I pick Arvydas Sabonis.
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UPDATED:
Cold War is a theme of the past for some, bitter and thrilling, yet buckle pulling memories for others. If it wasn't for it, if there wasn't a full scale (hell even existantialistic) competition between USA and the USSR, America might have been able to watch more of one of the greatest centers ever to play basketball.
Sabonis is a legend, not only because of his size, but his relatively unmatchable BBIQ. He was a 7-3 long guy from Lithuania, and weighted 279 lbs. Because of political restraints, he couldn't come start playing in the NBA from the year he drafted 1986 to 1995. He made an NBA career in Blazers, but had some even more major one across the Atlantic. He was the center of the famous Olympics Final game between the two giant rival countries.
He joined Lithuanian junior team at the age of 15 and joined the USSR NT in 17!
This was the guy playing center you would need on your team with the combination of his giant size that he used effectively, great balance for his size and his great intelligence, quick thinking and acting for the team play.
Career Achievements in a nutshell:
FIBA World Champion (1982)
6× Euroscar Player of the Year (1984–1985, 1988, 1995, 1997, 1999)
2× Mr. Europa Player of the Year (1985, 1997)
3× USSR League Champion (1985, 1986, 1987)
Club World Cup Champion: (1986)
4× Lithuanian Sportsman of the Year (1984, 1985, 1986, 1996)
3× FIBA All-Tournament Team (1983, 1985, 1995)
EuroBasket Champion (1985)
EuroBasket MVP (1985)
Spanish Basketball King's Cup (1993)
2× ACB Champion (1993, 1994)
2× Spanish League Finals MVP (1993, 1994)
Spanish League MVP (1994–1995)
Euroleague Champion (1995)
Euroleague Final Four MVP (1995)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (1996)
Euroleague Regular Season MVP (2004)
Euroleague Top 16 MVP (2004)
All-Euroleague First Team (2004)
LKL Champion (2004)
FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991)
50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors (2008)
FIBA Hall of Fame (2010)
Led
USSR to
Gold Medal in Seoul 1988 Olympics, Colombia 1982 World Cup, 1985 West Germany Eurobasket;
Silver in Spain 1986 World Cup,
Bronze in France 1983 and 1989 Yugoslavia Eurobasket.
Led
Lithuanian NT to
Silver in 1995 Greece Eurobasket,
Bronze in Barcelona 1992 Olympics and Atlanta 1996 Olympics.
NBA Stats: 12 points, 1.1 blocks, 2.7 fouls, 1.8 turnovers, 0.8 steals, 2.1 assists 7.3 rebounds, 50% field goal shooting and 33% 3 point shooting.
Added 354 points to Portland board in his 1st 3 years solely from 3 point shooting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18tnToDLHV4
This is
the 88 Semifinals game between USSR and USA.
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Spy is up next.
