Lithuania gets a kick out of Trophy Tour

VILNIUS (Lithuania) - Lithuania, where basketball is treated like religion, was among the stops on Trophy Tour presented by J9.

A couple of famous individuals celebrated the arrival of the Naismith Trophy, which will go the winner of this year's FIBA Basketball World Cup, at the Siemens Arena in Vilnius.

Rolandas Mackevicius got a kick out of seeing the trophy at ASG (Avia Solutions Group)

Rolandas Mackevicius, a TV and event host, got a kick out of seeing the trophy.

Another was Sergejus Maslobojev, the light heavyweight kickboxer world champion. He took a selfie with the biggest prize in international basketball before being interviewed with it on TV3.

Someone that knows a lot about trophies, Maslobojev, with the Naismith Trophy

Mindaugas Gobikas, the head of marketing and communications for the Lithuanian Basketball Federation, went on the daily news program, Nauna Diena, at Lietuvos Rytas TV studios, with the trophy.

Next in Vilnius were iconic photoshoots at the Gediminas Castle Tower, the Cathedral Basilica of St. Stanislaus & Ladislaus and at Trakai Island Castle.

Gediminas' Tower is the remaining part of the Upper Castle on top of the Gediminas Hill in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Gediminas Tower, the symbol of Vilnius, is visible from many spots in the Old Town. It's portrayed in numerous works of art and is one of the best places to see the truly magnificent panoramas of Vilnius.

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Stanislaus and St. Ladislaus (above) is built in the center of the city, on the site of a former pagan temple and next to Vilnius’ defensive castle.

Trakai Island Castle (above) is famous for its gothic architecture, and its special location. Ot stands on an island on Lake Galve, one of the deepest lakes in Lithuania.

In Trakai, fans had the opportunity to inspect the trophy at the Basketball Museum.

The trophy was also photographed while displayed beside a statue of the man it is named after, basketball's inventor James Naismith, at Lithuania's Basketball Federation headquarters.

James Naismith statue at Lithuanian Basketball Federation headquarters

In Kaunas, the trophy was photographed at three of the city's best known sites: St. Michael The Archangel Church, Aleksotas Obervation Deck and Laisves Avenue

St. Michael The Archangel Church (above) was designed as an Orthodox cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in 1890 by K. H. Lymarenko.

The Aleksotas Obervation Deck (above) offers one of the best panoramic views of the entire city of Kaunas.

The trophy was photographed on the 1.6km-long Laisves Avenue - longest pedestrian street in Eastern Europe.

This beautiful setting is where the trophy made another appearance on the Nauna Diena television program with Gobikas.

FIBA