Written by Austin Kent
One of perhaps the most mystifying stories to ever come from the game of basketball is that of Arvydas Sabonis - an international legend who never quite got his chance to shine at the NBA level until it was a couple years too late. Born in the present-day Lithuania, "Sabas" represented two teams during his impressive 12-year Olympic tenure. In the 1988 Summer Olympics, before the dissolution of the USSR, Sabonis led the Soviet Union to a gold medal win going through an American team that featured future NBA All-Stars David Robinson, Mitch Richmond, and Danny Manning in the semi-finals, and eventually beating Yugoslavia for the top Olympic prize.
Following the collapse of communism in 1991, the 7'3" playmaker began suiting up for the now-independent Lithuanian national team. It was with this new team that Sabonis fought for two additional bronze medals in 1992 and 1996.
The questions that surround Sabonis however, revolve less around how he fared in international competition, and more around what he could have been had he played in the NBA during his prime. Despite being drafted in 1986 at age 21, the political situation in Eastern Europe wouldn't allow for Sabonis to play in America - and not until 1995 (and a brief stint in Spain later) did the big man begin his NBA career.
As a 30-year-old rookie carrying just under 300 pounds on a 7'3" frame, it was clear that, although the mental abilities that made Sabonis a legend back in Lithuania were still there, the athleticism certainly was not. Sabonis did enjoy a relatively successful six-year career with the Portland Trailblazers from 1995-2001 but any chance of stacking the big man up with the rest of the world's greatest players in the NBA was lost.
