The 2025–26 Lietuvos krepšinio lyga season, also called Betsson–LKL for sponsorship reasons, was the 33rd season of the top-tier level professional basketball league of Lithuania, the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL). Žalgiris successfully defended the championship after suffering just one loss through out the whole season and swapping finals debutants Juventus 3–0. Rytas Vilnius suffered the worst finish in club history during the season, being eliminated by Juventus in the quarter-finals, failing to reach at least the semifinals for the first time in club and league history.
Teams 9 teams participated in the 2025–26 season. Two teams dropped out from the league during the summer period - M Basket-Delamode due to financial struggles decided to compete in NKL, while Wolves Twinsbet due to failing to meet club's set ambitions and changes in gambling laws in Lithuania decided to suspend basketball activities altogether. Because of dropouts, the league decided to invite Gargždai, a phoenix club of team which last time competed in the 2023–24 season. Despite the changed number of teams, the format remained mostly the same as the last season, with 9 teams facing-off each other 4 times with top 8 teams advancing into Playoffs.
Team Location Arena Capacity Last season Gargždai Gargždai Gargždų Arena1,400— Jonava Hipocredit Jonava Jonava Arena2,2004th Juventus Utena Utena Arena2,5006th Lietkabelis Panevėžys Kalnapilio Arena5,950 Neptūnas Klaipėda Švyturys Arena6,2008th Nevėžis-Paskolų klubas Kėdainiai Kėdainiai Arena2,2009thRytasVilniusArena Vilnius10,000 Active Vilnius Arena2,500 Šiauliai Šiauliai Šiauliai Arena5,7007thŽalgiris Kaunas Žalgiris Arena15,415
Personnel and kits
Team Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor (chest) Gargždai Tomas Rinkevičius Deividas Gailius Hustle Point 7bet Jonava Hipocredit Steponas Babrauskas Lukas Kreišmontas AGO Dafta, Jonava, Hipocredit, Litas Juventus Laimonas Eglinskas Šarūnas Beniušis Hustle Point Umaras, Uniclub Casino, Utenos mėsa Lietkabelis Nenad Čanak Vytenis Lipkevičius AGO 7bet, Lietkabelis, Norfa Neptūnas Gediminas Petrauskas Martynas Pacevičius Puma 7bet, Klaipėdos konteinerių terminalas (KKT), Amberton Hotel Group Nevėžis–Paskolų klubas Matas Juzeliūnas Ignas Vaitkus AGO Autotoja, Optibet, Paskolų klubas Rytas Giedrius Žibėnas Artūras Gudaitis AGO Olybet, Utenos nealkoholinis Šiauliai Darius Songaila Vaidas Kariniauskas Valorus Casino admiral Žalgiris Tomas Masiulis Edgaras Ulanovas Puma Go3, payabl.
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Replaced with Date of appointmentNeptūnas Vidas Ginevičius (interim) End of caretaker spell 26 May 2025 Pre-season Gediminas Petrauskas 3 June 2025Žalgiris Andrea Trinchieri Parted ways 23 June 2025 Tomas Masiulis 28 June 2025Nevėžis-Paskolų klubas Gediminas Petrauskas End of contract 3 June 2025 Laimonas Eglinskas 29 June 2025Šiauliai Darius Pakamanis (interim) End of caretaker spell 27 May 2025 Darius Songaila 3 July 2025Gargždai Povilas Šakinis End of contract 25 Apr 2025 Tomas Rinkevičius 18 July 2025 Jonava Hipocredit Mantas Šernius Signed by Žalgiris 28 June 2025 Paulius Juodis 29 July 2025 Paulius Juodis Mutual agreement 7 October 2025 9th (0–4) Steponas BabrauskasBabrauskas was initially named as interim head coach, before being appointed on a permanent basis on 21 October 2025. 7 October 202521 October 2025 Nevėžis-Paskolų klubas Laimonas Eglinskas Fired 16 April 2026 8th (8–17) Matas Juzeliūnas 16 April 2026 Juventus Kęstutis Kemzūra Resigned 20 April 2026 7th (8–17) Ugnius Nikitinas (interim) 20 April 2026 Ugnius Nikitinas (interim) End of caretaker spell 21 April 2026 8th (8–18) Laimonas Eglinskas 21 April 2026
Regular season League table
Results
Playoffs
Quarterfinals will be played in a best–of–three format, while the semifinals, third place game and final in a best-of-five format.
Bracket
2025–26 LKL champions Žalgiris(26th title)
Final standings
Attendances to arenas Average attendances
Statistics
Source: LKL.lt
Performance Index Rating RankPlayerClubGamesRatingPIR1. Arnas Velička Neptūnas 41 810 19.82. Artūras Gudaitis Rytas 28 522 18.63. Rihards Lomažs Neptūnas 41 734 17.94. Jerrick Harding Rytas 24 406 16.95. Lukas Uleckas Juventus 40 666 16.7
Points RankPlayerClubGamesPoints1. Cedric Henderson Šiauliai 31 562 18.12. Jerrick Harding Rytas 24 412 17.23. Rihards Lomažs Neptūnas 41 674 16.44. Justin Turner Gargždai 22 355 16.15. Kristian Kullamäe Lietkabelis 41 655 16
Rebounds RankPlayerClubGamesRebounds1. Artūras Gudaitis Rytas 28 205 7.32. J.D. Muila Nevėžis–Paskolų klubas 30 218 7.33. Paulius Danusevičius Lietkabelis 40 281 74. Lukas Uleckas Juventus 40 253 6.35. Oskaras Pleikys Šiauliai 34 210 6.2
Assists RankPlayerClubGamesAssists1. Arnas Velička Neptūnas 41 289 72. Makai Ashton-Langford Jonava Hipocredit 30 170 5.73. Nigel Williams-Goss Žalgiris 23 128 5.64. Speedy Smith Rytas 19 93 4.95. Sylvain Francisco Žalgiris 30 142 4.7
Individual game highs CategoryPlayerClub OpponentStatistic PIR Ignas Sargiūnas Rytas Lietkabelis (Mar 22, 2026) 58 Points Ignas Sargiūnas Rytas Lietkabelis (Mar 22, 2026) 43 Rebounds Lukas Uleckas Juventus Neptūnas (May 2, 2026) 15 Assists Makai Ashton-Langford Jonava Hipocredit Gargždai (May 2, 2026) 15 Arnas Velička Neptūnas Rytas (Jan 31, 2026) Steals Arnas Velička Neptūnas Lietkabelis (Jan 24, 2026) 5 Lesley Varner Jonava Hipocredit Žalgiris (Feb 1, 2026) Trenton McLaughlin Nevėžis–Paskolų klubas Rytas (Dec 6, 2025) Dayvion McKnight Šiauliai Jonava Hipocredit (Apr 3, 2026) Evaldas Šaulys Juventus Nevėžis–Paskolų klubas (May 9, 2026) Rihards Lomažs Neptūnas Jonava Hipocredit (May 17, 2026) Makai Ashton-Langford Jonava Hipocredit Žalgiris (May 22, 2026) Blocks Maxwell Lewis Juventus Žalgiris (Jun 9, 2026) 4 Moses Wright Žalgiris Gargždai (Dec 7, 2025) Jacob Wiley Rytas Nevėžis–Paskolų klubas (Sep 21, 2025)
Other statistics CategoryPlayerClubGamesAverage Steals Dayvion McKnight Šiauliai 32 1.4 Blocks Maxwell Lewis Juventus 19 1.2 Turnovers Arnas Velička Neptūnas 41 3 Fouls drawn Arnas Velička Neptūnas 41 6 Minutes Justin Turner Gargždai 22 30:47 FT % Kenny Chery Juventus 23 100% 2-Point % Šarūnas Beniušis Juventus 41 75.7% 3-Point % Lukas Kreišmontas Jonava Hipocredit 28 48.2%
Club statistics CategoryClubAverage PIR Žalgiris 114.4 Points Rytas 92.6 Rebounds Žalgiris 38 Assists Žalgiris 23.4 Steals Šiauliai 7.3 Blocks Rytas 4 Turnovers Nevėžis–Paskolų klubas 14.1 FT % Rytas 76.6% 2-Point % Žalgiris 60.9% 3-Point % Žalgiris 37.7%
Awards All official awards of the 2025–26 LKL season.
Regular Season MVP PlayerTeamSource PG Arnas Velička Neptūnas
LKL Finals MVP PlayerTeamSource PF/C Ąžuolas Tubelis Žalgiris
Breakthrough of the Year PlayerTeamSource Lukas Kreišmontas Jonava Hipocredit
Coach of the Year CoachTeamSource Tomas Masiulis Žalgiris
All-LKL Team PlayerTeamSource PG Arnas Velička Neptūnas SG Rihards Lomažs Neptūnas SF Cedric Henderson Jr. Šiauliai PF Ąžuolas Tubelis Žalgiris C Artūras Gudaitis Rytas
MVP of the Month Month Player Team PIR Source 2025 September–October Artūras Gudaitis Rytas 22 November Augustine Rubit Lietkabelis 25.3 December Arnas Velička Neptūnas 26.7 2026 January Jerrick Harding Rytas 28.3 February Cedric Henderson Jr. Šiauliai 25 March Ignas Sargiūnas Rytas 33 April Arnas Velička Neptūnas 23.5 May Gytis Masiulis Rytas 23.3
LKL clubs in international competitions + Euroleague Basketball competitions Team Competition Progress Result Žalgiris EuroLeague Regular season 5th place out of 20 teams (23–15) 24–18 Playoffs Loss vs. Fenerbahçe Beko (1–3) Lietkabelis EuroCup Regular season Group B 9th place out of 10 teams 5–13 Neptūnas Regular season Group A 8th place out of 10 teams 7–11
+ FIBA competitions Team Competition Progress Result Rytas Champions League Regular season Group A 1st place out of 4 teams (4–2) 12–4Round of 16 Group I 1st place out of 4 teams (4–2)Quarterfinals Win vs. ERA Nymburk (2–0)Semifinals Win vs. La Laguna Tenerife Final Win vs. AEK BetssonJuventusQualifying tournament 3 Quarter–finals Win vs. Karhu Kauhajoki 1–1Qualifying tournament 3 Semi–finals Loss vs. UCAM Murcia
Notes
References