas Sports Hall), Kaunas
2000	(Kaunas Sports Hall), Kaunas	Lietuviai	137–97	Time Team	Mindaugas Timinskas (BC Žalgiris)
2001	(Kaunas Sports Hall), Kaunas	Vilkai	124–120	Ereliai	Grigorij Khizhnyak (BC Žalgiris)
2002	(Kaunas Sports Hall), Kaunas	Ereliai	125–117	Vilkai	Robertas Javtokas (Lietuvos Rytas)
2003	(Kaunas Sports Hall), Kaunas	Vilkai	105–97	Ereliai	Arvydas Macijauskas (Lietuvos Rytas)
2004	(Kaunas Sports Hall), Kaunas	Lietuviai	131–113	Time Team	Tanoka Beard (BC Žalgiris)
2005	(Siemens Arena), Vilnius	Time Team	86–74	Lietuviai	Tanoka Beard (BC Žalgiris)
2006	(Siemens Arena), Vilnius	Lietuviai	107–88	Time Team	Simas Jasaitis (Lietuvos Rytas)
2007	(Siemens Arena), Vilnius	Lietuviai	108–108	Time Team	Jonas Mačiulis (BC Žalgiris), Kareem Rush (Lietuvos Rytas)
2008	(Šiauliai Arena), Šiauliai	Lietuviai	110–109	Time Team	Hollis Price (Lietuvos Rytas)
2009	(Kaunas Sports Hall), Kaunas	Vilkai	130–122	Ereliai	Chuck Eidson (Lietuvos Rytas)
2010	(Cido Arena), Panevėžys	Vilkai	109–104	Ereliai	Mindaugas Kuzminskas (BC Šiauliai)
2011	(Šiauliai Arena), Šiauliai	Lietuviai	122–114	Time Team	Jonas Valančiūnas (Lietuvos Rytas)
2012	(Švyturys Arena), Klaipėda	Lietuviai	115–100	Time Team	Jonas Valančiūnas (Lietuvos Rytas)
2013	(Šiauliai Arena), Šiauliai	Lietuviai	140–113	Time Team	Kšyštof Lavrinovič, Darjuš Lavrinovič (Žalgiris)
2014	(Švyturys Arena), Klaipėda	Vakarai	113–108	Rytai	Justin Dentmon (Žalgiris)
2015	(Siemens Arena), Vilnius	Amžini Priešininkai	105–95	LKL Žvaigždės	Travis Leslie (Lietuvos rytas)

Other events

The All-Star Game is the featured event of All-Star Day, which also includes a number of popular exhibition games and competitions featuring LKL players.

See also

• Lithuanian Basketball League All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award

References