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YouTube Gold: NBA Contemporaries On Arvydas Sabonis

Sabonis was simply extraordinary

By JD King
Arvydas Sabonis Action Portrait
MINNEAPOLIS - NOVEMBER 12: Arvydas Sabonis #11 of the Portland Trail Blazers drives for a layup against the Minnesota Timberwolves on November 12, 1996 at the the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.MINNEAPOLIS - NOVEMBER 12: Arvydas Sabonis #11 of the Portland Trail Blazers drives for a layup against the Minnesota Timberwolves on November 12, 1996 at the the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Photo by Andy Hayt/NBAE via Getty Images

We’ve linked to video of the great Arvidas Sabonis before. He was perhaps the most unusual big man of all time, a 7-3 guy able to do anything anyone on the court can do. He was one of the great passers of all time, right there with Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Pete Maravich and Bill Walton.

He could start and finish a break, block shots, dunk over people like nobody’s business.

And we barely saw him in the NBA.

Some of the guys who did see him and played against him talk about him here, starting with Grant Hill.

We also hear from a number of other former NBA players including Brian Shaw and Kevin McHale.

Watching Sabonis is freaky, a preview in many ways of the modern game where everyone does everything and versatility is the main buzzword. He had all of it, the three point shooting, the brilliant passing and the stunning dunks.

It’s just that he had it at 7-3.

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