[ilike.panochasParticipant]

He just got inducted to the HOF. I wasn’t old enough to watch or remember him in his prime in the late 80s-early 90s, but I’ve heard stories that at one point he was one of the 5 best basketball players in the world (and this was an era where Jordan, Bird, Magic, Isiah, etc were still playing).

So how good was this guy during his prime? Was he Pau Gasol with even better size? I heard the guy was a 7’3 Center with guard skills.

[Cardinal_FanParticipant]

 He was really good! He wus similar to Pau Gasol but had a much better perimeter game as far as passing and shooting ability. Basketball IQ wus off the charts! Imo he wus the key to those really good Blazer teams back in the day that were so competitive in the western conference. They just were not good enough to beat those Laker teams tho.

[SwatLakeCityParticipant]

 I don’t know to much about him either but I do remember watching him during the playoffs when he was with the Blazers. He was starting and playing very well for a big man his size. He made a ton 15 footers which really surprised me for a guy that big. You don’t see big men play outside the paint too often yet that’s where Sabonis seemed to always be. Wouldn’t surprise me if he could shoot the 3 either. The good thing is he didn’t seem to disappear on the defensive end.

I think he was more like a bigger Dirk.

[ilike.panochasParticipant]

Yea someone on TV mentioned that if Sabonis had played his prime years with the Blazers and paired up with Drexler, Terry Porter, Cliff Robinson,and Buck Williams that the Blazers would have been a dynasty and probably would have won 3-4 championship with Sabonis.

[Da1potParticipant]

 He came to the NBA when his best days were behind him already and still performed very well. He was already 31 and well out of his prime…..He had a lot of previous injuries before he cam to the NBA that robbed him off his excellent athleticism and mobility for a big man.

He remains in my mind as one of the greatest "could have been" players if they had have come to the NBA earlier (or at all) along with Connie Hawkins and Oscar Schmidt from Brazil.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

He’s going into the Hall based on his Euro League career not his NBA Career..But if he had came over when he was 1st drafted,he could’ve been an all time great..

When he came to Portland at age 31, he had been battling a string of injuries.But still managed to average a double double and earn all rookie 1st team honors…I Think his game was more similar to Bill Walton than Pau,..Becuz he was more physical inside than Pau….

[the barronParticipant]

Sabonis was one of my favorite players back in the late ninties and early part of the last decade. He was a good shooting big man with a high basketball IQ. Unfortunately his better years were not in the NBA where he was hurt by injuries and weight gain. Even with that he was a solid player but back in his prime he would’ve been an all-star starter in the league. He was Dirk Nowitzki with better handles, more low post moves, and he was 7’3. It would have been awesome to see him compete in his prime against the great centers of the early nineties/late eighties(in their prime as well) like David Robinson, Ewing, Olajuwon, Shaq, and Alonzo Mourning.

[HitsterParticipant]

He was 31 when he finally came to the NBA and had suffered various knee injuries but was still a double digit point scorer for 6 of his 7 seasons and put up 12ppg and 7.3 rpg during his NBA career. We can only guess how good he could have been in the NBA if he’d come over a decade or so earlier but he was a 6 time European player of the year and was a 1988 Olympic Gold Medalist with Russia and beat a US side including David Robinson.

Wiki states as does lots of other sources that he’d lost a lot of his explosiveness by the time he came to the NBA so in his prime he must have been a nightmare to mark, 7ft 3ins, great passer, huge baketball IQ and an explosive scorer. 

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

They called him Shaq with a 3 pt shot, and while that might have been a slight exaggeration, he was a star. By the time he came to the NBA, his knees were shot and he was in his late 20’s early 30’s, very much past his prime. Still, he was a very solid Center, finished second to Damon Stoudamire in ROY voting in a strong rookie class. He may not have been an All-Star, but you clearly could have seen him being one if he had come to the league sooner, and he was not far off. Amazing passer, solid rebounder and just a massive presence with a soft shooting touch.

However, even after he left the NBA, he dominated another couple seasons of Euroleague. But, before he came to the NBA after all of the injuries to his knees, he was a dominant force in European and International basketball. He was also a 6 time European Player of the Year, almost like the European Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who won 6 NBA MVP’s). Won a gold medal in the Olympics (1988 in Seoul, last year that they used college players, but the team did have David Robinson among others), World Championships (1982) and in the European championship (1985), all with a very powerful Soviet Union team he anchored. Also won two Olympic Bronzes with the Lithuanian NT.

Arvydas is indeed a European basketball legend, and while he was not a dominant NBA player, he was a solid one with an incredibly unique skill set on some good winning teams. It is a shame about his injuries and that he came to the NBA almost 10 years after he was drafted (#24 pick in 1986, did not play until 1995). I hear that he did get some medical attention earlier on, but than went back and played in Europe. His pro career spanned from 1981-2005, though, incredibly impressive. Many will remember Rasheed throwing a towel in his face, and his throwing some hilarious temper tantrums as a Blazer, but make no mistake, this guy is a Hall of Famer. Great selection, it is the Basketball Hall of Fame and I am always glad to see someone deserving be honored. Dennis Rodman, Tex Winter, Chris Mullin, Arvydas, Tara VanDerveer, Herb Magee, Artis Gilmore (what do you think now B-Town?), Satch Sanders and Goose Tatum are all names of people who did great things for the game of basketball and it is great they are being honored.

[lalailaParticipant]

he is hero in Lithuania! 

[Anton123Participant]

Me being Russian I know Sabonis was a legend in the USSR, every single person in the country knew his name when he was in his prime.

He was huge, had a killer hook shot, could hit the three, was very athletic for a 7-3 big man and was a great passer.

Here’s some footage of him destroying team USA lol. The putback dunk on 1.30 is just nasty.

 

[Anton123Participant]

 You should also probably mention that he participated in three olimpic games and his team won medals in every single one (gold – 1988, bronze – 1992, 1996)

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

He possibly could’ve been an all star in the late 90’s..but he was in the same conference as Shaq & Robinson

[UsernameParticipant]

He definitely deserves it IMO. Arguably the best European player EVER ( in his real prime ~3-6 years before coming to the NBA ) alongside Drazen Petrovic ( & probably Dirk ) and that’s with numerous achiles tendon injuries that he had.

mess.eee Hmmm I don’t even know where to start lol… I woudn’t compare him to Pau ’cause in his prime Sabonis was waaaayyyy quicker and faster than Pau + he was waaaayyy ( again lol ) tougher, he could shoot the three very well ( not as good as Dirk though IMO ) , had better post moves ( and he had A LOT of them )… Well lets put it this way – he was just BETTER. And now my favourite part! Remember when Andrew Bogut got drafted by the Bucks & there were rumors they did that because "they thought he could pass the ball well"? Sabonis was frikin Steve Nash-like! Not just "a good passer for a big man" but he had a pair of eyes in his back! lol He did’t really showcase his ability to pass the ball in the NBA ’cause when he got there he was already 31 years old & after all those injuries he lost A LOT of his quickness. 

wardb12 While Dirk is a modern-day 3pt shooting PF, Sabonis was a true C & for a comparison of Sabonis in his prime I would have to say Hakeem + a good 3pt shot + the best court vision I’ve ever seen ( I mean, the guy was a 7’3 Steve Nash hahaha ) and maybe – some vertical leaping (not much though ).

It’s sad though, that he didn’t have a real chance to come to the league earlier because of all the soviet stuff, but even when he was 35-36 years old he was probably the only big in the NBA that could match Shaq ( well… at least a little lol Shaq was unstoppable ).

So!… To sum it all up: Sabas ( his lithuanian nickname ) definitely deserves to be a HOF there’s no question. He belongs with the Olajuwons, Kareems, Shaqs & other great big men.

P.S. Sorry for the spelling, I’m from Lithuania & I’m not really god at english lol 😉

[UsernameParticipant]

And BTW when Sabonis left NBA and went back to Lithuania he had one last season ( a great one for a 39 year old ) in which he averaged 16.7 pts 10.7 rbs &1.6 blks. And if not for a very unfortunate ending to a Top16 game he probably would have won the Euroleague championship…

[OnionsParticipant]

 Easily in the top 5 of my favorite players ever. And I only got to watch him as a shell of himself when he played for Portland. Those Portland teams is when I really started to get into basketball. 

Those teams with Sheed, Steve Smith, Stoudamire, Pip, Bonzi… Love that team.

So big, so skilled, such an amazing player.

[4th dimension]

If Ricky Rubio never plays in the NBA, he may become the PG version of Sabonis.

But to the topic, Sabonis was one of the most gifted Centers ever along with Shaq, Ralph Samson, Wilt Chamberlain, a guy like his size and skills are once in every generation.

[NashyMingParticipant]

He’s a great player, totally deserved to be in the HOF.  If he didn’t come to the NBA so late in his career and after injuries, he could have been one of the greatest big man of all time.

[Ricky BobbyParticipant]

I played with him and the Portland Trailbrazers on that Nintendo64 NBA Live back in 99. Im an avid Sabonis supporter.

[UsernameParticipant]

NashyMing I know i’m gioing to get a lot of negative responses but IMO he IS one ofthe greatest big men of all time. The fact that he came to the NBA too late means he missed on an opportunity to be one of the greatest big man IN HE HISTORY OF THE NBA. No offense but to me your post is like the NBA champions raising a banner that reads "WORLD champions". Just because he didn’t dominate the NBA doesn’t mean he didn’t dominate most of the worlds big men before coming to the league. You think that for a player to be considered ALL TIME GREAT he has to be great in the NBA. Well I don’t. But once again that’s just my thoughts.

[UsernameParticipant]

But it says Access  denied, so here it goes:

NashyMing I know i’m gioing to get a lot of negative responses but IMO he IS one ofthe greatest big men of all time. The fact that he came to the NBA too late means he missed on an opportunity to be one of the greatest big man IN HE HISTORY OF THE NBA. No offense but to me your post is like the NBA champions raising a banner that reads "WORLD champions". Just because he didn’t dominate the NBA doesn’t mean he didn’t dominate most of the worlds big men before coming to the league. You think that for a player to be considered ALL TIME GREAT he has to be great in the NBA. Well I don’t. Sabonis had an AMAZING career before coming to Portland + 6 or so very productive seasons in the NBA + a whole lot of awards with the Lithuanian & USSR national teams. Those ar things that only a few players have achieved, which IMO puts him into the list of all time greats. But once again that’s just my thoughts.

[LOFTYParticipant]

where can i get the soundtrack for that video?

[inukawaii8Participant]

to put things in perspective.. when sabonis came to the league at age 31 (past his prime), he was avg 14.5 pts and 8.1 rbs a game in 23.8 min. doesnt that number remind you of love’s number last year when he didnt get much time? if sabonis play around 35 mins a game, he would easily be a 20 + pts and 12 + rbs player. This is when he already past his prime. Also, in the mid 90s, there were still some legit centers back then including shaq, olajuwon, david robinson, mutumbo, and etc… this guy back in the day was def a force to be reckon with..

[llperez]

best passing big man i have ever seen. No doubt in my mind he could have been an all nba player and one of the top players in the elague if he entered during his prime.

[ItsVictorOladipoParticipant]

I know stats don’t tell the whole story and it’s hard to quantify what Arvydas did over in Europe. But if you look at his numbers over in the Euroleage and compare them to other Euroleague stars you start to get an idea of how dominant he was.

He was the Wilt Chamberlain of the Euroleague. His Euro stats are so ridiculous that it’s almost absurd. In 1994-1995 he averaged 22.8 PPG, 13.2 RPG, and 2.6 BPG for Real Madrid. I know by NBA standards that doesn’t sound that crazy but keep this in mind; Euroleage numbers are far different that NBA numbers.

In 2010 the 1st team All-Euro center Aleks Maric averaged 14.6 PPG, 8.4 RPG and 0.6 BPG. Luis Scola even when he was a All-Euroleage first team selection never averaged more than 15.9 PPG or 6.7 RPG. Pau Gasol was a 2nd team All-Euroleague selection in 2001 when he averaged 11.3 PPG and 5.2 RPG. Granted he was also just 20 years old but he averaged 17.6 PPG and 8.9 RPG just one year later in the NBA. Nikola Vujcic who is widely considered the greatest Euroleague center of the last decade has never averaged more than 17.6 PPG, 7.6 RPG or 1 BPG in a single season.

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