Rimantas Kaukėnas

Rimantas "Rimas" Kaukėnas (born 11 April 1977) is a Lithuanian professional basketball executive and former player who is the president of Wolves Twinsbet of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and the EuroCup. His long career has taken him to a number of countries, finding the most success in Italy. He has also been a member of the senior men's Lithuanian national team. Playing primarily at the shooting guard position, he could also play as a point guard.

Professional career

Kaukėnas was a longtime member of Montepaschi Siena of the Italian Serie A.

On 5 August 2012 he signed for his homeland team Žalgiris Kaunas.

He joined Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia in December 2013, helping the side reach the finals of the 2014–15 Lega Basket Serie A. In July 2015, his contract was extended for another season. On 7 July 2016 Kaukėnas retired from professional basketball. On 7 January 2017 Kaukėnas came out of retirement and rejoined Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia for the rest of the season.

National team

Kaukėnas played with the senior men's Lithuanian national basketball team at the EuroBasket 2001, the EuroBasket 2007, where he won a bronze medal, and the EuroBasket 2011. He also played at both the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Personal life

Kaukėnas established the Rimantas Kaukenas Charity Group, which aims to provide "magical moments" for children with life-threatening medical conditions. He is married to former Swedish-Serbian basketball player Tanja Kostić, with whom he has three daughters. Tanja follows the activities of RK Charity Group, while Rimantas is playing during the season. He is fluent in English, Italian and Russian.

EuroLeague career statistics

Template:Euroleague player statistics legend Template:Euroleague player statistics start |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2005–06 | style="text-align:left;"rowspan=3| Montepaschi Siena | 14 || 12 || 28.5 || .442 || .302 || .847 || 1.9 || 2.0 || 1.7 || .0 || 15.1 || 12.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2007–08 | 9 || 5 || 28.8 || .431 || .290 || .882 || 2.6 || 2.6 || 1.6 || .1 || 14.1 || 13.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2008–09 | 18 || 5 || 28.8 || .518 || .368 || .847 || 2.3 || 1.7 || 1.1 || .0 || 14.8 || 12.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10 | style="text-align:left;"| Real Madrid | 18 || 10 || 21.4 || .545 || .353 || .829 || 1.1 || 1.3 || 1.6 || .0 || 10.3 || 8.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2010–11 | style="text-align:left;"rowspan=2| Montepaschi Siena | 20 || 11 || 25.3 || .445 || .308 || .902 || 2.0 || 1.9 || 1.1 || .1 || 12.0 || 9.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2011–12 | 6 || 6 || 25.3 || .580 || .643 || 1.000 || 2.2 || 2.5 || 1.2 || .0 || 14.5 || 15.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2012–13 | style="text-align:left;"| Žalgiris Kaunas | 24 || 11 || 20.3 || .395 || .344 || .882 || 2.1 || 1.9 || .8 || .0 || 7.8 || 6.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2013–14 | style="text-align:left;"| Laboral Kutxa | 5 || 1 || 12.3 || .583 || .000 || 1.000 || 1.4 || 1.0 || .6 || .2 || 3.6 || 3.8 |- |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;"colspan=2| Career | 114 || 61 || 23.8 || .510 || .337 || .874 || 1.9 || 1.8 || 1.0 || .0 || 11.6 || 10.2 |}

Awards and achievements

File:1rimantaskaukenas2015.jpg

Rimantas Kaukėnas with his career's last professional club Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia in 2015.

• Lithuanian League Champion: 2002
• North European League Champion: 2002
• German League All-Star Game MVP: 2004
• Eurobasket.com's German League Player of the Year: 2004
• Italian League MVP Runner Up: 2005
• 2× Italian SuperCup Winner: 2007, 2008
• Italian League MVP Runner Up: 2007
• 4× Italian League Champion: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
• Italian League Finals MVP: 2007
• EuroBasket 2007: File:Bronze medal icon.svg Bronze
• EuroLeague 3rd Place: 2008
• His number 13 was retired by Montepaschi Siena in 2009.

External links

• Euroleague Profile
• Serie A Profile Template:Webarchive Template:In lang
• Liga ACB Profile Template:Webarchive Template:In lang
• FIBA.com Video Interview with Rimantas Kaukėnas