If Sabonis has played in the NBA in the 80s when he was young and in his prime he will no doubt be one of the top 50 players in NBA history and one of the greatest ever up there with Kareem, Wilt, Shaq and Hakeem. He was that good he just came to the NBA a bit old and played and had a short career in the NBA but he was one of the best centers in the NBA when he played.
The real problem with Sabonis career is Soviets. People need to understand the context of Sabonis career: he is Lituanian - a player from an occupied country that Soviets always despised and used, and abused. He had an injury, which was not healed properly, because Soviet medicine was hack and saw level all the time. That is a first. Secondly, as I have mentioned - Sabonis, being Lituanian ment that Soviets cared about him as a human much less, than their victories and need to dominate. They have used him, not yet fully recovered to play in so called "National" team to win games. He tore his Achiles tendon not once, but twice. He was a cripple by even a non pro athlete level. It was not about his age, it was about him being mutilated by the Soviet system.
Arvydas Sabonis is the definition of a 99 Overall 7ft player on 2k with maxed out HOF badges that can also Green every 3 he takes and is that one player that everyone hates playing against
Let it sink in: Wheelchair Sabonis vs. Prime Jordan in 1998 still came on top of MJs bulls. The guy had so many injuries that he couldn't run at full capability, he was also advised not to dunk due to his knees. Yet, you see him 1 hand slam it down against Shaq and MJs bulls, throw some of the most incredible assists and even do some of those lay ups and hook shots. What a beast. If NBA would of brought him to USA in his prime, he'd be there among Kareem, Wilt, MJ, Larry, Magic. Not to say that he isn't as he's a hall of famer. But NBA analysts disrespect the guy too much because he didn't play that much in the NBA. Completely ignoring all his accolades in Europe.
And Sabonis then was already eligible for receiving a handicap notice ….. his knees and ankles already gone, and still putting up incredible numbers. Jordan was lucky he could not leave the Soviet Union when he was in his prime!
Arvydas was even ahead of vlade when it came to the pretty passing! Vlade might have done it first in the nba, but i believe Sabonis was vlades insperation and made vlade the player he became
That was the game which Sabonis scored 21 points and grabbed 20 rebounds in that game, in the first quarter, Sabonis dominated the Bulls by scoring 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds!!!
Fun fact: That was first game after the Blazers had traded for Damon Stoudamire, and beating the Bulls was a huge huge thing to the fans...only to be followed up by (at the time) one of the absolute worst losses in NBA history, losing to the Pacers by 65 points. In fact, the Pacers laid such a beating on the Blazers that if the Pacers had let the Blazers double their score, they *still* would have lost. I'll gladly remember this game instead! Thanks for the highlights.
The NBA never got to see him without ruined knees, guy along with Roy Tarpley would have been two of the greatest big men ever, he was 7 foot 4 and weighed the same as Shaq but far more skilled.
@@andrzejzborowski4920 His height varied a little bit over his career. As he recalls in a documentary, at the tallest he was 223.6 cm bare foot. That is 7'4.03, so a solid 7'4. After multiple surgeries in the late 1980s, he might have shrunk a bit.
Sabonis was phenomenal unique talent with the most unique skills for his size. Durability is part of the assessment though. Sabonis was often injured unfortunately.
I think he gets a pass on the injuries, considering he had to play for the Soviet Union and they ran him into the ground. Imagine if he'd been born in the 21st century and started playing in the NBA as a teenager like Luka.
He did this... old, broken, with 2 bad legs, and bad is an understatement. A man who by all accounts should’ve been in a wheelchair, did this to Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time.
Porzingis has nothing to do with Sabonis, Porzingis is a scorer and doesn't like playing near the rim, while Sabonis was more defensively oriented, more playmaking oriented, and could score in the lane and outside... Porzingis remind me more a guy like Ralph Sampson, but shooting 3pointers
If Sabonis would play in NBA before all thoose injuries, i would probably say that he could be even better that Shaq ( Both of them in their Prime). Sabonis was injured at hes 20s. And he still was the best in Europe.... A lot of people in USA dont know how Sabonis camed to NBA.... The coach of Real Madrid said to Sabonis(after he got the call from NBA) He said.. Coach: If you bring me the Championship, You are free to leave... Sabonis: Hold my bottle of water..... Just like that.... PROBABLY THE BEST PLAYER in Europe ever. Pau Gasol and Petrovic are the only players that are close to him in my opinion...
bully?they play 18 times, saboins only one time had more than 20 points(23) shaq had 27in that game...he avg 10pt vs shaq in all those games,shaq avg 28,its more like shaq bully him lol
The real problem with Sabonis career is Soviets. People need to understand the context of Sabonis career: he is Lituanian - a player from an occupied country that Soviets always despised and used, and abused. He had an injury, which was not healed properly, because Soviet medicine was hack and saw level all the time. That is a first. Secondly, as I have mentioned - Sabonis, being Lituanian ment that Soviets cared about him as a human much less, than their victories and need to dominate. They have used him, not yet fully recovered to play in so called "National" team to win games. He tore his Achiles tendon not once, but twice. He was a cripple by even a non pro athlete level. It was not about his age, it was about him being mutilated by the Soviet system.
@@layuponthedownlow It was the only time they lost to the Trailblazers and by 5 points. The Bulls literally beat them by 13 just prior and Sabonis had only 9 points on 37% shooting along with 6 turnovers and he played 37 minutes. Hell Stephen Curry's lost to Bradley Beal in a game does that make him better? How delusional
@@elijahbruno2814 sabonis was/is always better then jordan, prime or old age, it don't matter. NBA is a rigged league. Anybody who says someone is a great basketball player based on NBA games is dumb as fuck. Jordan may have won an olympic medal, but he was carried by charles barkley. Even barkley was better then jordan, but NBA is scripted. Its rigged man c'mon. Even stevie wonder can see that
Sabonis was born on December 19, 1964. When he arrived in the NBA he was 30 years old and already broken. All your super achievements are assumptions. The real thing is that at 30 years old he was a glass-knee giant with a good wrist, with brief flashes of good play, with deplorable slowness and physical condition. Those are real facts. The rest, basketball science fiction.
Sabonis was better than jordan, even when micheal jordan was in his prime. Sabonis shoots better, sees the floor better. Box's out better. Protect the rim better. Old injured Sabonis is better at everything than micheal jordan at his prime.
Great player no doubt, but I'm sorry when you comment on the match with MJ's Bulls, I'm sorry but you inflate it a little bit , your comment is like as if Arvydas beat MJ all the time, actually that was the only time Portland beat the Bulls with Arvydas and by just 5 points, only a few months earlier the Bulls beat the Trail Blazers in Portland by 13 points and Arvidas had a terrible game, he didn't score for 2 quarters and finished the game with just 9 points on 37% shooting and 6 rebounds in 37 minutes with 6 turnovers!
Robinson rookie year was 89, the year after that matchup. The admirals rookie nba numbers: 24.3 ppg, 12.0 rpg, and 3.9 block. And it wasn’t that the nba made him better. David Robinson first nba game: 23 pt, 17rb, 3 blk. Game 3 23t, 18 rib, 8! Blk 4 stock. So Sabonis would have been at least that good.
🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷U mention petrovic but you forgot Gali's wtf is wrong with you ? Gali's is one of the european goats if not the European goat.. I hate Greek military but truth is truth cannot say 80s Or 90s without mention Niko Gali's you say sabonis and petrovic. Just say sabonis and move on and resect🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷
omg man... what do you think Im tryin to undermine Jordan? Jesus Christ..., for your information Jordan is my favorite player of all time, so what if I made video where he lost, jesus. I just wanted to show that Sabonis and Petrovic were greatly competitive, that's all, if that means insulting jordan, jesus christ man.
The guy that made this video and that's narr. Rain. You do not understand basketball why would you title this that way in basketball The positions are already assigned to the players centers do not guard a point guard. Or shooting guard, that's common senso. The fact that you're trying to call out Michael Jordan. It's a relevant because that's not his job to guard sobonus.
![Arvydas Sabonis [21 pts 20 reb] VS Michael Jordan [33 pts] 1998](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3I6dKuQ4wc8/mqdefault.jpg)
If Sabonis has played in the NBA in the 80s when he was young and in his prime he will no doubt be one of the top 50 players in NBA history and one of the greatest ever up there with Kareem, Wilt, Shaq and Hakeem. He was that good he just came to the NBA a bit old and played and had a short career in the NBA but he was one of the best centers in the NBA when he played.
I believe he would have been in the top 3 of all time
He was the BEST I have ever seen. EVER!!!!
The real problem with Sabonis career is Soviets. People need to understand the context of Sabonis career: he is Lituanian - a player from an occupied country that Soviets always despised and used, and abused. He had an injury, which was not healed properly, because Soviet medicine was hack and saw level all the time. That is a first. Secondly, as I have mentioned - Sabonis, being Lituanian ment that Soviets cared about him as a human much less, than their victories and need to dominate. They have used him, not yet fully recovered to play in so called "National" team to win games. He tore his Achiles tendon not once, but twice. He was a cripple by even a non pro athlete level. It was not about his age, it was about him being mutilated by the Soviet system.
Wilt & Sabonis my favorite freak athlete big man of all time. Match those monsters against each other in their prime. UNREAL!!!!!!
Arvydas Sabonis is the definition of a 99 Overall 7ft player on 2k with maxed out HOF badges that can also Green every 3 he takes and is that one player that everyone hates playing against
Let it sink in: Wheelchair Sabonis vs. Prime Jordan in 1998 still came on top of MJs bulls. The guy had so many injuries that he couldn't run at full capability, he was also advised not to dunk due to his knees. Yet, you see him 1 hand slam it down against Shaq and MJs bulls, throw some of the most incredible assists and even do some of those lay ups and hook shots. What a beast. If NBA would of brought him to USA in his prime, he'd be there among Kareem, Wilt, MJ, Larry, Magic. Not to say that he isn't as he's a hall of famer. But NBA analysts disrespect the guy too much because he didn't play that much in the NBA. Completely ignoring all his accolades in Europe.
A 35 year old Jordan is not a prime Jordan
And Sabonis then was already eligible for receiving a handicap notice ….. his knees and ankles already gone, and still putting up incredible numbers.
Jordan was lucky he could not leave the Soviet Union when he was in his prime!
Arvydas was even ahead of vlade when it came to the pretty passing! Vlade might have done it first in the nba, but i believe Sabonis was vlades insperation and made vlade the player he became
That was the game which Sabonis scored 21 points and grabbed 20 rebounds in that game, in the first quarter, Sabonis dominated the Bulls by scoring 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds!!!
Fun fact: That was first game after the Blazers had traded for Damon Stoudamire, and beating the Bulls was a huge huge thing to the fans...only to be followed up by (at the time) one of the absolute worst losses in NBA history, losing to the Pacers by 65 points. In fact, the Pacers laid such a beating on the Blazers that if the Pacers had let the Blazers double their score, they *still* would have lost.
I'll gladly remember this game instead! Thanks for the highlights.
The NBA never got to see him without ruined knees, guy along with Roy Tarpley would have been two of the greatest big men ever, he was 7 foot 4 and weighed the same as Shaq but far more skilled.
He was 7'3.
@@andrzejzborowski4920 His height varied a little bit over his career. As he recalls in a documentary, at the tallest he was 223.6 cm bare foot. That is 7'4.03, so a solid 7'4. After multiple surgeries in the late 1980s, he might have shrunk a bit.
It was not his knees, it was his Achilles tendons, that were torn twice. TWICE.
Since Kareem and Moses Malone were quite old, I would take Sabonis as a starter for my all 80s squad
Imagine if he had played with Drexler against the bulls he was in his prime time then
I remember one game against Shaq when he was in the Lakers and the Blazers won despite him only scoring 8 points
Sabonis was phenomenal unique talent with the most unique skills for his size. Durability is part of the assessment though. Sabonis was often injured unfortunately.
I think he gets a pass on the injuries, considering he had to play for the Soviet Union and they ran him into the ground. Imagine if he'd been born in the 21st century and started playing in the NBA as a teenager like Luka.
Sería bueno haber visto al gran Sabonis jugar en la NBA de los años 80s.
La marca Jordan no hubiera existido 😂
35, Sore Back, Shot Knees. Still close to the best centre in the league.
In their Prime
Wilt --- Gap --- Kareem or Sabonis (We will never know)
Most underated centrr ever
I respect Sabonis and Michael Jordan, these are the gods of basketball, legends, it is amazing that they played
There’s only one god
Gods sound corny
@@Therealsigma9 which one is that?
He did this... old, broken, with 2 bad legs, and bad is an understatement. A man who by all accounts should’ve been in a wheelchair, did this to Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time.
Nigga this prime sabonis 😭
Before the injuries Sabas had been the best player in the world.
Dude was a old broken vet as a rookie I'm the NBA and he dominated Prime Shaq. Imagine if he came earlier !
uhh no he wasnt a rookie, he got drafted in the nba in the 80s you know just never played
@@pasifikbwoy7278 yeah he was drafted in 1986 but a rookie season is their first nba season. So yes he was a vet in his rookie year in 1995.
Sabonis wins the NBA All Rookie First Team in 1996 and the Blazers returns to the playoffs
They are humble people too.
He was ahead of his time, imagine if he played in the 20s .... he would be Porzingis on steroids
Porzingis has nothing to do with Sabonis, Porzingis is a scorer and doesn't like playing near the rim, while Sabonis was more defensively oriented, more playmaking oriented, and could score in the lane and outside... Porzingis remind me more a guy like Ralph Sampson, but shooting 3pointers
He shut down my hero Prime Shaq at 37 I think he was his son balling
not rly
he defeated the Bulls, you can't say he defeated Jordan if they weren't defending each other, and Jordan scored 33....
If Sabonis would play in NBA before all thoose injuries, i would probably say that he could be even better that Shaq ( Both of them in their Prime). Sabonis was injured at hes 20s. And he still was the best in Europe.... A lot of people in USA dont know how Sabonis camed to NBA.... The coach of Real Madrid said to Sabonis(after he got the call from NBA) He said..
Coach: If you bring me the Championship, You are free to leave...
Sabonis: Hold my bottle of water.....
Just like that.... PROBABLY THE BEST PLAYER in Europe ever. Pau Gasol and Petrovic are the only players that are close to him in my opinion...
only guy i have seen that Shaq got bullied by
bully?they play 18 times, saboins only one time had more than 20 points(23) shaq had 27in that game...he avg 10pt vs shaq in all those games,shaq avg 28,its more like shaq bully him lol
Arvydas Sabonis would be The Goat if he came to Nba at 20 years old
As a teenager I was searching in all the retails for a white Blazers Sabonis jersey. Never found one. :/
Petrović Nowicki Sabonis Gasol Kukoč Jokic Dončić Marčulionis Galis Divac Rađa Ćosić najbolji 12 svih vremena Europe.
Los Angeles Olimpics 84 would have experienced the duel between young MJ and Ewing vs Sabonis if not politics involved...
Jordan wasn't in his prime in 1998. That was his last year at the Bulls and he had a couple of more years in Washington.
The real problem with Sabonis career is Soviets. People need to understand the context of Sabonis career: he is Lituanian - a player from an occupied country that Soviets always despised and used, and abused. He had an injury, which was not healed properly, because Soviet medicine was hack and saw level all the time. That is a first. Secondly, as I have mentioned - Sabonis, being Lituanian ment that Soviets cared about him as a human much less, than their victories and need to dominate. They have used him, not yet fully recovered to play in so called "National" team to win games. He tore his Achiles tendon not once, but twice. He was a cripple by even a non pro athlete level. It was not about his age, it was about him being mutilated by the Soviet system.
I know this is avout sabonis but look at jordan at 3:08 he is the goat man no question
Prime Jordan lost to an old injured sabonis
@@layuponthedownlow It was the only time they lost to the Trailblazers and by 5 points. The Bulls literally beat them by 13 just prior and Sabonis had only 9 points on 37% shooting along with 6 turnovers and he played 37 minutes. Hell Stephen Curry's lost to Bradley Beal in a game does that make him better? How delusional
@@elijahbruno2814 sabonis was/is always better then jordan, prime or old age, it don't matter.
NBA is a rigged league. Anybody who says someone is a great basketball player based on NBA games is dumb as fuck.
Jordan may have won an olympic medal, but he was carried by charles barkley.
Even barkley was better then jordan, but NBA is scripted. Its rigged man c'mon. Even stevie wonder can see that
Sabonis was born on December 19, 1964. When he arrived in the NBA he was 30 years old and already broken. All your super achievements are assumptions. The real thing is that at 30 years old he was a glass-knee giant with a good wrist, with brief flashes of good play, with deplorable slowness and physical condition. Those are real facts. The rest, basketball science fiction.
Remember Jordan was a 2, and Sabonis was a 5.
It was Luc Langley and Dennis Rodman who Sabonis torched
Rodman struggled with very tall strong centers.
Jordan was not in his prime in 98
🇱🇹💚👁️💚🇱🇹
1998 mj is not exactly prime mj as he's already 36
95te u Grchkoj Divac ga spakovao u najmanje pakovanje (S)
Sabonis was better than jordan, even when micheal jordan was in his prime.
Sabonis shoots better, sees the floor better. Box's out better. Protect the rim better. Old injured Sabonis is better at everything than micheal jordan at his prime.
😂
Great player no doubt, but I'm sorry when you comment on the match with MJ's Bulls, I'm sorry but you inflate it a little bit , your comment is like as if Arvydas beat MJ all the time, actually that was the only time Portland beat the Bulls with Arvydas and by just 5 points, only a few months earlier the Bulls beat the Trail Blazers in Portland by 13 points and Arvidas had a terrible game, he didn't score for 2 quarters and finished the game with just 9 points on 37% shooting and 6 rebounds in 37 minutes with 6 turnovers!
They played one on one ??
Robinson rookie year was 89, the year after that matchup. The admirals rookie nba numbers: 24.3 ppg, 12.0 rpg, and 3.9 block.
And it wasn’t that the nba made him better. David Robinson first nba game: 23 pt, 17rb, 3 blk. Game 3 23t, 18 rib, 8! Blk 4 stock.
So Sabonis would have been at least that good.
The well-to-do government aerobically curve because course regrettably double before a ill-fated storm. true, impolite lobster
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🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷U mention petrovic but you forgot Gali's wtf is wrong with you ? Gali's is one of the european goats if not the European goat.. I hate Greek military but truth is truth cannot say 80s Or 90s without mention Niko Gali's you say sabonis and petrovic. Just say sabonis and move on and resect🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷
I made alread 4 videos about Galis calling him one of the greatest, so please check videos before you make such comments :)
Greece is better
Ignorant again. First of all prime Jordan was 1990-1993, second of all it’s a regular season game.
omg man... what do you think Im tryin to undermine Jordan? Jesus Christ..., for your information Jordan is my favorite player of all time, so what if I made video where he lost, jesus. I just wanted to show that Sabonis and Petrovic were greatly competitive, that's all, if that means insulting jordan, jesus christ man.
@@CroPETROforeverNBA You are clearly using Jordan’s name for clout
teenage MJ fanboy detected, warning!
U mad?
pathetic video.jordan in his prime?????????in season 98?lol.even jordan is a goat he can t allways win or don t have bad day.
teenage MJ fanboy detected, warning!
Mad?
@@JulioLeonFandinho if i m teenage then ur prob with both legs in a grave.and prob 0iq for basketball
Godamn people he wasnt that good he was kinda trash
Sure, if you say so:)
What an ignorant statement
Prove it, how was he trash if he even made it to thr nba
BRUH
The guy that made this video and that's narr. Rain. You do not understand basketball why would you title this that way in basketball The positions are already assigned to the players centers do not guard a point guard. Or shooting guard, that's common senso. The fact that you're trying to call out Michael Jordan. It's a relevant because that's not his job to guard sobonus.