Rytas Vilnius is a Lithuanian professional basketball club based in Vilnius, Lithuania. The club was founded in 1997 from another club, Statyba, and has become one of the most successful Lithuanian basketball clubs. Rytas have won two EuroCup titles, six Lithuanian League titles, three Lithuanian Cups and three Baltic Championships. The team plays their home games at the 2,741-seat Jeep Arena. Some of the greatest Lithuanian basketball players have played for Rytas over the years including: Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Ramūnas Šiškauskas, Arvydas Macijauskas, Jonas Valančiūnas, Martynas Gecevičius, Renaldas Seibutis, Simas Jasaitis, Robertas Javtokas, Darius Songaila, Marijonas Petravičius, Rimantas Kaukėnas, Rimas Kurtinaitis, Gintaras Einikis, Deividas Sirvydis, Rokas Giedraitis, Artūras Gudaitis . Rytas plays in the FIBA Champions league, Lithuanian Basketball League, and the King Mindaugas Cup. The team's farm club, Rytas-2 is used for the development of young players and plays in the second-tier NKL. History Origins (1963–1997) In 1963, the first basketball team from Vilnius, called Žalgiris, was formed. The following year it changed its name to Plastikas. In that same year, 1964, Plastikas players joined a new team, called Statyba. This name was used for over 30 years. Jonas Kazlauskas, Rimas Girskis, and then-head coach Rimantas Endrijaitis led Statyba to third place in the 1979 Soviet Union Championship. Three years later, Šarūnas Marčiulionis joined the team and became its leader. In 1987, Artūras Karnišovas joined the team at the age of 16. In 1994, Statyba won bronze medals in their first LKL season. In 1995, the largest Lithuanian newspaper Lietuvos rytas began sponsoring Sūduva Marijampolė, a basketball club from Marijampolė, Lithuania. The partnership lasted for two seasons, during which the team was known as Lietuvos rytas Marijampolė and played in the second-tier Lithuanian league, the LKAL. A notable player for the team was teenager Darius Songaila. However, after the 1996–97 season the partnership ended. At the same time, Statyba was faced with financial difficulties and was on the verge of bankruptcy. The team needed new investors and in 1997 Lietuvos rytas bought the club. However, the new owners did not want to continue the team's history and renamed it Statyba-Lietuvos rytas, then just Lietuvos rytas. The newspaper's investment helped the club to establish itself as one of the two best in Lithuania, the other being Žalgiris from the country's second-largest city Kaunas. First successes (1997–2004) During its first season, Lietuvos rytas managed to repeat Statyba's greatest achievement in