Arvydas Sabonis
Lithuanian basketball player and executive / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Arvydas Romas Sabonis (Lithuanian pronunciation: [ˈaːrviːdaːs ˈsaːboːnʲɪs]; born 19 December 1964) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player and businessman. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest European players of all time and one of the best big-man passers in the history of the game.[1][2] Sabonis won the Euroscar six times and the Mr. Europa Award 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, in South Korea, for the Soviet Union, and later earned bronze medals at the 1992 Olympic Games and 1996 Olympic Games representing 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.
On 20 August 2010, Sabonis was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in recognition of his great play in international competition.[3] On 4 April 2011, Sabonis was named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame,[4] and he was inducted on 12 August 2011. On 24 October 2011, Sabonis was voted as the next President of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation, replacing Vladas Garastas, who had led the LBF since 1991. He resigned from the position on 2 October 2013, but he came back to it on 10 October 2013.
His son, Domantas Sabonis, plays for the NBA's Sacramento Kings as of 2024[update].[5]