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History of BC Rytas
The history of BC Rytas begins from the founding of the club with a name BC Statyba in 1963 in Lithuania's capital city Vilnius. The BC Statyba was renamed to BC Statyba-Lietuvos rytas in 1997 when Gedvydas Vainauskas, the owner of the daily newspaper Lietuvos rytas, had purchased the club, and in 1998 the old name Statyba was removed completely when the club was renamed to BC Lietuvos rytas. The final name change of the club to BC Rytas occurred in 2018 when its owners has changed and Gedvydas Vainauskas left the club, therefore the new owners of the club sought to remove the affiliation of the club with the newspaper Lietuvos rytas, however the club was domestically and internationally well known as Rytas, thus its name remained similar.[1][2]
Domestically BC Rytas is known for its long-term rivalry in the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (Lithuanian Basketball League) with the BC Žalgiris of Kaunas, the second largest Lithuanian city.[3] The BC Rytas is the only Lithuanian men's basketball club other than BC Žalgiris which managed to win the Lithuanian Basketball League since its foundation in 1993. Six out of seven BC Rytas titles of the Lithuanian Basketball League (2000, 2002, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2024) were achieved in victorious LKL Finals against the BC Žalgiris and one against the BC Lietkabelis of Panevėžys in 2022. Moreover, the BC Rytas won three LKF Cup titles (1998, 2009, 2010) and two King Mindaugas Cup titles (2016, 2019) where it also competed against BC Žalgiris.[4]
The BC Rytas throughout its history has achieved success internationally as it had won two EuroCup Basketball titles in 2005 and 2009,[5][6] and was the second Lithuanian men's basketball club to compete in the EuroLeague, the top-tier men's league in Europe, in which only two other Lithuanian men's basketball clubs competed (BC Žalgiris and BC Neptūnas). The BC Rytas had debuted in the EuroLeague during the 2005–06 season and in total participated in six EuroLeague seasons.[7] Furthermore, the BC Rytas also had won once the North European Basketball League (2001–02 season) and three Baltic Basketball League Elite Division titles (2006, 2007, 2009). On 21 October 2008, the BC Rytas became only the second Lithuanian men's basketball club (after BC Žalgiris) to play against a National Basketball Association team when a friendly game was held against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California (the Warriors had won the game 126–106).[8][9]
- ^ "Vilniaus "Lietuvos rytas" oficialiai paskelbė naują klubo pavadinimą". 15min.lt (in Lithuanian).
- ^ Malinauskas, Lukas. ""Lietuvos rytas" oficialiai pristatė naują komandos pavadinimą". BasketNews.lt (in Lithuanian).
- ^ "Priešpriešos tarp Vilniaus ir Kauno miestų įrankis – krepšinis". Krepsinis.net (in Lithuanian).
- ^ "LKF taurės istorija: "Lietuvos ryto" ir "Žalgirio" kovos, T.Klimavičius šou ir M.Lukauskio pergalingas metimas". Krepsinis.net (in Lithuanian).
- ^ "„Istorinis įvykis": „Lietuvos ryto" triumfas ULEB taurės turnyre 2005-aisiais". Sportas.lt (in Lithuanian).
- ^ ""Lietuvos ryto" triumfui – 10 metų: stebuklą sukūrė ne milijonai, o čempionų širdis". Lrytas.lt (in Lithuanian).
- ^ "Eurolygos debiuto rungtynėse "Lietuvos rytas" gavo skaudžią pamoką Zagrebe". Sekunde.lt (in Lithuanian). 3 November 2005.
- ^ "Mūšis už Atlanto: "Golden State Warriors" - Vilniaus "Lietuvos rytas" 126:106 (komentarai, nuotraukos, 4 video)". Lrytas.lt. 22 October 2008.
- ^ "Generolo belaukiant: pokalbis su Ch.Eidsonu ir prisiminimai apie "Ryto" mačą su "Warriors"". 15min.lt (in Lithuanian).
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