Passionate Lithuanian basketball fans bring ‘The Green Death’ to Duisburg

DUISBURG - Lithuanians love basketball. It is one of the few nations where football is not the number one sport, and for a nation of just under three million people, it punches well above its weight: the men’s team has won three EuroBasket titles and three Olympic bronze medals.

Players of Lithuanian origin dominated the Soviet Union team which won gold at the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games, and Lithuania’s Barcelona 1992 side was known as ‘The Other Dream Team’.

In Vilnius and beyond, basketball is known as ‘The Second Religion’. So when the Lithuanians arrived at the Walter-Schädlich-Halle in Duisburg for their Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games clash with Republic of Korea, there is plenty of expectation.

“For Lithuanians, basketball means freedom,” Tilius Zukauskas, a Duisburg-based fan, told the FISU Games News Service (FGNS). “It goes right back to the independence of our country. It was something the whole country supported and enjoyed.

“We call the team ‘The Green Death’. I’ve been watching basketball since I was young. I played it, too. Lithuanians know all about the game and many of us play.”

Fellow supporter Edvina Mikolenaite has travelled with Zukauskas all over the world watching the national side.

“We even went to Puerto Rico to watch them,” Mikolenaite said.

“The passion we have for basketball is huge, it is a bit part of our identity. There are Lithuanians all over the world, including in Germany, so when we saw they were playing in these games, we wanted to come and see the young players.”

Cultural touchstone

They didn’t disappoint. Up against a talented and physical Republic of Korea team, the Green Death fell behind in the first half, but eventually came back to win 84-69.

“We needed a little time to catch our game. I’m happy we showed we had character,” said Lithuania’s coach Mindaugas Lukosius. He is well aware that the sport is a cultural touchstone back home.

“I am old school,” Lukosius said. “When I started basketball, we were not a free country.

“For us, from the nineties, to wear this green is a big thing that makes us proud. I still tell the young generation about this, to explain what it means to wear this shirt.

“This is like a religion. But in the last few years we have not had so many achievements, starting with the first national team.

“This is a big push. Today our 3x3 (basketball) team won the gold. Our (5x5) team have a chance and we will use this chance.”

Mintautas Mokas, who is on a scholarship at the USA’s University of Louisville, is one of the team’s young stars and has got the message.

“Basketball has always been a big thing,” Mokas said. “We are a small country, but we are powerful.

“I play in big arenas in the US, but it is always a pleasure to put on the Lithuania jersey. My dad was a professional for 15 years, and he put a ball in my hand when I was three years.”

Lithuania next play Argentina in Group D on Monday 21 July at the Grugahalle in Essen.

Tickets are available here.

FGNS nm/pg/mb

Photo: © Nick Moore / Rhine-Ruhr 2025