Rumors

In 1982, Indiana Hoosiers head coach Bob Knight said after an exhibition game between the Hoosiers and the Soviet national team, in which the 17-year-old Arvydas led fast breaks, made turnaround jumpers, and finished with 25 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks, that Arvydas "was as good a prospect as I'd ever seen." For years, his legend only grew. U.S. politicians became involved, trying to assist in bringing him to the NBA, but Arvydas remained behind the Iron Curtain, caught in the geopolitical pull of the Cold War. He suffered two Achilles tendon ruptures in his early 20s -- he later suspected one was from overuse -- before the Soviets relented, allowing him to visit Portland for treatment in 1988. He led the Soviets to the Gold Medal in the ensuing Olympics in Seoul, even though he hadn't fully recovered, but Arvydas suffered knee injuries and stress fractures in the years that followed, when he played professionally in Spain. Still, the Trail Blazers never gave up their pursuit.

ESPN

Finally, in the summer of 1995, five years after Lithuania broke free of a soon-to-crumble Soviet Union, a deal was struck. "If not NBA now, never," Arvydas said then. "Last chance." He turned 31 in his rookie season, was named to the All-Rookie first team, was a runner-up for Rookie of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year and averaged 23.6 points and 10.6 rebounds in the playoffs. Age and injuries had slowed him considerably, but he was still a force, which presented a tantalizing question that has lingered ever since: What if Arvydas Sabonis had come to the NBA in his prime? "We would have had four, five or six titles," former Blazers great Clyde Drexler once told ESPN. "Guaranteed. He was that good."

ESPN

Daryl Morey: RIP Bill Walton - my favorite example of his endless commitment to helping others is when he stepped in to assist the Lithuanian national basketball team as they broke away from the Soviet Union before facing the original Dream Team in 1992

Twitter

Sirius XM NBA: It's the 50th Anniversary of the controversial ending to the United States-Soviet Union gold medal game in the 1972 Olympics. 50 years later, @Frank Isola & @Brian Scalabrine ask @TomMcMillen611 if he regrets not accepting the silver medal after the questionable loss. pic.twitter.com/51aSJH6Led

Twitter

Eurohoops: Spain for the 21st consecutive EuroBasket reached the quarterfinals, has the longest streak over the USSR which finished in the quarterfinals in 20 straight events (1951-1989) and Rudy is there since 2004 Rudy in 2004 Rudy in 2022 pic.twitter.com/O6SAMISSD5

Twitter

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.

For The Win

Volkov’s voice catches as well when he reflects on his old friend. They came up through the Soviet system together, are now filled with disgust toward Vladimir Putin’s Russia and are carrying out a sort of resistance through sports. “He’s always been like my brother, and I’ve always been very close to him. We share the same philosophy, same values throughout all life. And still now.”

Sports Illustrated

Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett named his favorite Euro player. In his book "KG: A to Z: An Uncensored Encyclopedia of Life, Basketball, and Everything in Between", a 45-year-old NBA champion praised European basketball's impact on the NBA and disagreed with many labels that follow Euro NBA players to this day. "My all-time favorite was Arvydas Sabonis, born in Lithuania. I had tapes of him playing for the USSR. He was a beast," Garnett wrote in his memoir book. "Stood his ground against Ewing and Robinson in the '88 Olympics."

BasketNews

When he finally made the senior national team in 1987, he'd grown into a bruising two-guard who could score at every level. That's when his career took off. He starred at the European Championships in Athens, he helped the Soviets shock the world a year later, and eventually, he began thinking about the NBA. The league’s international era began with Sarunas Marciulionis and his peers. It also began with a Christian basketball team touring the Soviet Union, and a scout who was making $25,000-a-year working for his father. And it began with the Olympics in Seoul, not Barcelona.

Sports Illustrated

After Lithuania secured its independence in 1991, Sarunas Marciulionis spearheaded the movement to bring Lithuanian basketball to the '92 Games. With Donnie Nelson as an assistant, Lithuania beat the Unified Team—a squad made up of players from 12 of the 15 former Soviet Republics, including Russia—in the bronze medal game, with Marciulionis scoring 29 points.

Sports Illustrated

DONNIE NELSON: It was a magical time. You have the greatest basketball team ever assembled for America, and then standing next to them you’ve got Sarunas, as part of this freedom fighting team that literally beat the old Soviet team to win the bronze medal. SARUNAS MARCIULIONIS: Everybody was celebrating and screaming. And I went to shower with my shoes on, with my full uniform, just standing there with one idea: It's not that I won, but what if I lost? The whole Olympic tournament, all those games, all those fundraisers, all the nation's excitement. And if you lose... I don't know what I would do with myself. I was so happy that it was behind us. Then, it was just happiness and tears.

Sports Illustrated

Even as the Russian team faces up to being barred from next month's Winter Games for doping offenses, audiences are flocking to see a movie about Soviet glory on the Olympic basketball court 46 years ago. "Going Vertical" tells the story of the Soviet Union team which won gold in 1972, becoming the first basketball team in history ever to beat the United States at the Olympics.

USA Today Sports

Actor Kuzma Saprykin used his childhood basketball experience to play Ivan Edeshko, who threw what Russians still call the "golden pass" for the Soviets' winning basket. "I didn't think there would actually be this kind of colossal success," he told The Associated Press. "It's surprising when people send me videos, how at practically every screening people are clapping, with some kind of patriotism and spirit awakening in people."

USA Today Sports

Zita Kuzminskas was born in Siberia in 1955 after her parents had been deported there from Lithuania, then part of the Soviet Union. Her family returned to Lithuania when she was 4, and she went on to play professionally there as well as for the Lithuanian national team. And at 61, she still plays in senior tournaments. Her reputation, as a hard-nosed rebounder and defender, has been in the background of her son’s career. Three years ago, Kuzminskas said, he earned a reminder from his coach with the Lithuanian national team after flubbing a play.

New York Times