NEW YORK (USA) - For those who never saw FIBA Hall of Famer Arvydas Sabonis play basketball or know little of his history, the Netflix series Starting Five reveals some surprising brashness to his character.
While the focus of the series is on the 2023-24 NBA season of his son, Lithuania star Domantas Sabonis, and USA stars LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler and Anthony Edwards, it also has a snippet on Arvydas, as told by Kevin Garnett.
Garnett entered the league the same year as Sabonis, in 1995 and played until 2016. He is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and is often sought for comments on the greats in basketball, past and present.
In Starting Five, when Garnett is asked about Domantas Sabonis, he immediately turns the subject to his father, Arvydas, saying: "His dad was best in the world. Hands down. And guess who said it? His opponents."
The reality is, however, that by the time he arrived in the NBA, in 1995, Sabonis was 30 and had a lot of mileage in the game. From 1981 to 1995, he played for the likes of Zalgiris, Forum Valladolid and Real Madrid. But when he got to Portland, he was banged up and past his prime. He'd torn his right Achilles tendon twice and was dealing with knee, ankle and groin problems.
Had Sabonis, who is also in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, joined Portland earlier in his career, maybe they would have won some championships. Sabonis would have believed that, judging by Garnett's comments.
Garnett recalled seeing Sabonis once during their first season in 1995 at a rookie game in San Antonio and being struck by how confident the Lithuanian was.
As Garnett tells it, Sabonis, sitting down with his wife standing beside him in the locker room, said: “‘David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, I better than all of them guys ... I best in the world, Sabonis. He knows me. Ask him.’ He was just ranting.”
In that segment, there is old footage of Sabonis introducing his family, and that includes a very young Domantas Sabonis.
Basket News wrote of Arvydas Sabonis having had "unique court vision, deep shooting range, unguardable post-game, and elite athleticism."
The bio in his Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame says Arvydas Sabonis "was tall and strong with soft hands, terrific timing and great vision."
In international basketball, Sabonis was awesome.
When he burst onto the scene with the Soviet Union at the 1982 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Colombia, South America, he was just 17 yet already a giant. The 2.20M (7FT 3IN) native of Kaunas averaged 9.6 points per game and helped the Soviets win the title.
Four years later, Sabonis and the Soviets traveled to Spain for the World Cup and he averaged 15.3 points per game as the Soviets finished runners-up to the USA.
At the FIBA EuroBaskets in 1983, 1985 and 1989, he reached the podium. When his team won in 1985 in West Germany, Sabonis averaged a team best 20.5 points per game.
The last time the world saw Sabonis playing national team basketball, however, was with Lithuania in the 1990s. The Baltic country claimed its independence from the Soviet Union in 1990, and the national team made a legendary trip to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and won the bronze medal.
Sabonis averaged 23.9 points and 12.5 rebounds in Barcelona 92
At that event, Sabonis averaged 23.9 points, 12.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game - his best numbers in international basketball. His 32.0 efficiency per game was No. 1 in the entire Olympic tournament.
A 2012 film, The Other Dream Team, was even made about this Lithuania side.
Four years later at the Atlanta Olympics, Sabonis' 24.5 Efficiency rating was the sixth best in the competition. One of his most memorable outings was 30 points and 13 rebounds in the Bronze Medal Game against Australia, when he led his country to an 80-74 victory.
His final tournament with Lithuania was at FIBA EuroBasket 1999. That meant he did not make the trip with his country for the Olympics in Sydney and a showdown with the USA and Garnett, who played in his one and only tournament for his national team.
At the Sydney Games, Garnett averaged 10.8 points and 9.1 rebounds as the USA went unbeaten. They did, however, need a narrow escape against Lithuania in the Semi-Finals, and had Garnett not been his usual combative self, the USA might have lost.
As it was, Garnett had 12 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals and the USA won, 85-83.
Garnett, known for his intensity, versatility, and tremendous defense, played for Minnesota from 1995 to 2007, Boston from 2007 to 2013, Brooklyn from 2013 to 2015 and Minnesota again for the 2015-16 season.
In 2004, he spearheaded Minnesota's run to the Western Conference Semi-Finals. At season's end, after averaging 24.2 points, 13.9 rebounds, 5 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.2 blocks per game in the Regular Season, he was named NBA MVP.
It was in his first season with Boston that Garnett finally won the NBA title.
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