This week marked a special milestone for BMI Board Network – one year of board-level conversations, practical insights, and a growing community around the questions that shape decision-making at the highest level.
For this anniversary edition, we turned to a setting where leadership is tested in public, decisions are judged instantly, and performance depends on much more than what happens on the court: professional basketball.
Over the past year, BMI Board Network, together with the BMI Alumni Executive Club, has hosted 10 events, welcomed 30+ speakers, gathered 500+ participants. These numbers reflect a community of executives, board members, founders, owners, partners, and C-level leaders who are ready to discuss governance through real experience and practical cases.
The anniversary discussion brought this spirit into a highly relevant Lithuanian context. Basketball is emotional, visible, and deeply connected to identity. Yet behind every game stand questions familiar to every boardroom: who leads, who decides, how responsibility is shared, how trust is built, and how organisations stay focused under pressure.
The conversation brought together two leaders shaping Lithuanian basketball at the highest level: Paulius Motiejūnas, Director of Žalgiris Group, principal shareholder of BC Zalgiris Kaunas, former CEO of Euroleague Basketball, BMI EMBA alumnus, and Martynas Giga, CEO of BC Rytas Vilnius, board member, business and governance professional, and BMI EMBA alumnus. Moderated by Rytis Valūnas, Board Member at BMI Executive Institute and President of the BMI Alumni Executive Club, the discussion moved beyond sport into leadership, governance, ownership, and organisational resilience.
The timing made the evening even more special. Only days before the event, BC Rytas Vilnius won its first Basketball Champions League title after an overtime victory against AEK in Badalona – a historic moment for the club and Lithuanian basketball. At the same time, Kauno Žalgiris has also had a strong EuroLeague season, reaching the playoffs and once again showing the consistency of Lithuania’s leading basketball organisations.
One of the strongest ideas of the evening was that sports organisations are often judged by the scoreboard, but built through decisions made much earlier: budget planning, talent selection, governance structures, sponsor relationships, fan engagement, infrastructure, and long-term brand development.
Paulius Motiejūnas reflected on the importance of consistency and credibility when leading an organisation with a strong emotional history. In basketball, leaders make decisions under public scrutiny while carrying responsibility for heritage, identity, and trust. Leadership, in this context, is not only about formal authority. It is about making others stronger, clarifying responsibility, and building a system where people understand their roles.
Martynas Giga brought the perspective of a leader working with a club at a defining moment. The recent European title showed resilience on the court, but the discussion also pointed to the work behind that result: strengthening the organisation, building confidence around the club, managing expectations, and turning emotion into long-term value.
The discussion also highlighted one of the most complex aspects of sport governance: the balance between business logic and emotional ownership. A basketball club is expected to perform financially, compete successfully, represent a city, respect its history, engage fans, attract partners, and develop talent. These priorities do not always move in the same direction. That is where clear governance becomes essential.
For BMI Board Network, this anniversary edition captured the purpose of the initiative: to create space for direct, practical, and open conversations about how decisions are really made.
The setting was basketball, but the lessons reached far beyond sport. Leadership under pressure depends on clarity, trust, responsibility, and the ability to build organisations that can perform when expectations are high.
We thank Paulius Motiejūnas, Martynas Giga, Rytis Valūnas, our speakers, partners, alumni, participants, and the wider BMI community for making this first year meaningful. Your expertise and engagement have helped BMI Board Network become more than a space for conversation – it is becoming a platform where board-level experience turns into practical insight.
