Sabonis back to his roots

Born in Kaunas on December 19. 1964, he grows through the youth teams of his hometown and makes his professional debut on the 1984/85 season. Drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in 1985 with the number 77 pick, he is declared ineligible with the cold war tensions still making it hard for him to join the US.

Nevertheless, Portland drafted him in 1986 in the first round, 19th pick but he stays in Europe and signs with Valladolid in Spain in 1989 before joining Real Madrid in 1992 with a multi-million dollars contract.

In the meantime he wins the Olympic gold in 1988 with the Soviet Union National team and the World Championships in 1982 finishing second in 1986. He makes an immediate impact in Madrid and gatheres up three consecutive Liga ACB titles between 1993 and 1995. He is now ready for the NBA...

Portland is finally rewarded from their incredible patience. Indeed 10 years after the Trailblazers drafted him, he sets foot in Oregon! But it proved to be worth a wait as the giant center helped Portland reach two consecutive conference finals only to be beaten in seven matches by the Lakers in 2000.

On the international scene, Sabas claimed a gold and a bronze Olympic medal, a gold and a silver World Championships medal plus a bunch of personal honours such as a the Euro player of the year award in 1984, 1985, 1988, 1993 and 1995. Last but not least, Sabonis was simply voted best basketball player in Lithuania's history.

With his Zalgiris Kaunas, he has not lost his talent since he leads the Euroleague ratings ranking with a fine 27.6. Tonight, he plays former Union Soviet arch rivals CSKA Moscow for Euroleague Day 7 and, with his 39th anniversary coming up tomorrow, no doubt he will, once again, raise his game to celebrate in style!!