The team played in the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and participated in the Baltic Basketball League (BBL) and in the qualifying round of the Basketball Champions League (BCL). The team entered its 23rd season in the 2017–18 BC Prienai season, formerly Vytautas Prienai–Birštonas.
In December 2017, Vytautas signed the American brothers LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball. Following the brothers' arrival, Vytautas withdrew from the BBL and announced Big Baller Brand, a sports apparel company owned by LaVar Ball, as its sponsor. After the Ball brothers joined the team in January 2018, Vytautas played several exhibition games, including the Big Baller Brand Challenge Games, and the Big Baller Brand International Tournament.
Overview Vytautas started the 2017-18 season by failing to qualify for the 2017-18 Basketball Champions League season. The team was underperforming in the national competition and saw decreasing fans' popularity. Additionally, Vytautas faced major financial struggles, failing to pay many former players. Toward the beginning of the season, the team controversially signed businessman Tomas Tumynas, who had no prior professional basketball experience. According to head coach Virginijus Šeškus, Tumynas helped Vytautas financially, despite not playing any games before his release in January 2018. The team lost to Lietuvos rytas Vilnius on 6 January 2018 by a margin of 113–56, its worst defeat. After the game, Vytautas dropped to last place in their league.
On 11 December 2017, Vytautas signed LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball, the younger brothers of Los Angeles Lakers player Lonzo Ball, both of whom agreed to join the team at the beginning of January 2018. Both brothers, along with Lonzo, had helped lead Chino Hills High School to an undefeated season. LiAngelo was arrested for shoplifting in China, abruptly ending his college basketball career at UCLA and culminating in a Twitter-based feud between his father, LaVar Ball, and U.S. President Donald Trump. The Lithuanian team, whose managers described the signing as an instant success, subsequently received international attention and were featured in The New York Times. Upon the Ball brothers' arrival, the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) rescheduled Vytautas' games against Pieno žvaigždės Pasvalys and Juventus Utena to suit their American audience.
In early January 2018, Vytautas pulled out of the Baltic Basketball League season, instead setting up and hosting the Big Baller Brand Challenge Games, a series of exhibition games mostly against opponents from lower Lithuanian leagues. On 23 January 2018, the team announced that the sports apparel company Big Baller Brand would be an official sponsor until the end of the season. LaVar Ball, owner of the company, was appointed as assistant coach for a match-up with Dzūkija Alytus and then as head coach against Jonava. Ball and his family helped the team pay off the club's debts, contributing €100,000.
By the end of February, Vytautas announced that it would play in another exhibition event sponsored by the company, the Big Baller Brand International Tournament, a round-robin competition featuring three European teams outside of Lithuania. LaVar Ball continued to serve as head coach. In late March and early April, Vytautas participated in two more friendlies, hosting a game against a youth squad of the Chinese team Guangdong Southern Tigers and facing the London Lions of the British Basketball League (BBL) in London.
Controversial changes and avoiding relegation However, after the end of the team's exhibition games, head coach Virginijus Šeškus made drastic changes to avoid the threat of relegation, most notably by sitting LaMelo Ball throughout the rest of the regular season. Following the changes, Vytautas embarked on a three-game winning streak, diminishing the threat of relegation. Following a 73-69 loss to Siauliai on April 25, LaVar Ball announced his decision to remove his sons from the team, even though none of the Ball players participated.
After losing that night, Vytautas would lose their last three games of the season, with the team letting go of Kervin Bristol, Rashaun Broadus, and Denys Lukashov before the end of their final game that season. As a result, Vytautas faced the threat of relegation to the second-division NKL, with Vytis Akiai aiming for promotion.
Despite finishing the season in last place, Vytautas managed to avoid relegation this season, as Vytis failed to meet the necessary promotion requirements.
Players
Squad information
Depth chart
Players In Position#PlayerMoving from SF 7 Bartas Aleksandravičius Vilniaus KM-99-II PG 0 Karlis Apsitis Ogre/Kumho Tyre PG 1 LaMelo Ball Chino Hills Huskies SG 3 LiAngelo Ball UCLA Bruins C 55 Kervin Bristol Budivelnyk Kyiv PG 16 Rashaun Broadus St. John's Edge PF 11 Egidijus Dimša Pieno žvaigždės Pasvalys C 44 Ovidijus Galdikas Juventus Utena PF — Denis Krestinin1 Barons/LDz PG 17 Denys Lukashov Enisey PG 5 Gediminas Maceina Vytis Šakiai SF 31 Justas Sinica Caen Basket Calvados PG 1 Brad Tinsley FC Porto SF 13 Tomas Tumynas1None SG/SF 6 Eigirdas Žukauskas Saint-Chamond Basket
Players Out Position#PlayerMoving to PG 0 Karlis Apsitis TG Würzburg SG/SF 21 Arnas Beručka Lietuvos rytas Vilnius C 11 Laurynas Birutis Šiauliai PG 31 Vytenis Čižauskas Tartu PG/SG 9 Tomas Delininkaitis Neptūnas Klaipėda C 44 Ovidijus Galdikas None SG 33 Darius Gvezdauskas None PF — Denis Krestinin1 Jūrmala SF/PF 12 Saulius Kulvietis Joventut Badalona SF/PF 18 Vytenis Lipkevičius s.Oliver Würzburg SG/SF 32 Tomas Michnevičius None PF 19 Mantas Šerkšnas Neptūnas-Akvaservis PG 22 Domantas Šeškus Cognac Basket Ball PG 1 Brad Tinsley BV Chemnitz 99 SF 13 Tomas Tumynas1None PF 11 Artūras Valeika CSM Oradea SG/SF 3 LiAngelo Ball Los Angeles Ballers PG 1 LaMelo Ball Los Angeles Ballers
Notes: 1 Sign and trade. Didn't play a single regular season game.
Club
Technical staff Position Staff member Club President Norbertas Pranckus Honorary President Aurimas Bartuška Team Director Adomas Kubilius Sports Director Vilius Vaitkevičius Press Officer Erikas KirvelaitisAssistant Coaches Mindaugas Arlauskas Marius Leonavičius
Kit
Supplier: AGO Main sponsors: Big Baller Brand, Skycop.com
Back sponsors: ADMA, Ekofrisa Short sponsors: SIL, Perlas
Friendlies
Big Baller Brand Challenge Games
Big Baller Brand International Tournament
Other friendlies
Competitions
Overall
Overview
Lithuanian Basketball League
League table
Matches
Baltic Basketball League Vytautas forfeited a game on October 31, 2017, against Rapla after head coach Virginijus Šeškus received a second technical foul with three minutes left in regulation and refused to let his team continue playing. The Baltic Basketball League assessed Vytautas with a technical loss of 20–0 and fined the team €3,000. On January 6, 2018, after playing six games in the BBL, Vytautas withdrew from the 2017–18 season. In its place, the team set up the Big Baller Brand Challenge Games, a series of five friendly games designed to feature LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball in their professional debuts. However, Vytautas was assessed a €5,000 fine for forfeiting a non-televised game against Tsmoki-Minsk. They were disqualified from the BBL, with the results of previous games being nullified, for their second forfeit of the season.
Matches
Basketball Champions League
Qualification
Individual awards
Lithuanian Basketball League Player of the Week DatePlayerEfficiency 13 November 2017 Martynas Linkevičius 27 15 January 2018 Tomas Dimša 30
References
External links BC Vytautas official website Club info at the LKL official site Club info at the Basketball Champions League official site