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Stats: 18.6 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 2.2 apg, 52.8 FG% in 22 games
Olympic accolades: One gold medal (1988) and two bronze medals (1992 and 1996).
There was a time when the United States would dominate Olympic basketball with college players. In the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Arvydas Sabonis changed that.
The 7-foot-3 center won gold with the Soviet Union in that tournament and then, more meaningfully for him, also got two bronze medals with Lithuania. The 1992 squad produced some great stories, including this one documented by Grantland many years ago.
Sabonis and his teammates ventured back to the Olympic dormitory, where Sabonis challenged fellow Olympians in arm wrestling for shots. One by one, wrestlers and shot putters among them, Sabonis beat them. By the time of the award ceremony, three Lithuanians did not make it to the podium. Sabonis was one of them. “I knew how they used to roll,” said Chris Mullin, part of the United States’ Dream Team. “I think they came out with their tie-dye on. They did what the Deadheads do. They got loosened up. Made use of their free time.” Sabonis was located a couple of days later in one of the women’s Olympic dormitories.
Even with his potential as a player diminished due to injuries, Sabonis was super dominant at the FIBA level.