Arvydas Romas Sabonis (; born December 19, 1964) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player and businessman. Recognized as one of the best European players of all time, he won the Euroscar six times and the

Mr. Europa Award The Mister Europa European Player of the Year Award was an annual basketball award created in 1976, and given until 2010, by the panel of journalists of the Italian weekly magazine '' Superbasket''. Its purpose was to praise the best basketball p ...

twice. He played in a variety of leagues, including the Spanish ACB League, and spent seven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Playing the center position, Sabonis won a gold medal at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, in South Korea, for the Soviet Union, and later earned bronze medals at the 1992 Olympic Games and

1996 Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

representing

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. He retired from professional basketball in 2005. Sabonis was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the 1986 NBA draft, but he did not play his first NBA game until 1995, at the age of 30. Sabonis is considered one of the best big man passers, as well as one of the best overall centers, in the history of the game. Bill Walton once called Sabonis "a Larry Bird" due to his unique court vision, shooting range, rugged in-game mentality, and versatility. On August 20, 2010, Sabonis was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame, in recognition of his great play in international competition. On April 4, 2011, Sabonis was named to the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

, and he was as a player, inducted on August 12, 2011. At that time, he was the tallest player to ever enter the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame; one year later, he would be surpassed by Ralph Sampson. On October 24, 2011, Sabonis was voted as the next President of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation, replacing

Vladas Garastas Vladas Garastas (born February 2, 1932 in Linkuva) is a former Lithuanian professional basketball coach and the former president of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation. Coaching career Before retirement, he coached the Soviet Union national te ...

, who had led the LBF since 1991. He resigned from the position on October 2, 2013, but came back to it on October 10, 2013. His son, Domantas Sabonis, is a current NBA player.

Early life and career

Born in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

, in then Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union, Sabonis began playing basketball at age 13. By the time he was 15 years old, he was a member of the Soviet national junior team. Sabonis was excused from mandatory service to the Soviet Army, by enrolling at the

Lithuanian University of Agriculture Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy (VMU Agriculture Academy) is a state institution of higher education and research in Lithuania, in Akademija, west of Kaunas. History After restructuring the Agronomy–Forestry Department at t ...

, in his hometown.

Professional career

Žalgiris

Sabonis made his professional club debut in 1981, with one of the oldest basketball teams in Lithuania, Žalgiris, in his hometown of

. With the club, he won three consecutive Soviet Premier League titles, and the 1986 FIBA Club World Cup (FIBA Intercontinental Cup).

Valladolid

In 1989, Sabonis left Žalgiris, and signed with the Spanish

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

club Fórum Valladolid. During the 1991–92 season, Sabonis helped the team to reach the semifinals at the Korać Cup.

Real Madrid

In 1992, after playing with Fórum Valladolid for three seasons, Sabonis joined the Spanish club

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, and with them, he won two Spanish League titles, and a FIBA European League (EuroLeague) title, in 1994–95. With Real Madrid, during the 1994–95 Spanish League season, he averaged 22.9 points, 12.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.6 steals, and 2.3 blocked shots, in 42 games played. While in the 1994–95 FIBA European League season, he averaged 21.8 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.8 steals per game, in 17 games played.

Portland Trail Blazers

Sabonis was originally selected by the Atlanta Hawks, with the 77th overall pick, of the

1985 NBA draft The 1985 NBA Draft took place on June 18, 1985. It was also the first NBA draft of the "lottery" era. It was also around this time where the league decreased the amount of rounds the draft spent, with the previous few years lasting up to 10 roun ...

. However, the selection was voided, because Sabonis was under 21 at the time of the draft. The following spring, he suffered a devastating Achilles' tendon injury. Nevertheless, he was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers, with the 24th overall pick of the 1986 NBA draft. Sabonis was not allowed to play in the US by the Soviet authorities, despite LSU Tigers head coach Dale Brown's plans to have Sabonis studying and playing at Louisiana State University, and thus keeping him in an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

status. However, he did go to

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, to rehabilitate his injury with the Blazers medical staff, in 1988, while also practicing with the team. After the 1994–95 European season, Sabonis and Portland contacted one another about a move to the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

. Before signing Sabonis, Portland's then-general manager, Bob Whitsitt, asked the Blazers team physician to look at Sabonis' X-rays. Illustrating the impact of Sabonis' numerous injuries, Whitsitt recalled in a 2011 interview, that when the doctor reported the results, "He said that Arvydas could qualify for a handicapped parking spot, based on the X-ray alone." Nevertheless, the Blazers signed Sabonis. He had a successful rookie campaign, averaging 14.5 points, on 55% shooting, and 8.1 rebounds per game while playing less than 24 minutes per game. Sabonis was selected to the All-Rookie First Team, and was runner-up in both Rookie of the Year and

Sixth Man of the Year The National Basketball Association's Sixth Man of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1982–83 NBA season to the league's best performing player for his team coming off the bench as a substitu ...

voting. His postseason averages went up to 23.6 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. In the first playoff series of his NBA career, Portland lost to Utah, in five games. Sabonis averaged 16.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game, in 1997–98, all career-highs. During Sabonis' first leg in Portland, the Blazers always made the playoffs (part of a 21-year streak); between 1998 and 1999, the Oregon franchise changed large parts of its roster, in order to compete for the NBA Championship (after six consecutive first round losses), with center Sabonis the only player remaining in the starting five. Kenny Anderson and Isaiah Rider were traded for Damon Stoudamire and Steve Smith. In both those years, the Blazers reached the Western Conference Finals; in 1999 they were swept by the eventual champions, the San Antonio Spurs, while the next year, the team (starting Sabonis, Smith, Stoudamire, Rasheed Wallace, and recently added Scottie Pippen) lost to the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

(at the beginning of the team's three-peat), in seven games. The question that frequently surrounds Sabonis' NBA career revolves around how good he could have been, had he played in the NBA during his prime. Sabonis was already 30 when he joined the Blazers, by which time he had already won multiple gold medals, suffered through numerous injuries, and had lost much of his mobility and athleticism. In

Bill Simmons William John Simmons III (born September 25, 1969) is an American sports analyst, author, podcaster, and former sports writer who is the founder and CEO of the sports and pop culture website '' The Ringer''. Simmons first gained attention with ...

' "Book of Basketball", Sabonis the international player is idealized, while Sabonis the Blazer, is described as "lumbering up and down the court in what looked to be concrete Nikes", and ranking "just behind Artis Gilmore on the Moving Like a Mummy Scale." In ESPN's David Thorpe's view, Sabonis would be the best passing big man in NBA history, and possibly a top four center overall, had he played his entire career there. In Clyde Drexler's view, if Sabonis had been able to spend his prime in Portland, next to the plethora of other Trail Blazers' All Stars (Drexler, Terry Porter, Buck Williams, Steve Johnson, Kevin Duckworth, and Clifford Robinson), the Trail Blazers would "have had four, five or six titles. Guaranteed. He was that good. He could pass, shoot three pointers, had a great post game, and dominated the paint." On April 6, 2001, Sabonis scored a season-high 32 points while making 11 of 12 field goal attempts, during a 122-91 win over the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

. After the

2000–2001 NBA season The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, Sabonis refused to sign an extension with the Trail Blazers and retired from the NBA. In his own words, he "was tired mentally and physically." Instead, he returned to Europe, where he signed a one-year deal, at a nominal salary, with Žalgiris Kaunas, expecting to join the team for the most important games of the season down the stretch. However, he ended up missing that season in its entirety, resting and recovering from injuries. Sabonis rejoined the Trail Blazers for one final season, in 2002–2003. He won the Euroscar twice, while playing with the Blazers. He also became a fan favorite, and had a warm welcome back when he visited Portland in 2011, en route to being enshrined into the Naismith Hall of Fame.

Back to Žalgiris

Sabonis came back to Žalgiris to play his final season, in 2003–04. He led the team to the Top 16 stage of the EuroLeague that year, and was named the Regular Season MVP and the Top 16 MVP. He also became the team's President. Sabonis would officially retire from playing professional basketball, in 2005.

National team career

Soviet national team

In 1982, Sabonis was one of the players in the senior Soviet Union national team that toured the United States, playing against various college basketball teams. Despite being recommended to rest, instead of playing in the

, the Soviets allowed Sabonis to remain a part of their national team. Sabonis led the Soviet Union to a gold medal, with a win against the 1988 edition of the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

, that featured future NBA All-Stars David Robinson, Mitch Richmond, and Danny Manning in the semifinals. This was the last American Olympic team that was not composed of active

players. The team later beat Yugoslavia in the finals. In his career with the senior Soviet national team, Sabonis also played at the following major tournaments: the

1982 FIBA World Championship The 1982 FIBA World Championship was the 9th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. The tournament was hosted by Colombia from 15 to 28 August 1982. Qualification Venues Competing nation ...

(gold medal), the

1983 EuroBasket The 1983 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1983, was the 23rd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It took place from 26 May to 4 June 1983 in France. Italy defeated Spain in the f ...

(bronze medal), the 1985 EuroBasket (gold medal), the

1986 FIBA World Championship The 1986 FIBA World Championship was the 10th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Spain and was held from 5 to 20 July 1986. The final phase of the tournament was held at the ...

(silver medal), and the

1989 EuroBasket The 1989 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1989, was the 26th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It was held in Yugoslavia between 20 and 25 June 1989. Eight national teams entered t ...

(bronze medal). He was named to the EuroBasket All-Tournament Team in 1983 and 1985, and he was named the EuroBasket MVP in 1985. The 1985–1988 stretch of a heavy playing schedule, and lack of rest, took a significant toll on Sabonis' future health and durability. Various leg injuries were not given much time to heal, due to the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

climate that surrounded international competition, as well as the intense rivalry of the Žalgiris Kaunas versus CSKA Moscow games in the USSR Premier League. In a 2011 interview, Sabonis expressed an opinion, that overuse by the coaches of the Soviet national program, was a major contributing factor to his first Achilles' tendon injury, back in 1986.Lithuania Calling
Also Another key moment for his future health, took place in 1988, when Sabonis had a surgical Achilles procedure performed in Portland, but was rushed back on the floor with the USSR Olympic team, before a full recovery. The decision to include a limping Sabonis, on the USSR roster for the 1988 Olympic Games, was protested at the time by the Portland medical staff, and was later heavily criticized. While the Soviets cleared him to play professionally in 1989, when his Soviet national teammate, Šarūnas Marčiulionis, went to North America, Sabonis postponed his travel, over feeling that he was not physically ready for the NBA. Eventually, Sabonis would develop chronic knee, ankle and groin issues, that substantially limited his mobility and explosiveness, by the mid-1990s.

Lithuanian national team

After breakup of the Soviet Union, and the independence of

, Sabonis then became a member of the senior Lithuanian national team. He represented Lithuania at the following major tournaments: the

1992 Summer Olympic Games The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

(bronze medal), the

1995 EuroBasket The 1995 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1995, was the 29th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1996 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to e ...

(silver medal), the

1996 Summer Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

(bronze medal), and the

1999 EuroBasket The 1999 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1999, was the 31st FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2000 Olympic Tournament, giving a berth ...

. He was named to the EuroBasket All-Tournament Team in 1995. Sabonis was also awarded a silver medal at the

2013 EuroBasket EuroBasket 2013 was the 38th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It took place from 4 September until 22 September 2013 in Slovenia. The number of participating teams was 24. France defeated Lithuania in th ...

tournament, due to being the Lithuanian Basketball Federation (LKF) President.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 73 , , 21 , , 23.8 , , .545 , , .375 , , .757 , , 8.1 , , 1.8 , , .9 , , 1.1 , , 14.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 69 , , 68 , , 25.5 , , .498 , , .371 , , .777 , , 7.9 , , 2.1 , , .9 , , 1.2 , , 13.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 73 , , 73 , , 32.0 , , .493 , , .261 , , .798 , , 10.0 , , 3.0 , , .9 , , 1.1 , , 16.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 50 , , 48 , , 27.0 , , .485 , , .292 , , .771 , , 7.9 , , 2.4 , , .7 , , 1.3 , , 12.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 66 , , 61 , , 25.6 , , .505 , , .368 , , .843 , , 7.8 , , 1.8 , , .7 , , 1.2 , , 11.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 61 , , 42 , , 21.3 , , .479 , , .067 , , .776 , , 5.4 , , 1.5 , , .7 , , 1.0 , , 10.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 78 , , 1 , , 15.5 , , .476 , , .500 , , .787 , , 4.3 , , 1.8 , , .8 , , .6 , , 6.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 470 , , 314 , , 24.2 , , .500 , , .328 , , .786 , , 7.3 , , 2.1 , , .8 , , 1.1 , , 12.0

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 5 , , 35.4 , , .432 , , .556 , , .717 , , 10.2 , , 1.8 , , .8 , , .6 , , 23.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 4 , , 4 , , 27.0 , , .429 , , .250 , , .875 , , 6.5 , , 2.3 , , .8 , , .8 , , 11.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 4 , , 4 , , 26.8 , , .450 , , .500 , , .857 , , 7.8 , , 1.5 , , 1.8 , , .8 , , 12.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 13 , , 13 , , 30.2 , , .398 , , .200 , , .907 , , 8.8 , , 2.2 , , 1.2 , , 1.2 , , 10.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 16 , , 16 , , 30.8 , , .453 , , .286 , , .796 , , 6.7 , , 1.9 , , .9 , , .8 , , 11.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 3 , , 3 , , 34.7 , , .483 , , .000 , , .750 , , 8.3 , , 2.7 , , .3 , , 2.3 , , 11.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 6 , , 1 , , 14.3 , , .667 , , , , .800 , , 4.0 , , .8 , , .7 , , .7 , , 10.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 51 , , 46 , , 28.8 , , .452 , , .319 , , .802 , , 7.4 , , 1.9 , , .9 , , .9 , , 12.1

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1985–86 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris , 13 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 24.5 , , , - , style="text-align:left;", 1986–87 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris , 6 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 21.3 , , , - , style="text-align:left;",

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since th ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 20 , , , , 30.9 , , .543 , , .500 , , .663 , , style="background:#cfecec;", 12.0* , , 1.9 , , 1.2 , , , , 16.5 , , , - , style="text-align:left;", 1993–94 , style="text-align:left;",

, 15 , , , , 34.3 , , .577 , , .350 , , .723 , , 11.9 , , 2.9 , , 1.0 , , , , 17.4 , , , - , style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;", 1994–95† , style="text-align:left;",

, 17 , , , , 33.8 , , .572 , , .545 , , .783 , , 11.2 , , 2.6 , , 1.8 , , , , 21.8 , , , - , style="text-align:left;", 2003–04 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris , 18 , , 14 , , 28.3 , , .560 , , .366 , , .696 , , style="background:#cfecec;", 10.7* , , 2.4 , , 1.0 , , style="background:#cfecec;", 1.6* , , 16.7 , , style="background:#cfecec;", 26.3* , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 89 , , , , 31.6 , , .562 , , .439 , , .716 , , 11.4 , , 2.4 , , 1.3 , , 1.6 , , 19.2 , ,

Personal life

Sabonis is married to Ingrida Mikelionytė, the first Miss Lithuania, a fashion model, and a movie actress. They have a daughter named Aušrinė, and three sons: Žygimantas, Tautvydas, and Domantas – the last two being born in the cities their father was playing, Valladolid and Portland. Once Sabonis left the NBA, the family moved to the Spanish coastal city of

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

. Domantas was drafted 11th overall in the 2016 NBA draft and is currently a two-time NBA All-Star, and currently plays for the Sacramento Kings. Žygimantas, and Tautvydas decided to continue their careers in Europe. Both Domantas and Tautvydas played for the Lithuania national team in different levels of competition. In September 2011, Sabonis suffered a heart attack, while playing basketball in

. Doctors said that the heart attack was not life-threatening. According to his son, Domantas, Arvydas is a huge fan of the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

, his favorite basketball player is Larry Bird and his favorite color is green.

Popular culture

He appeared on the Lithuanian cover of the video game

NBA Live 2001 ''NBA Live 2001'' is the 2001 installment of the ''NBA Live'' video games series. The cover features Kevin Garnett as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves and in Lithuanian copies of ''NBA Live 2001'', it features Arvydas Sabonis. The game wa ...

. Arvydas Sabonis' basketball career and journey to represent his native country Lithuania in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics is highlighted in the documentary film

The Other Dream Team ''The Other Dream Team'' is a documentary film directed by Marius A. Markevičius. It covers the inspirational story of the 1992 Lithuania national basketball team and their journey to the bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. ...

. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012 and was distributed by Lionsgate in the U.S. and Disney internationally.

References

External links

*
FIBA Archive ProfileEuroleague.net ProfileSpanish ACB Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabonis, Arvydas 1964 births Living people 1982 FIBA World Championship players 1986 FIBA World Championship players Atlanta Hawks draft picks Basketball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Kaunas BC Žalgiris players Businesspeople from Kaunas CB Valladolid players Centers (basketball) Euroscar award winners FIBA EuroBasket-winning players FIBA Hall of Fame inductees FIBA World Championship-winning players Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Liga ACB players Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in the United States Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Spain Lithuanian men's basketball players Lithuanian Sportsperson of the Year winners Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees National Basketball Association players from Lithuania Olympic basketball players of Lithuania Olympic basketball players of the Soviet Union Olympic bronze medalists for Lithuania Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in basketball Portland Trail Blazers draft picks Portland Trail Blazers players Real Madrid Baloncesto players Recipients of the Olympic Order Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas Soviet expatriate sportspeople in Spain Soviet men's basketball players Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy alumni

Early life and career

Professional career

Žalgiris

Valladolid

Real Madrid

Portland Trail Blazers

Back to Žalgiris

National team career

Soviet national team

Lithuanian national team

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

Playoffs

EuroLeague

Personal life

Popular culture

See also

References

External links