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

Other events

Main article: LKL All-Star Day

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

References

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