THE Rhyme He is at the heart of his refusal to speak to Greek media before the Lithuania – Greece (9/9/25, 21:30) clash, with the coach of “Lietuva” being one of the most iconic figures in his country and basketball.
Born on May 15, 1960 in Kaunas, Rimas Gintutovic Kourtinitis, as his full name is, has recorded a great career as both a player and as a coach, with dozens of awards and awards in his palace.
After all, as he played basketball, he was a charismatic scorer, with himself wearing the National Soviet Union jersey, with whom he has won many medals, which aspires to repeat as a coach.
Specifically, with the National USSR he has received gold at the 1985 Eurobasket, silver at the 1986 Moundobasket, the bronze in the 1989 Eurobasket, while with the Lithuanian National Team it has a silver medal in the 1995 Eurobasket.
The world -wide shooting guard
With a height of 1.96 meters and a huge shot in the shot, Curtinitis fought as a shooting guard in major European clubs such as Zalgiris Kaunas, CSKA Moscow, Real Madrid and Elan Salon, while in 1993 he became the first European.
The most emblematic moment of his career was his participation in the Seoul Olympics in 1988, where he won the gold medal with the National Soviet Union.
An important time in his career was his participation in the NBA All-Star Weekend’s three-point competition in 1989, as the only player in history who never competed in the NBA but was invited to the event, scoring 9 points!
From the parquet to the bench
Following his retirement from active action, Curtinitis took over the Azerbaijan national team (2002–2006), with himself gradually taking over various European teams, such as Lietuvos Rita (2008–2010, 2017–2018), Himki Moscow (2011-2016) Sabah.
He even won the Eurocup in 2009 with Lietuvos Rita, and reiterated it with Himki in 2012 and 2015, reaching a total of three Eurocup conquests, a record performance that ranks him as the top coach of the institution, according to the event.
At the same time, it has also passed through the Lithuanian Ministry of Sports, while maintaining an active role in the Lithuanian basketball scene for over three decades.
Titles in Curtain’s Career on a collective level
As a player:
USSR Championship (5): 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986 1987
USSR Cup: (1982)
Top Saporta Cup Scorer: (1985)
Intercontinental Cup: 1986
Participating in the NBA All-Star Weekend’s three-point competition: 1989
Top German Championship Scorer: (1990)
Three-point competition in German All-Star Game: 1991
Spain Championship: 1994
Lithuanian All-Star Game (2): 1996, 1998
Most valuable player of the Lithuanian All-Star Game: 1996
Lithuania Championship: 1996
Lithuania Time Championship Player: 1996
As a coach:
EuroCup (3): 2009, 2012, 2015
Lithuania Championship (2): 2009, 2010
Baltic League: 2009
Lithuania Cup (2): 2009, 2010
VTB League: 2011
Top Eurocup coach of all time: 2012
Coach of the Year of the VTB League: 2014
Hall of Fame of VTB League: 2019