Rimantas "Rimas" Kaukėnas (born 11 April 1977) is a Lithuanian professional basketball executive and former player who was 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
| 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 Playing career
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 Italian Supercup: 2007 EuroBasket 2007: EuroLeague 3rd Place: 2008 His number 13 was retired by Montepaschi Siena in 2009.
State awards : Recipient of the Commander's Cross of the Order for Merits to Lithuania (2007)
References
External links Euroleague profile Serie A profile Liga ACB profile FIBA.com Video interview with Rimantas Kaukėnas