Arvydas Romas Sabonis is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player and businessman. Recognized as one of the best European players of all time and one of the best big-man passers in the history of the game, he 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.
Sabonis with the Portland Trail Blazers in 1996
Sabonis, a member of the Soviet Union national team, taking on David Robinson and Danny Manning, during the semifinal clash with Team USA, at the 1988 Olympics. The Soviets scored an 82–76 win, with Sabonis contributing 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball through the defender's hoop, while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own hoop. A field goal is worth two points, unless made from behind the three-point line, when it is worth three. After a foul, timed play stops and the player fouled or designated to shoot a technical foul is given one, two or three one-point free throws. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but if regulation play expires with the score tied, an additional period of play (overtime) is mandated.
Chris Dudley (#22), playing for the New Jersey Nets, squares off with Michael Jordan (#23), of the Chicago Bulls on March 28, 1991. Other players including Chicago's Bill Cartwright (#24) are present on the court.
James Naismith c. 1920
The first basketball court: Springfield College
The 1899 University of Kansas basketball team, with James Naismith at the back, right