Rimantas Kaukenas, one of the key men in Lithuania's bronze-medal winning side at EuroBasket 2007 in Spain, has been lost for the season to a knee injury, his club side Montepaschi Siena has announced.

The 30-year-old, who averaged 10.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game for Lithuania in Spain, ruptured knee ligaments and was to have surgery on Wednesday.

Kaukenas led Montepaschi Siena to the Italian crown last season, earning MVP honors in the Lega A Finals.

He actually suffered the injury in an Italian league game on December 27.

The 1.92m star is also almost certainly not going to play at the Olympics in August for Lithuania.