Most people only remember the heavier, older version of Sabonis as a Trail Blazer, but when he was playing for the USSR in the Olympics, he was an absolute beast in his prime.
This is the guy that even Shaquille O'Neal said he hated guarding. Shaq said he had the size to take hits from him & could space the floor out & could also pass
If Shaq faces Sabonis during Sabonis prime years, Shaq would not stand a chance. When he faced him in Portland, Sabonis couldn’t jump 1 inch at that point. And even then, he still competed against a prime Shaq.
Arvydas was truly unique, and extremely skilled, arguably the most fundamentally sound and creative big man who's ever played. It's really a shame that he wasn't able to come to the NBA sooner, because we missed out on a top 5 all time level talent, during his prime years.
@@jacobjones5269 I literally did not say that, I said fundamentally sound and creative... The Dream is my personal favorite center of all time. Sabonis was at no point the dominant defender or athlete that Hakim was, but offensively Sabonis in his prime was better and more athletic than Jokic.
@@Hollaman_LXG He could play, no doubt.. But the legend grows, so to speak.. I literally watched Olajuwon pour in 20 in the 4th period, while turning the other team into 5 jump shooters!.. And I’ve never ANYONE else do that..
@@jacobjones5269 again... I'm not discounting anything you're saying, and I'll repeat that Hakim is my personal favorite and in my opinion the best all around ceneter who's ever played... but the video was about Arvydas, so I was just talking about the subject of the video.
Not more skilled than Dream, not more fundamental than Jokic. That said, he really was a beast on defense before the knees went. That's the part of his game from the European days that Americans really missed out on. He was actually a lot like Olajuwon and Robinson defensively, strange as it may sound to those who only saw him in the US.
Thanks for remembering the forgotten greats Shaun! As a Jazz fan I remember Mark Eaton who was 7' 4' and missed his prime and had injury's. He reminds me of Arvydas Sabonis in a lot of ways.
You mean 'reminded you of Eaton' only of his height right ? I cant recall Eaton making a skilled bounce pass and never in a million years hit a trey.....
@@LamaniteLiving Anya had me until you said better touch. You should watch Jokic a little more, dude has the best touch in the league, right or left, and it’s not even close.
@@robshelden4670 that was a way of paying respect to Sabonis, Sherlock. I was disrespecting a goof that said Mark Eaton was a skilled big man… and Mormons, and now your dumb A too.
Sabonis in his prime was a beast in so many ways. What a tragedy that the probably most legendary european players did not have the chance to shine in the NBA the way they could have. I am thinking of Saboni's body. I am also thinking about Adelmann benching Drazen Petrovic and Petrovic passing away in a car accident just when the NBA started to realize what an exceptional player he was. A healthy Sabonis, a Petrovic with playing time - they would have drastically accelerated the internationalization of the NBA. And most of all: They would have dominated the game in an elite way. One more thing about Sabonis: I can not believe my eyes what an impact on the game he had in his old days with literally no legs. How much love for the game he must have had to modify his style and find ways to be a real threat on the court. You have to admire that.
The problem is, and even Petrovic admitted to such, was that Petro was not going to start over Clyde Drexler. Petrovic was in a tough situation in Portland because of that and had to be traded to reach that potential.
That’s the truth, man. I was absolutely crushed when I heard about Drazen. He was a revolutionary player in his own right. He was just starting to blossom as a star when he passed away. Lotta stars and potential stars died young in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s: Drazen, Len Bias, Reggie Lewis, Hank Gathers.
If you never watched Sabonis whistle a behind the back a assist from the top of the circle...oh my! He was like a 7'4" mix of Bird, Magic, and Ozzfest. Pure joy to watch.
I'm surprised there are no clips of David Robinson discussing Sabonis. Robinson played against Sabonis back in the late '80s and just raves about his skills.
He played against young Sabonis three times. In 1986 World Cup Final (win), in 1988 Olympic Games semi-final (loss) and in 1992 Olympic Games semi-final (win). They also met at 1996 Olympic Games but weren't on the court at the same time.
@@andrzejzborowski4920 I've talked with David a few times about Sabonis and he went on and on about his skills and - back then - athleticism and how he would have dominated had he gone into the NBA back then.
@@solotenoras I used to cover the NBA for a newspaper based in Houston, so I discussed Sabonis with Olajuwon, too. Hakeem really respected Sabonis, talking about how he used skill rather than brute force to get things done on the court.
Sabonis underrated? I guess if you were born in the US in a certain era, maybe. Anywhere else, any other time, he's simply a legend and quite possibly the biggest "what if" in the history of basketball. That's right, it wasn't just American NBA fans that were excited about the prospect of Sabonis joining the NBA back in '86: over in Europe fans were gaping at the screen at the time of the announcement of him being drafted and were all waiting with huge anticipation for the season to start, while deep down inside knowing that it was probably too good a story to become true. Sadly, that was exactly the case and it never happened but still we got the joy of witnessing him playing in the NBA eventually and, all those of us who knew and finally were proven true, dreaming of what could have been a very different story every time we watched him amaze... There's so many what ifs in basketball but Sabonis, not just because of him being one of the best European players of all time but probably more so because of him being the first one to have a real chance at playing in the NBA at a time when, for a European, this was simply almost unheard of.
@Lincoln Hirschi That's true. The only chance viewers had to witness Sabonis was through European or other international tournaments, that were broadcast in their country (which largely depended on which of their country's teams were participating and thus whether any were facing Sabonis' team) or from sports reporters that had, generally, first hand experience and thus were quick to pick him out of the crowd. But there was no European basketball fan that was not aware of Sabonis, or more specifically, that he was in the top 5 European players. Whether - or how often - they had witnessed him, that's a different matter.
@@mmsm6370 No-one forgets Petrovic. We are talking different decade here. Petrovic was in his prime when entering NBA so his case is not comparable - some aspects of his career have parallels with Sabonis' but on the whole their paths, while similar on the surface are fundamentally different. You could argue Kukoc and Petrovic had quite similar paths in the NBA but either of them and Sabonis, no.
@@daddyfuse50 There's probably many big what ifs - I probably need to check out Bill Walton. I guess one should also always bear in mind that how great a player was/could have been and how/if he was used in his team(s) are two distinct matters.
The Trailblazers would have had a dynasty if Sabonis had been allowed to play in the NBA earlier . Imagine that team Terry Porter , Clyde Drexler , Jerome Kersey , etc. and that European player they drafted a year later , some guard from Cibona Zagreb 😉 !
Sabonis was 35 in '99 and wrecked by injuries. Even then he was great. Him at 25 could probably have been MVP in 89 (Magic didn't even beat Barkley by much that year)
Surprised that no one made a comparison to Bill Walton, who before his knee injuries, had All of the same skills. Not as big, but I would have loved to seen the two of them go at it in the late '70s.
@@Barnabus007 Bill Walton was never the player Sabonis was. In Walton's own words: "You might as well just rewrite the rules of basketball after watching him play in the first half. He could do everything. He had the skills of Larry Bird and Pete Maravich. He had the athleticism of Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar], and he could shoot the 3-point shot. He could pass, run the floor, dribble. We should have carried out a plan in the early 1980s to kidnap him and bring him back right then." Walton played unselfishly being unselfish doesn't make you elite in the areas Sabonis was light years better than Walton. Prime Sabonis would have been a nightmare matchup for prime Walton that has great Sabonis was before he fucked his Achilles 3x and his knees no longer allowed him to be mobile.
@@joweydelanota7421 I respectfully disagree with you. I don't think anything you are saying is necessarily wrong and I don't want to put words in your mouth. The fact Walton praised Sabonis does prove anything, but I do get the praise. I love Sabonis. It is important to remember 1st off Walton is like 10-12 years older than Sabonis and possibly influenced his play. The difference in training methods, nutrition, and equipment had progressed in the decade or so between the two. It is also important to note that by the time Walton had (arguably) his best two seasons he had already had a bunch of injuries, and his athleticism was already compromised to the point he was neve close to the same. Sabonis did shoot 3's unlike Walton, but again, it was already becoming a different game. I would probably pick prime Sabonis over prime Walton, but it isn't a landslide. I'm not saying YOU said this or dispute it, but the major flaw to the players from the past being able to compete with players that came years later is they seem to forget the concept that all the "older" players, if they came to the present, would have better accommodations, nutrition, training methods , the benefit of learning from the past, less intense schedules, more offensive friendly rules, etc. Sorry for the rant lol...I love Sabonis, but I think people forget or don't know how great Walton was because of how short his peak was..in the end it is a shame neither got to play at least a few more somewhat healthy seasons.
I can’t believe you covered this guy 🤯… Amazing!!!! I didn’t know his story. I’m seeing him do stuff in his prime that I not ever saw him do in Portland.
I was a huge Drexler fan and dreamed of what it could have been like to have him as their number one center, with a fresh Duckworth coming off the bench. Kersey, Cliff Robinson and Terry Porter. That'd have been team people feared. I loved hearing the great Snapper talking about Sabonis (and anything else really)
I met Sabonis as a kid. I will never forget his hands and his smile when we cheered our team for winning that bronze in 1992. I grew up watching him and Zalgiris play and it was a big time for our struggle against Soviets. It was our torch to freedom. Sabobis is more than just a basketball player for my generation.
I first caught wind of Sabonis as a kid during the 1992 Olympics when the Grateful Dead sponsored Team Lithuania (who won Bronze) with tie-dyed jerseys and gear. I then heard Bill Walton tell gushing tales about him playing in Europe: "He'd have 30 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists... and it was still the first half!" Basically, if Sabonis made it to the NBA before the USSR coach (seemingly deliberately) pushed him into injuries, I think we would be seeing a top 10 all time player (not just top 10 center). He's a 7'3" version of Joker who did all the little things 10-20% better than Nikola... can you imagine a 7'3" Larry Bird?? I gotta think some combination of Cold War politics, the bias and bigotry NBA coaches and players had against European players (that really lasted until 2001-ish), and seeing Drazen Petrovic unfairly buried by the Portland Trailblazers for years, influenced Sabas not to join the NBA until well past his prime. And we still saw brilliant flashes of his style: truly one of basketball's greatest What Ifs.
that and he said himself that he didn't have an offer from the blazers pretty much untill he got a contract in 1995. theoretically he could of joined in 1989, along with players like divac, marciulionis and volkov.
As a lithuanian, what i can say for sure is - it does not matter if Arvydas was better or worse than someone at basketball. He is more than a Michael Jordan for basketball fans in Lithuania. He is still a role model. He is a legend! Very few people can be what he is.
So true Baloo. Sometimes the pioneers pave the way for others but seem to get overlooked in the grand scheme of things. Although Smits was certainly a name.
here in europe, we were lucky to see him a lot in his prime, he was something else, it´s a shame that he went to the nba when his knees were already blown, he was a beast, he would´ve been the best for sure if he arrived in his prime, absolut legend, incredible shooter and passer.
He was definitely past his prime, and moved pretty slow..lumbered up the court. Yet even in his later years he still gave bigmen like Shaq major problems, he was an excellent passer with Hi B-ball IQ. He made it look easy
And with his broken down old body he was still solid as hell on those teams with sheed and them. Wish u could bring players like him into the modern league. Dude would be a top 10 player with his size and skills in today's game
Sabonis is my favorite player of all time. He's the reason I always picked #11 every chance i got. Prime Sabas was like Jokic, but 2-3 times as athletic. He was a monster. Wish he would've been able to come to Portland in 86 instead of 95
I remember being a kid and seeing this dude with a kareem like sky hook and insane passes. It's a shame he didn't get to the NBA younger and have a long career. He had talent
Jordan owes everything to Sabonis and so does Larry, and Magic, and Ewing and Olujuwon. The list goes on and on. He would have taken all their titles away and they would have had to work much harder to feed their children. He was the Dream Team by himself. He would have beaten Jordan easily at one on and one, and Robert Parish. Sabonis was that good. Finally the truth is coming out. Long Live the Goat....Sabonis.
There are a lot of FIBA guys I wish made it to the NBA. The transition was massive in the 80s, when it started, and shrank to where good European, Australian or where ever players an come in and impact off the bat. I don't think you took a look at Dejan Bodiroga, 90s and early 00s. Maybe you'll find it well worth your time. Thanks for the great content - am happy to see the channel grow :)
Spree, Eddie Jones, Mitch Richmond, Glen Robinson, Chris Mullin, Tim Hardaway, Antonio McDyess, John Starks, Detlef Shrempf, Sheed, D Coleman, Vin Baker, Rod Strickland, Glen Rice, Steve Smith, Kenny Anderson, Robert Horry, Mighty Mouse, John Paxson, Steve Kerr,Vernon Maxwell, D Brown , Robert Pack
It was horrible to live through the "Jail Blazer" era, but I always appreciated Sabonis. Every game he'd thread some passes that made you look twice. The guy could hardly walk up the court. Lost a lot of respect for Rasheed for throwing the towel at him. What a punk!
He smoked and drank and was old af when he came to the league. Today he would come to the league young, lead a healthy lifestyle, and have better coaches and doctors.
He didn't get to showcase his potential in the NBA in his prime but at least his son is carrying the torch of his father and I think his son is actually nearly as good as his father. I instantly knew why the Kings wanted Sabonis so bad once they traded Haliburton for him, Divac knows Sabonis is special and he really is. Domas Sabonis is one of the best big's (offensively) in the league and tbh he really gets overlooked and I think it's bcuz he's not putting up Joker numbers but his numbers are very similar to the Jokers numbers. Domas Sabonis should be getting MVP votes. The Kings were at the bottom last year and they add Sabonis and now they have one of the best records in the West. I'm excited to see the Kings back in the playoffs, can't wait to see them win their 1st series. I'd love to see the Kings drop a team like the Lakers or the Warriors but the latter two teams have to make it to the playoffs 1st.
Another thing is that Sabonis didn’t do himself any favors by putting on all of the weight towards the end. Gaining weight is part of getting older but it def limited his game.
I was talking to someone the other day about Sabonis, and we both wondered if he would've been like joker is now, had he come over healthy when he was drafted (either by Atlanta or Portland).
I wouldn't be surprised if Jokic learned a thing or two from watching Sabas. In todays NBA, Sabas would thrive, potentially ever more so than Jokic. But without maybes, Jokic is the more successful club player. Internationally though, Sabonis has had more success than Jokic at jokic' age. Sabas and Petrovic imo are 2 greatest tragedies to happen in basketball. 2 extremely talented players, never got to show off their full potential on the NBA floor.
i saw A Sabonis playing with Kaunas in 1985 against ASVEL(France). He was playing like no one else as a center : 3 points, assists, etc............Basket is now all focus on Nba but at this period everybody in europ knew him as one of the greatest player of the game !! He was better by far than Wembayama is !!
I thought he was ridiculously good and always wanted to see him on a really good team, where his skills would've been featured in the media. His skill set for a 7" player was really good. He isn't an all-time great, but certainly underrated and underappreciated.
Hi! First time watching, so it may be a little bit preposterous. Look at the Lex Fridman podcast with Mrbeast, especially the part about the intro! Could be interesting!
I grew up watching him play in Spain. He was terrific. I mean, we all see all that triple double Jokic does now. Sabonis was not doig that. Was lower in assists, but his assist were gold. And he grabbed 14-15 boards on average. Guy was a Goliath. You could not move that mf. Prime Shaq would have been destroyed. Just saying that. A guy bigger and way smarter, disciplined and skilled.
We Madridistas saw Sabonis at his prime , it was my favourite (former Madridista) international NBA player til Luka Doncic arrived to our club. You all know the rest of the story lol
3:58 We Lithuanians want that everybody say - Occupied by Soviet Union(russians). We were never apart them, we were occupied and russians just said that we are from Soviet Union. We always were Lithuanians. We Lithuanians never joined Soviet Union, Soviet Union occupied Lithuania.
When I first saw him play with the USSR he was 16 or 17, and he was a beast. He had all the technical abilities that never faded, was being mentored by Anatoly Mishkin and he still had healthy knees and ankles, so he could move and jump like a true athlete. He was breaking boards with dunks all around Europe.
I always felt bad that Sabonis was not allowed to play in the league when he was younger. Even older Sabonis was nice. I saw footage of him playing when he was younger, he was great.
He wasn’t allowed to play over here that’s why Portland got screwed. I mean we got to see a little bit of him and it’s a bummer because he was the best. I thought when he was on our team man I wish we had them 10 years earlier, when we were supposed to, but they were jealous of the Americans as usual we’re just trying to have fun and everybody so serious in the world lol
@Gary Monaghan maybe some Americans were jealous of Sabonis for just how good he was it might have made the league more difficult for specific players that Nike or corporations like that would not want to see happen
@@anticorporatists9959 well the Americans in Portland we all loved him. We loved watching him play so I don’t know about anybody else and that happens to be where Nike is in Beaverton Oregon so I don’t know anything about that. I just know we couldn’t wait for him to come over, and we kind of felt cheated and his country didn’t wanna let him come over here anyway that’s why a lot of people defected
No doubt in my mind that he would have been amongst best big man of all time if he came earlier. Heck, if he just came healthy when he did it would still be one of the greats. Its always sad for a player to get injured specially when we get robbed of something magical.
I remember back in 1987 we felt so lucky(here in Greece)when the USSR team came without Arvidas. USSR had a dominant team but without him they were vulnerable and Nick Galis knew that. We were shocked when we saw the giant Vladimir Tkachenko in Arvidas's place . He was really good for his immense size but nothing like Sabonis. Looking back to that European championship I realize I missed an opportunity to watch live this rare player in the court.
Arvytus taught his son well Domantas is a rebounding and passing machine a 3 time all-star and he can shoot from 3 pretty good him and de'aaron have us winning for the first time in 16 years it's been beautiful to see Domantas flourishing it's a shame his dad couldn't but both are very dominant bigs
Arvydas’s game was similar to his son’s. Difference is he was about 4” taller & much more athletic before injuries and lousy Soviet medicine wrecked his legs.
So happy that people see who Sabonis was..His value as a basketball player..One of the greatest to ever play..So unlucky that the injuries and politics got him..But still the world now knows..God bless him..!!!
If Sabonis was allowed to come in the NBA that would have been 1985/86. Sadly, he went 10 years later injury prone. At that time, European championship cup (predecessor of Euro league) was very tough: Zhalgiris, Cibona/Jugoplastika, Macabi, Real /Barcelona, Milano, Aris/Panathinaikos were and still are very respectable clubs with players like D.Petrovic, Galis, O. Schmidt, Bob Mcadoo, Menegin. All in all, good times watching basketball in the 1980'.
I remember that, when I was growing up in Greece, everybody was talking about how great Sabonis was! And then injuries started piling up, plus the Cold War situation didn't help either! In the mid 90s Dusan Ivkovic (RIP) said that if Sabonis had stayed healthy we wouldn't be talking about Hakeem Olajuwon as the greatest center! Sabonis was that good! If he had been born in let's say in 2004, he probably woulda been the no 1 draft pick!
@@AntanPavarden NO, achilles inujries up to this day are risky, and take a long time to heal from. He fell from the stairs the first time, 3 achilles injuries are devastating, its a miracle he still played.
@@AntanPavarden he had big injuries since he was 21.... You can't really predict an acl tear... After that one it may be the poor management and nurturing of the injuries....
I had no idea who he was when I saw him play for Portland for the first time. Back then, it was crazy to see a guy of that size shooting from beyond the arc. That alone could have changed the game to more of a today's style offense even earlier if more teams went in that direction of skilled bigs and if skilled bigs were being developed young. Ahead of his time for sure.
I remember when he came to Portland. Old, crippled up with bad knees, still a beast. He was like a thick Dirk, 7 footer that could shoot. Sabonis probably is the most under rated big, maybe the most under rated overall.
When The Lakers played Portland Sabonis gave Shaq fits that Blazers team bench were starters and they still lost to the Lakers think about how special that Lakers team was🏀🏀🏀
Most people only remember the heavier, older version of Sabonis as a Trail Blazer, but when he was playing for the USSR in the Olympics, he was an absolute beast in his prime.
In 1988 Olympics, in Seoul, Sabonis led the USSR team to gold medal, past David Robinson, Cliff Robinson. Made them look like kids.
He was the reason the Dream Team was made.
He was the Jokic of his time.
1985 XIII Summer Universiade miraculous gold medal USA VS USSR Arvydas Romas Sabonis
ua-cam.com/video/PHoxK3YB0eU/v-deo.html
way more athletic than jokic would ever be@@edlawn5481
This is the guy that even Shaquille O'Neal said he hated guarding. Shaq said he had the size to take hits from him & could space the floor out & could also pass
And also hit free throws...
Shaq isn’t the best example lol. He was an average at defense for a center
If Shaq faces Sabonis during Sabonis prime years, Shaq would not stand a chance. When he faced him in Portland, Sabonis couldn’t jump 1 inch at that point. And even then, he still competed against a prime Shaq.
@@ekirakosyan Portland got robbed
He also had problems with big country Bryant Reeves.
Prime Sabas was like Jokic on steroids. Outstanding athletism, great passing, good ball handling and shooting
Yup.
and way bigger😂
@@loafnjug2185 in his prime he was fit, more like Shaq in his LSU or early Orlando days
How was he Jokic in steroids when Jokic is 5x better player then him explain lol Sabonis didn't have more then 3 assists in any NBA season
@@SteveFox369smh we’re talking about what could’ve been.
Arvydas was truly unique, and extremely skilled, arguably the most fundamentally sound and creative big man who's ever played. It's really a shame that he wasn't able to come to the NBA sooner, because we missed out on a top 5 all time level talent, during his prime years.
Better skilled than Olajuwon?!.. Are you drunk?..
@@jacobjones5269 I literally did not say that, I said fundamentally sound and creative... The Dream is my personal favorite center of all time. Sabonis was at no point the dominant defender or athlete that Hakim was, but offensively Sabonis in his prime was better and more athletic than Jokic.
@@Hollaman_LXG
He could play, no doubt.. But the legend grows, so to speak.. I literally watched Olajuwon pour in 20 in the 4th period, while turning the other team into 5 jump shooters!.. And I’ve never ANYONE else do that..
@@jacobjones5269 again... I'm not discounting anything you're saying, and I'll repeat that Hakim is my personal favorite and in my opinion the best all around ceneter who's ever played... but the video was about Arvydas, so I was just talking about the subject of the video.
Not more skilled than Dream, not more fundamental than Jokic. That said, he really was a beast on defense before the knees went. That's the part of his game from the European days that Americans really missed out on. He was actually a lot like Olajuwon and Robinson defensively, strange as it may sound to those who only saw him in the US.
Thanks for remembering the forgotten greats Shaun! As a Jazz fan I remember Mark Eaton who was 7' 4' and missed his prime and had injury's. He reminds me of Arvydas Sabonis in a lot of ways.
You mean 'reminded you of Eaton' only of his height right ? I cant recall Eaton making a skilled bounce pass and never in a million years hit a trey.....
Jazz fans are delusional due to Mormonism… big mark could block shots and that’s it! Sabonis on the other hand was a bigger Jokic with better touch.
@@LamaniteLiving Easy on the hate speech. Bullying is never acceptable, not even on UA-cam.
@@LamaniteLiving Anya had me until you said better touch. You should watch Jokic a little more, dude has the best touch in the league, right or left, and it’s not even close.
@@robshelden4670 that was a way of paying respect to Sabonis, Sherlock. I was disrespecting a goof that said Mark Eaton was a skilled big man… and Mormons, and now your dumb A too.
Sabonis in his prime was a beast in so many ways. What a tragedy that the probably most legendary european players did not have the chance to shine in the NBA the way they could have. I am thinking of Saboni's body. I am also thinking about Adelmann benching Drazen Petrovic and Petrovic passing away in a car accident just when the NBA started to realize what an exceptional player he was.
A healthy Sabonis, a Petrovic with playing time - they would have drastically accelerated the internationalization of the NBA. And most of all: They would have dominated the game in an elite way.
One more thing about Sabonis: I can not believe my eyes what an impact on the game he had in his old days with literally no legs. How much love for the game he must have had to modify his style and find ways to be a real threat on the court. You have to admire that.
The problem is, and even Petrovic admitted to such, was that Petro was not going to start over Clyde Drexler. Petrovic was in a tough situation in Portland because of that and had to be traded to reach that potential.
@@steviem5279 I‘n not talking about starting. Just talking minutes here. From todays and european perspective Adelmann was a joke back then.
That’s the truth, man. I was absolutely crushed when I heard about Drazen. He was a revolutionary player in his own right. He was just starting to blossom as a star when he passed away. Lotta stars and potential stars died young in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s: Drazen, Len Bias, Reggie Lewis, Hank Gathers.
If you never watched Sabonis whistle a behind the back a assist from the top of the circle...oh my!
He was like a 7'4" mix of Bird, Magic, and Ozzfest. Pure joy to watch.
Gotta love the hair! 😁
I'm surprised there are no clips of David Robinson discussing Sabonis. Robinson played against Sabonis back in the late '80s and just raves about his skills.
He played against young Sabonis three times. In 1986 World Cup Final (win), in 1988 Olympic Games semi-final (loss) and in 1992 Olympic Games semi-final (win). They also met at 1996 Olympic Games but weren't on the court at the same time.
@@andrzejzborowski4920 I've talked with David a few times about Sabonis and he went on and on about his skills and - back then - athleticism and how he would have dominated had he gone into the NBA back then.
There is a Lithuanian documentary about Sabonis - "Sabonis 11" and there is a lengthy speech by Robinson and Hakeem Olajuwon also.
@@solotenoras I used to cover the NBA for a newspaper based in Houston, so I discussed Sabonis with Olajuwon, too. Hakeem really respected Sabonis, talking about how he used skill rather than brute force to get things done on the court.
Sabonis destroyed David Robinson in their primes!
Sabonis underrated? I guess if you were born in the US in a certain era, maybe. Anywhere else, any other time, he's simply a legend and quite possibly the biggest "what if" in the history of basketball. That's right, it wasn't just American NBA fans that were excited about the prospect of Sabonis joining the NBA back in '86: over in Europe fans were gaping at the screen at the time of the announcement of him being drafted and were all waiting with huge anticipation for the season to start, while deep down inside knowing that it was probably too good a story to become true. Sadly, that was exactly the case and it never happened but still we got the joy of witnessing him playing in the NBA eventually and, all those of us who knew and finally were proven true, dreaming of what could have been a very different story every time we watched him amaze...
There's so many what ifs in basketball but Sabonis, not just because of him being one of the best European players of all time but probably more so because of him being the first one to have a real chance at playing in the NBA at a time when, for a European, this was simply almost unheard of.
@Lincoln Hirschi That's true. The only chance viewers had to witness Sabonis was through European or other international tournaments, that were broadcast in their country (which largely depended on which of their country's teams were participating and thus whether any were facing Sabonis' team) or from sports reporters that had, generally, first hand experience and thus were quick to pick him out of the crowd.
But there was no European basketball fan that was not aware of Sabonis, or more specifically, that he was in the top 5 European players. Whether - or how often - they had witnessed him, that's a different matter.
Ahh you forget. Petrovic. The GOAT held MJ down a lil sumtin sumtin.
@@mmsm6370 No-one forgets Petrovic. We are talking different decade here. Petrovic was in his prime when entering NBA so his case is not comparable - some aspects of his career have parallels with Sabonis' but on the whole their paths, while similar on the surface are fundamentally different. You could argue Kukoc and Petrovic had quite similar paths in the NBA but either of them and Sabonis, no.
The Biggest what if is Bill Walton before injuries.
@@daddyfuse50 There's probably many big what ifs - I probably need to check out Bill Walton. I guess one should also always bear in mind that how great a player was/could have been and how/if he was used in his team(s) are two distinct matters.
I saw Arvydas a couple of times in the 80' s playng against Cibona Zagreb. What a center! One of the best ever!
The Trailblazers would have had a dynasty if Sabonis had been allowed to play in the NBA earlier . Imagine that team Terry Porter , Clyde Drexler , Jerome Kersey , etc. and that European player they drafted a year later , some guard from Cibona Zagreb 😉 !
@@charliedontsurf9155 RIP
@@oleyullahhe didnt die lil bro
Real ball fan lol who is Cibona?
@@45pounder13 Cibona is a team from Zagreb, Yugoslavia, whose leader was Drazen Petrovic before he entered the NBA.
I saw Sabonis play when he was young in Europe and he was unstoppable... the best center I've ever seen. .
Better than Jokic ?
Sabonis was 35 in '99 and wrecked by injuries. Even then he was great. Him at 25 could probably have been MVP in 89 (Magic didn't even beat Barkley by much that year)
Surprised that no one made a comparison to Bill Walton, who before his knee injuries, had All of the same skills. Not as big, but I would have loved to seen the two of them go at it in the late '70s.
Sabonis! After this and your Abdul-Rauf one, keep them coming!
Sabo nis and Walton are the 2 biggest what ifs at center ever.
Walton is not in Sabonis league
@@joweydelanota7421 he could be. That man win 6th man of the year with messed up knee as a center.
@@joweydelanota7421 Prime Walton is absolutely in that league, and pre-dates Sabonis by a decade
@@Barnabus007 Bill Walton was never the player Sabonis was.
In Walton's own words:
"You might as well just rewrite the rules of basketball after watching him play in the first half. He could do everything. He had the skills of Larry Bird and Pete Maravich. He had the athleticism of Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar], and he could shoot the 3-point shot. He could pass, run the floor, dribble. We should have carried out a plan in the early 1980s to kidnap him and bring him back right then."
Walton played unselfishly being unselfish doesn't make you elite in the areas Sabonis was light years better than Walton. Prime Sabonis would have been a nightmare matchup for prime Walton that has great Sabonis was before he fucked his Achilles 3x and his knees no longer allowed him to be mobile.
@@joweydelanota7421 I respectfully disagree with you. I don't think anything you are saying is necessarily wrong and I don't want to put words in your mouth. The fact Walton praised Sabonis does prove anything, but I do get the praise. I love Sabonis. It is important to remember 1st off Walton is like 10-12 years older than Sabonis and possibly influenced his play. The difference in training methods, nutrition, and equipment had progressed in the decade or so between the two. It is also important to note that by the time Walton had (arguably) his best two seasons he had already had a bunch of injuries, and his athleticism was already compromised to the point he was neve close to the same. Sabonis did shoot 3's unlike Walton, but again, it was already becoming a different game. I would probably pick prime Sabonis over prime Walton, but it isn't a landslide. I'm not saying YOU said this or dispute it, but the major flaw to the players from the past being able to compete with players that came years later is they seem to forget the concept that all the "older" players, if they came to the present, would have better accommodations, nutrition, training methods , the benefit of learning from the past, less intense schedules, more offensive friendly rules, etc. Sorry for the rant lol...I love Sabonis, but I think people forget or don't know how great Walton was because of how short his peak was..in the end it is a shame neither got to play at least a few more somewhat healthy seasons.
I can’t believe you covered this guy 🤯… Amazing!!!! I didn’t know his story. I’m seeing him do stuff in his prime that I not ever saw him do in Portland.
I was a huge Drexler fan and dreamed of what it could have been like to have him as their number one center, with a fresh Duckworth coming off the bench. Kersey, Cliff Robinson and Terry Porter. That'd have been team people feared. I loved hearing the great Snapper talking about Sabonis (and anything else really)
yeah, the Snapper.. I miss him
glad u made a video on true ballers like A. Sabonis
and we were lucky to see a parallel of a prime Sabonis through Jokic 🙏🏻☺️
I met Sabonis as a kid. I will never forget his hands and his smile when we cheered our team for winning that bronze in 1992. I grew up watching him and Zalgiris play and it was a big time for our struggle against Soviets. It was our torch to freedom. Sabobis is more than just a basketball player for my generation.
I first caught wind of Sabonis as a kid during the 1992 Olympics when the Grateful Dead sponsored Team Lithuania (who won Bronze) with tie-dyed jerseys and gear. I then heard Bill Walton tell gushing tales about him playing in Europe: "He'd have 30 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists... and it was still the first half!"
Basically, if Sabonis made it to the NBA before the USSR coach (seemingly deliberately) pushed him into injuries, I think we would be seeing a top 10 all time player (not just top 10 center). He's a 7'3" version of Joker who did all the little things 10-20% better than Nikola... can you imagine a 7'3" Larry Bird??
I gotta think some combination of Cold War politics, the bias and bigotry NBA coaches and players had against European players (that really lasted until 2001-ish), and seeing Drazen Petrovic unfairly buried by the Portland Trailblazers for years, influenced Sabas not to join the NBA until well past his prime. And we still saw brilliant flashes of his style: truly one of basketball's greatest What Ifs.
that and he said himself that he didn't have an offer from the blazers pretty much untill he got a contract in 1995. theoretically he could of joined in 1989, along with players like divac, marciulionis and volkov.
He is one of the all time best players in Basketball for sure. I personally always count every game outside NBA also to players career.
dudes actual basketball prowess, awareness, touch, finesse, intuition, foresight, anticipation, vision was top of the food chain.
He was the best in Europe in mid 80s. Number 2 guy was Drazen Petrovic.
It's awesome to see the rest of the world compete at a high level in basketball now. The game has never been better!
As a lithuanian, what i can say for sure is - it does not matter if Arvydas was better or worse than someone at basketball. He is more than a Michael Jordan for basketball fans in Lithuania. He is still a role model. He is a legend! Very few people can be what he is.
Another big man that’s VERY underrated was Rik Smits!
So true Baloo. Sometimes the pioneers pave the way for others but seem to get overlooked in the grand scheme of things. Although Smits was certainly a name.
@@roderickcampbell2105 Smits and Davis PROBLEMS !
Smits was one of the very few supersized centers who actually managed to stay healthy and on the court for a long time. He was definitely underrated.
I am seriously right here commenting because I want to watch your take on Moses Malone.
here in europe, we were lucky to see him a lot in his prime, he was something else, it´s a shame that he went to the nba when his knees were already blown, he was a beast, he would´ve been the best for sure if he arrived in his prime, absolut legend, incredible shooter and passer.
He was definitely past his prime, and moved pretty slow..lumbered up the court. Yet even in his later years he still gave bigmen like Shaq major problems, he was an excellent passer with Hi B-ball IQ. He made it look easy
Sabonis was great, especially in his prime. Most people in The united states only saw him when he was near the end.
And with his broken down old body he was still solid as hell on those teams with sheed and them. Wish u could bring players like him into the modern league. Dude would be a top 10 player with his size and skills in today's game
You've got to see how he moved in his prime at his size. He was almost unstoppable.
You usually can't trust a guy with 2 first names. Love the content. Keep it up, my guy!
Sabonis is my favorite player of all time. He's the reason I always picked #11 every chance i got. Prime Sabas was like Jokic, but 2-3 times as athletic. He was a monster. Wish he would've been able to come to Portland in 86 instead of 95
Grant Hill takes good care of himself, that quite inspiring for an old man like myself.
I remember being a kid and seeing this dude with a kareem like sky hook and insane passes. It's a shame he didn't get to the NBA younger and have a long career. He had talent
Magic passing ability, Dream like footwork, Bird shooting touch & Diesel Size…! 100% should be in the GOAT List…!!!
him against Kareem!! that would hace been awesome, both at their prime
He couldn’t jump over a telephone book I’m dead
A unique player at the time. Saw him play against Indiana University back in the day and couldn't believe his skill set on such a big guy.
He humiliated David Robinson at the 1988 Olympics and, if not hurt, we're talking Russell-Chamberlain-Sabonis-Kareem-Shaq as top 5 centers
'
What a fuck
He scores 13 points against Robinson on 6-12😁
Robinson had 18 lol
One of the first big man to ever shoot a three as well
One of my favorite historical players
The Goat of All Time basketball centres 🇱🇹🏀🇱🇹🏀🇱🇹
Sheed talking about his Magic like passes 😮💨😂🤣
He-heee
I used to love yelling “Sabonis” as shot or was playing when I was younger. Everyone was saying it. It was more of a joke, but it worked
Have you done Bill Walton yet? I wanna learn more on him too. I just recently found your channel, I'm loving it brotha keep up the good work
Jordan owes everything to Sabonis and so does Larry, and Magic, and Ewing and Olujuwon. The list goes on and on. He would have taken all their titles away and they would have had to work much harder to feed their children. He was the Dream Team by himself. He would have beaten Jordan easily at one on and one, and Robert Parish. Sabonis was that good. Finally the truth is coming out. Long Live the Goat....Sabonis.
There are a lot of FIBA guys I wish made it to the NBA. The transition was massive in the 80s, when it started, and shrank to where good European, Australian or where ever players an come in and impact off the bat. I don't think you took a look at Dejan Bodiroga, 90s and early 00s. Maybe you'll find it well worth your time. Thanks for the great content - am happy to see the channel grow :)
Spree, Eddie Jones, Mitch Richmond, Glen Robinson, Chris Mullin, Tim Hardaway, Antonio McDyess, John Starks, Detlef Shrempf, Sheed, D Coleman, Vin Baker, Rod Strickland, Glen Rice, Steve Smith, Kenny Anderson, Robert Horry, Mighty Mouse, John Paxson, Steve Kerr,Vernon Maxwell, D Brown , Robert Pack
Jokic is the new Sabonis.
There was a time in the 80s that he was considered arguably the best big man in the world.
It was horrible to live through the "Jail Blazer" era, but I always appreciated Sabonis. Every game he'd thread some passes that made you look twice. The guy could hardly walk up the court. Lost a lot of respect for Rasheed for throwing the towel at him. What a punk!
He smoked and drank and was old af when he came to the league. Today he would come to the league young, lead a healthy lifestyle, and have better coaches and doctors.
He didn't get to showcase his potential in the NBA in his prime but at least his son is carrying the torch of his father and I think his son is actually nearly as good as his father. I instantly knew why the Kings wanted Sabonis so bad once they traded Haliburton for him, Divac knows Sabonis is special and he really is. Domas Sabonis is one of the best big's (offensively) in the league and tbh he really gets overlooked and I think it's bcuz he's not putting up Joker numbers but his numbers are very similar to the Jokers numbers. Domas Sabonis should be getting MVP votes. The Kings were at the bottom last year and they add Sabonis and now they have one of the best records in the West. I'm excited to see the Kings back in the playoffs, can't wait to see them win their 1st series. I'd love to see the Kings drop a team like the Lakers or the Warriors but the latter two teams have to make it to the playoffs 1st.
Another thing is that Sabonis didn’t do himself any favors by putting on all of the weight towards the end. Gaining weight is part of getting older but it def limited his game.
2:17 that's Adam Morrison c'mon now Sean lol
I was talking to someone the other day about Sabonis, and we both wondered if he would've been like joker is now, had he come over healthy when he was drafted (either by Atlanta or Portland).
Sabonis was no joker either! Sabonis was incredibly Athletic with a quickness of feet no center had, but really few
Imagine Drexler, Porter, Kersey, Williams, Sabonis, and Cliff Robinson!!! Jordan would probably have 3 fewer rings.
Loved him....would love to see a video of Bill Walton
If Nikola Jokic was 7'3, 290lb
he wouldn't be MYvidas
he wouldn't be YOURvydas,
He would be ARvydas Sabonis!
I wouldn't be surprised if Jokic learned a thing or two from watching Sabas. In todays NBA, Sabas would thrive, potentially ever more so than Jokic. But without maybes, Jokic is the more successful club player. Internationally though, Sabonis has had more success than Jokic at jokic' age. Sabas and Petrovic imo are 2 greatest tragedies to happen in basketball. 2 extremely talented players, never got to show off their full potential on the NBA floor.
Top tier channel
i saw A Sabonis playing with Kaunas in 1985 against ASVEL(France). He was playing like no one else as a center : 3 points, assists, etc............Basket is now all focus on Nba but at this period everybody in europ knew him as one of the greatest player of the game !! He was better by far than Wembayama is !!
Please. Sabonis' prime was like Bigfoot. Everyone heard about it, but no one saw it.
I thought he was ridiculously good and always wanted to see him on a really good team, where his skills would've been featured in the media. His skill set for a 7" player was really good. He isn't an all-time great, but certainly underrated and underappreciated.
7" 3
He's got a Son in the league right now that's playing pretty damn good... just made the allstar game. (Disclaimer: I am a kings fan)
maybe if we saw him play in his prime we might have got air jordan and air sabonis shoes
good vid bro
Best European Center of all time, just Nikola Jokic can compete.
2:40 He was also Shaq like on the inside with his big body.
Finally ❤
Sabas is the GOAT !
Ray Liotta
Victor Wemb might be something like a Young Arvydas Sabonis. Just wait and see.
Hi! First time watching, so it may be a little bit preposterous. Look at the Lex Fridman podcast with Mrbeast, especially the part about the intro! Could be interesting!
When Shaq talks about you it's real
Jordan is the goat, it would be exciting if a player came in and become better for hasn't happened yet
He was archetype that Jokic became
Kareem was the best 5, but after Wilt and Russel it's Sabonis for sure. Then Hakeem and Shaq.
Arvydas beat American legends in FIBA and Olympics with ease.
I grew up watching him play in Spain. He was terrific. I mean, we all see all that triple double Jokic does now. Sabonis was not doig that. Was lower in assists, but his assist were gold. And he grabbed 14-15 boards on average. Guy was a Goliath. You could not move that mf. Prime Shaq would have been destroyed. Just saying that. A guy bigger and way smarter, disciplined and skilled.
One of my favorite players such a shame Russia did not unleash him early
Thank's for remember that GREAT MASTER OF ALL TIME
We Madridistas saw Sabonis at his prime , it was my favourite (former Madridista) international NBA player til Luka Doncic arrived to our club. You all know the rest of the story lol
3:58 We Lithuanians want that everybody say - Occupied by Soviet Union(russians). We were never apart them, we were occupied and russians just said that we are from Soviet Union. We always were Lithuanians. We Lithuanians never joined Soviet Union, Soviet Union occupied Lithuania.
When I first saw him play with the USSR he was 16 or 17, and he was a beast. He had all the technical abilities that never faded, was being mentored by Anatoly Mishkin and he still had healthy knees and ankles, so he could move and jump like a true athlete. He was breaking boards with dunks all around Europe.
I always felt bad that Sabonis was not allowed to play in the league when he was younger. Even older Sabonis was nice. I saw footage of him playing when he was younger, he was great.
He wasn’t allowed to play over here that’s why Portland got screwed. I mean we got to see a little bit of him and it’s a bummer because he was the best. I thought when he was on our team man I wish we had them 10 years earlier, when we were supposed to, but they were jealous of the Americans as usual we’re just trying to have fun and everybody so serious in the world lol
@Gary Monaghan maybe some Americans were jealous of Sabonis for just how good he was it might have made the league more difficult for specific players that Nike or corporations like that would not want to see happen
@@anticorporatists9959 well the Americans in Portland we all loved him. We loved watching him play so I don’t know about anybody else and that happens to be where Nike is in Beaverton Oregon so I don’t know anything about that. I just know we couldn’t wait for him to come over, and we kind of felt cheated and his country didn’t wanna let him come over here anyway that’s why a lot of people defected
@@anticorporatists9959 that’s false 😂😂
It’s all Russia fault
No doubt in my mind that he would have been amongst best big man of all time if he came earlier. Heck, if he just came healthy when he did it would still be one of the greats. Its always sad for a player to get injured specially when we get robbed of something magical.
Please we want hall of famer Sarunas Marculionis. Strongest, toughest and most athletic European ever played in the NBA.
I remember back in 1987 we felt so lucky(here in Greece)when the USSR team came without Arvidas. USSR had a dominant team but without him they were vulnerable and Nick Galis knew that. We were shocked when we saw the giant Vladimir Tkachenko in Arvidas's place . He was really good for his immense size but nothing like Sabonis. Looking back to that European championship I realize I missed an opportunity to watch live this rare player in the court.
I remember that match, bro.
Yo Sabas himself said in one of interwievs, that he wasnt afraid of MJ... he was afraid of Hakeem "crazy african dream" Olajuwon
Arvytus taught his son well Domantas is a rebounding and passing machine a 3 time all-star and he can shoot from 3 pretty good him and de'aaron have us winning for the first time in 16 years it's been beautiful to see Domantas flourishing it's a shame his dad couldn't but both are very dominant bigs
Arvydas’s game was similar to his son’s. Difference is he was about 4” taller & much more athletic before injuries and lousy Soviet medicine wrecked his legs.
So happy that people see who Sabonis was..His value as a basketball player..One of the greatest to ever play..So unlucky that the injuries and politics got him..But still the world now knows..God bless him..!!!
If Sabonis was allowed to come in the NBA that would have been 1985/86. Sadly, he went 10 years later injury prone. At that time, European championship cup (predecessor of Euro league) was very tough: Zhalgiris, Cibona/Jugoplastika, Macabi, Real /Barcelona, Milano, Aris/Panathinaikos were and still are very respectable clubs with players like D.Petrovic, Galis, O. Schmidt, Bob Mcadoo, Menegin. All in all, good times watching basketball in the 1980'.
I remember that, when I was growing up in Greece, everybody was talking about how great Sabonis was! And then injuries started piling up, plus the Cold War situation didn't help either! In the mid 90s Dusan Ivkovic (RIP) said that if Sabonis had stayed healthy we wouldn't be talking about Hakeem Olajuwon as the greatest center! Sabonis was that good! If he had been born in let's say in 2004, he probably woulda been the no 1 draft pick!
not injuries fault, just ussr health system that ruined him.
@@AntanPavarden NO, achilles inujries up to this day are risky, and take a long time to heal from. He fell from the stairs the first time, 3 achilles injuries are devastating, its a miracle he still played.
@@AntanPavarden he had big injuries since he was 21.... You can't really predict an acl tear... After that one it may be the poor management and nurturing of the injuries....
@@smokescreenOG no? inappropriate treatment its not factor?
@@Shiljamannn from start it was poor management and nurtuning..
I had no idea who he was when I saw him play for Portland for the first time. Back then, it was crazy to see a guy of that size shooting from beyond the arc. That alone could have changed the game to more of a today's style offense even earlier if more teams went in that direction of skilled bigs and if skilled bigs were being developed young. Ahead of his time for sure.
Blazers made two finals appearances...Could you imagine what could have happened with this guy in his prime?
I remember when he came to Portland. Old, crippled up with bad knees, still a beast. He was like a thick Dirk, 7 footer that could shoot. Sabonis probably is the most under rated big, maybe the most under rated overall.
dirk could never play defense like him, and was very limited skillwise in comparison.
Sabonis was Amazing! Great to see him get some overdue respect
N.B.A. Live 2001 I used him and Portland went 74-8 clean sweep to a championship
When The Lakers played Portland Sabonis gave Shaq fits that Blazers team bench were starters and they still lost to the Lakers think about how special that Lakers team was🏀🏀🏀