Sarunas Marciulionis
(Born 1964)
Hall of Fame Induction: 2014
Card Shown:
2014-15 Panini Flawless
Hall of Fame
Position: SG
Height: 6’5″
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Sarunas Marciulionis was one of the first international players to make his mark in the NBA. He helped pave the way for many international players who would follow him into the NBA. Sarunas was a left-handed shooter and proficient scorer who had the ability to drive to the hoop or spot up for his accurate jumper. He finished his NBA career with a sizzling .522 shooting percentage.
Marciulionis also was an Olympic basketball star for the Soviet Union and later for his homeland of Lithuania, which had previously been under Soviet control. He helped solidify the game of basketball in Lithuania, operating the Sarunas Marciulionis Basketball School in Vilnius and helping establish the national team. Sarunas also founded the Lithuanian Basketball League.
Awards and Honors
- Marciulionis led the Soviet Union to the gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. The USA’s loss in these games caused them to add NBA players to the Olympic team for the first time in the 1992 Olympic Games.
- After Lithuania broke away from the Soviet Union to become its own country, Sarunas led them to Olympic bronze medals in Barcelona in 1992 and in Atlanta in 1996.
- In Barcelona the Lithuanian team, known as The Other Dream Team, was financed by the Grateful Dead. In the bronze medal game in 1992, Lithuania (led by Sarunas and Arvydas Sabonis) defeated the former Soviet Union team, now known as the Unified Team. The Unified Team represented twelve of the fifteen former Soviet Republics. The Lithuanian team wore Grateful Dead style tie-dyed t-shirts on the medal stand. The Lithuanian struggle for freedom, and the intersection of politics and sport is captured in the documentary film The Other Dream Team.
- In 1995, Lithuania reached the Final of the Eurobasket before losing to Yugoslavia in the championship game. Sarunas was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
- Marciulionis was a four-time Lithuanian Sportsman of the Year. He also was named one of FIBA’s 50 Greatest Players of All Time in 1991.
Points of Interest
- The Golden State Warriors selected Sarunas with the 127th pick in the 6th round of the 1987 NBA Draft. He joined the Warriors for the 1989-90 season and was the first Soviet player to play in the NBA.
- When Marciulionis arrived in the United States to play basketball, he was surprised at how much importance was placed on the stats sheet. For Sarunas, it was always a matter of winning or losing, not keeping track of individual stats.
- Sarunas played seven seasons in the NBA: four for the Warriors, and one season each with the Seattle SuperSonics, the Sacramento Kings, and the Denver Nuggets.
- Marciulionis was one of the best sixth men in the NBA when he played with the Warriors. He finished second in the NBA Sixth Man of the Year voting two years in a row, 1992 and 1993.
- Sarunas added firepower to the already potent Warriors trio TMC (Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, and Chris Mullin) when he played with them during his first two years in Golden State.
Statistics
Sarunas Marciulionis Statistics
provided by Basketball-Reference.com