Rimantas Kaukėnas

Rimantas "Rimas" Kaukėnas (born 11 April 1977) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. 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 can also play as a point guard.

Rimantas Kaukėnas

Rimantas Kaukėnas in 2013
Personal information
Born	(1977-04-11) 11 April 1977 (age 47) Vilnius, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union
Listed height	192 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Listed weight	92 kg (203 lb)
Career information
High school	Prattsburgh Central School (Prattsburgh, New York)
College	Seton Hall (1996–2000)
NBA draft	2000: undrafted
Playing career	2000–2016, 2017
Position	Shooting guard
Career history
2000–2001	Hapoel Galil Elyon
2001–2002	Lietuvos rytas Vilnius
2002–2003	Oostende
2003–2004	Bonn
2004–2005	Cantù
2005–2009	Mens Sana Siena
2009–2010	Real Madrid
2010–2012	Mens Sana Siena
2012–2013	Žalgiris Kaunas
2013	Baskonia
2013–2016	Reggiana
2017	Reggiana
Career highlights and awards
2× Lithuanian League champion (2002, 2013) 4× Italian League champion (2007–2009, 2011) 5× Italian Supercup winner (2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2015) Serie A Finals MVP (2007) BBL All-Star Game MVP (2004) No. 13 retired by Montepaschi Siena (2009)
Medals Men's Basketball Representing  Lithuania EuroBasket 2007 Spain National Team

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.^[1]

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.^[2] On 7 July 2016 Kaukėnas retired from professional basketball.^[3] On 7 January 2017 Kaukėnas came out of retirement and rejoined Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia for the rest of the season.^[4][5]

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.^[6] 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

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	PIR	Performance Index Rating
Bold	Career high

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG	PIR
2005–06	Montepaschi Siena	14	12	28.5	.442	.302	.847	1.9	2.0	1.7	.0	15.1	12.9
2007–08	Montepaschi Siena	9	5	28.8	.431	.290	.882	2.6	2.6	1.6	.1	14.1	13.6
2008–09	Montepaschi Siena	18	5	28.8	.518	.368	.847	2.3	1.7	1.1	.0	14.8	12.8
2009–10	Real Madrid	18	10	21.4	.545	.353	.829	1.1	1.3	1.6	.0	10.3	8.1
2010–11	Montepaschi Siena	20	11	25.3	.445	.308	.902	2.0	1.9	1.1	.1	12.0	9.6
2011–12	Montepaschi Siena	6	6	25.3	.580	.643	1.000	2.2	2.5	1.2	.0	14.5	15.3
2012–13	Žalgiris Kaunas	24	11	20.3	.395	.344	.882	2.1	1.9	.8	.0	7.8	6.4
2013–14	Laboral Kutxa	5	1	12.3	.583	.000	1.000	1.4	1.0	.6	.2	3.6	3.8
Career		114	61	23.8	.510	.337	.874	1.9	1.8	1.0	.0	11.6	10.2

Awards and achievements

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:  Bronze
• EuroLeague 3rd Place: 2008
• His number 13 was retired by Montepaschi Siena in 2009.

References

1. "Zalgiris Kaunas brings home veteran Kaukenas". Euroleague.net. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
2. "Reggio Emilia, Kaukenas stay together". EurocupBasketball.com. 25 July 2015. Archived from the original on August 21, 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
3. "Rimantas Kaukenas retires at 39". Sportando.com. 7 July 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
4. "Kaukenas torna in campo. Mercoledì sarà presentato ai media". Pallacanestro Reggiana (in Italian). 7 January 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
5. "Il ritorno di Kaukenas: "Sono un rookie, cercherò di aiutare la squadra a crescere"". Pallacanestro Reggiana (in Italian). 11 January 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
6. "About us". KaukenoParama.lt. Archived from the original on 2015-06-23. Retrieved 27 August 2015.

External links

• Euroleague Profile
• Serie A Profile Archived 2012-01-26 at the Wayback Machine (in Italian)
• Liga ACB Profile Archived 2016-08-26 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)
• FIBA.com Video Interview with Rimantas Kaukėnas