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While the Lithuanians had hoop skills, they didn’t have enough money to compete as an independent nation four years later in Barcelona. To get his team into the Games, Sarunas Marčiulionis, who signed with the Golden State Warriors in 1989, began fundraising in the Bay Area with then-Warriors assistant Donnie Nelson (son of legendary head coach Don Nelson). The Grateful Dead — formed in Palo Alto, Calif., in 1965 by Weir, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Ron McKernan and Bill Kreutzmann — saw an article about the fundraising efforts in the San Francisco Chronicle and decided to help. Through the band’s nonprofit, the Rex Foundation, they gave the Lithuanians $5,000 and a box of tie-dye T-shirts.
Artūras Karnišovas, a forward who averaged 11.2 points per game during Lithuania’s bronze-medal run, called the 1992 Games “a truly special time in my life.” Karnišovas is now executive vice president of basketball operations for the Chicago Bulls. “The chance to represent Lithuania as an independent country after so many years made it even more meaningful,” Karnišovas told The Athletic. “What Bob Weir and the Grateful Dead did for us is something I will never forget, and we, both as a team and as a country, are incredibly grateful for their support. Without it, we probably wouldn’t have had the means to train, travel, or even qualify for the 1992 Olympics. At the time, I was just a college sophomore. Little did we know that this tie-dyed story and experience would grow into something so powerful and lasting for so many years.”
“Our basketball players won the bronze medals, but to us it was a hundred times more valuable than gold,” Kęstutis Vaškelevičius, Ambassador of Lithuania in Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, told The Athletic. “It gave the young country confidence and pride. We realized how significant the contribution and support from the Grateful Dead had been. Even today, a large part of the younger generation knows this story. The Grateful Dead’s support for Lithuania, both financial and moral, has become an important page in our country’s history.”
Could I ask you if you have a favorite era of the Grateful Dead? Mark Daigneault: Oh man. Era? Yeah... Uh, I mean, obviously the early stuff. But, like, I like Built to Last. Sure. Like, I'm a fan of that. I like the whole gamut. Yeah, I'm a big early '70s guy—single drummer. Interviewer: Okay. I don't know that well. What's your favorite song? Mark Daigneault: Um, probably Bertha.
But the auction’s catalog also features 16 pages devoted to souvenirs from his years in Deadland. Among the goodies are limited-edition prints of the Europe ’72 front and back album covers signed by artist Stanley Mouse ($500 to $1,000); 13 tour books dating back to 1986 (listing itineraries, hotels where the band members were staying, and other workaday information, $250 to $500 total); the “Uncle Sam skeleton” artwork used in The Grateful Dead Movie ($500 to $1,000); and a drum cymbal autographed by the band’s Eighties lineup, including Brent Mydland ($5,000 to $7,500). (Jerry Garcia’s sense of humor is seen in his inscription: “Hey Bill! Beat this.”)
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Lids is making a bold statement during NBA All-Star Weekend 2024 with the release of its Grateful Dead x NBA collection. This unique collaboration pays homage to the iconic 1992 Lithuanian Basketball Olympic tie-dye uniforms, infusing them with a fresh, modernized design. The collection merges 90s basketball culture with the legendary aesthetics of the Grateful Dead, creating apparel that celebrates both sports and music history.
In 2009, Walton called Grousbeck and asked if a few of his close friends could attend an upcoming game at TD Garden. He said they didn’t need much, and that seats in the balcony would be fine. But Grousbeck said any friend of Walton’s is his friend, too, and invited them to sit courtside with him. Grousbeck found himself with a group that included Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir and drummer Mickey Hart. Weir later sang the national anthem at a Celtics game, and that April in Worcester, Grousbeck sat on a couch next to the stage with Weir’s wife, Natascha, and watched the band’s spinoff group, The Dead, perform.
Ohm Youngmisuk: Carlisle told amazing story about how Bill Walton might be responsible for his marriage. Walton got him Grateful Dead tickets for their first date. Rick said Bill always defiantly tried to make every moment the greatest. “He was a game changer on so many levels, in so many lives”
Bill Walton: The NBA is the best of the best in everything. This is my 49th year in and with the NBA. It is such a privilege to be part of the best. My life has always been about being part of something truly special. I’m the luckiest guy in the world. I had the greatest parents and the greatest childhood and the greatest schools in the greatest city. Then I got to go to UCLA. Then I got to be a part of the NBA. Like a Grateful Dead concert or a remarkable book or a poem or a song, you never know how NBA basketball is going to play out. With the live aspect of this, we’re going to let the show have its say. We’re going to let the music and the game throw it down.
Bill Walton is challenging San Diego city hall to get a grip on its homeless crisis. Walton, a progressive Grateful Dead enthusiast who is hardly a Rush Limbaugh acolyte, has called out San Diego mayor Todd Gloria in multiple forums. The website Voice of San Diego documented several letters that Walton wrote to Mayor Gloria on the issue, including one where the NBA and broadcasting legend said he was assaulted.
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As my eyes scan the rows of people surrounding me, however, I notice that one of the most popular shirt types doesn’t even mention the band. I recognized this as the iconic tie-dye t-shirt worn by Lithuania’s men’s basketball team that won the bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. You may have seen this t-shirt before without realizing it. There is a photo of Jonah Hill rocking the same look. Lisa Kudrow’s character, Phoebe, wore one on an episode of “Friends” in 1997. The sportswriter Jack MacCallum has described the shirts as “a stoned-out psychedelic masterpiece” and his favorite sports memento. They’ve become collector’s items – there are multiple versions, some rarer than others – that re-sell for hundreds of dollars on eBay and vintage clothing sites such as Grailed. Bill Walton, who has been to over 1,000 (!) Dead shows, says the shirts are at every show. “It always brings the biggest smile to my face because I know how much went in,” Waltontold me. “It’s really difficult to understand the magnitude and the significance and the impact and the power of what went down with those shirts.”
Walton, who was also watching the games live on television,told me he was an immediate fan of these t-shirts. “My favorite color is rainbow,” Walton said. “That’s one of the reasons why I love the colors of the Lithuanian shirts. It’s really the rainbow of life.” Liquid Blue’s Roidoulis also believes the colors of Lithuania’s flag played an important role in why the shirt became such a hit. “The fact that they were reggae colors did not hurt,” Roidoulis said. “In fact, it definitely helped.”
Once actually at the Olympics, Lithuania made it to the semifinals. They lost to the United States. Karnisovas was famously so excited to face the likes of Jordan and Magic Johnson and Larry Bird that, while in his jersey, he ended up taking photos of the game from the sideline. “The Other Dream Team” (as nicknamed in the 2012 documentary) was slated for the Bronze Medal Game and had to face off against the former USSR. It was a scrappy duel, and though there was just a one-point differential with six minutes remaining, Lithuania was victorious to win the bronze. There was a six-hour window between when the game was over and when the medal ceremony began and they suddenly had lots of time on their hands to think about their journey. “We were a little bit buzzed,” said Marciulionis with a big laugh, as he remembered partying in the locker rooms with the Australian team.
McNally said the band is credited with “genius marketing” on this project even though the first round of memorabilia contained no band logos, nor was it directly funded by the Grateful Dead. “It is a much less romantic version of the story,” McNally admitted. “That’s the story that everybody constantly ignores. It was just Grateful Dead serendipity … We got a lot of credit that we didn’t deserve.” Speirs feels similarly when he reflects on how previous versions were told. “It’s such a great story that maybe they wanted the story the way they envisioned it or the way they really wanted the story to be,” Speirs said. “Like a fantasy but not in reality or with correct facts.”