100 Years of Basketball in Lithuania

The outline of Lithuania mapped as a basketball court at the centre, evoking the sport's deep roots in the country over the past century. The country name "LIETUVA" appears to the upper right, with the dates "1922 – 2022" and the mint mark below the design.

Lithuania is regarded today as one of Europe's great basketball nations — a status the country has earned, not acquired by chance. The origins of basketball in Lithuania date back to 1922, when the sport was brought into the country by Lithuanian emigrants returning from America and quickly spread through schools and sports clubs. During the interwar period, a competitive national team emerged: the Lithuanians won the European Championship in 1937 and 1939, both times while Lithuania existed as an independent republic. These early successes laid a national foundation for the sport that survived even the Soviet occupation.

After independence in 1990, Lithuania immediately built on this tradition. Players such as Arvydas Sabonis and Šarūnas Marčiulionis, already active in the NBA, shaped the first free national team — and became symbolic figures of a new Lithuania. Winning bronze at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, where the team was nicknamed the "Grateful Deadheads" for their colourful jerseys, made the small Baltic country known worldwide. Since then, basketball has held a social role in Lithuania that extends far beyond sport: clubs such as Žalgiris Kaunas stand for regional identity, and the sport is deeply embedded in school and everyday life. Lithuania's 2022 2-euro commemorative coin marks the centenary of this history.