Is That You, Arvydas?

[tsirigoj]

I had a thought, and forgive me if this point was already made, but often, in basketball circles, people (old-heads) often speak about how great Arvydas Sabonis was in his younger years and the damage he could have done had it come from overseas to play in the NBA during his peak years. He was known for having a silky smooth shot, great hands, and great court vision at ~7'3".

I was watching Nikola Jokic play and envisioned the young Sabonis donning the Nuggets jersey.

Anyone else see that comparison? Anyone who witnessed the great years of Sabonis and could speak on how he may look like a vintage version of Jokic?

Those 3pt shots that Jokic made fully covered by AD and LeBron were just....astonishing.

[mariller]

I believe Sabonis was much more athletic in his younger days, faster, jumped higher:

Watch on YouTube

[Pachinko_]

Nah, Sabonis was the kind of monster who would dunk on people. Plus he was taller and a rim protector.
And although he was a good passer Jokic is a tier or two up as a passer. Not to mention the footwork, Joker has like a thousand different moves.

[Long2_noD]

I believe old Sabonis was not the athletic monster that some saw in him.
Looking at that old footage I don't see anything that Domas could not do today if he was as tall as hid dad. And Domas is pretty ordinary by NBA standards.
Jokic is comparable too, just has waaay more skill and touch.

[lobosloboslobos]

I believe Sabonis was much more athletic in his younger days, faster, jumped higher:

Watch on YouTube

every time someone posts young sabonis highlights i think 'my god what might have been'

that combination of size, power, BB IQ and unbelievably soft hands has never been seen in anyone else. had he remained healthy he might legitimately have been the GOAT. he was a combo of like 75% of each of wilt and jokic.

[Pachinko_]

Looking at that old footage I don't see anything that Domas could not do today if he was as tall as hid dad.

Yeah but he isn't, that's the whole point. That combination of tall and athletic happens extremely rarely and when it does it's usually missing something else.

[slick_watts]

'young sabonis' is the paul bunyan of basketball lore. he was great but come on. jokic is like, an all-time great we actually get to see against the best competition.

[DaddyCool19]

When I watched his highlights a couple years ago, I thought he looked like a bigger, more athletic and better offensive version of Marc Gasol.

I think Jokics offense and playmaking is in a league of his own.

[boomershadow]

I believe old Sabonis was not the athletic monster that some saw in him.
Looking at that old footage I don't see anything that Domas could not do today if he was as tall as hid dad. And Domas is pretty ordinary by NBA standards.

Domas may not be a multiple time MVP, but "pretty ordinary" does him huge disservice.

[hugepatsfan]

I believe old Sabonis was not the athletic monster that some saw in him.
Looking at that old footage I don't see anything that Domas could not do today if he was as tall as hid dad. And Domas is pretty ordinary by NBA standards.

Domas may not be a multiple time MVP, but "pretty ordinary" does him huge disservice.

I think he's speaking on athleticism specifically. Sabonis isn't some jump out the gym freak.

[PhilBlackson]

No it's Jokic, a superior passer that can do more offensively.

[SweetTouch]

Tell arvydas to teach his son how to score and how to defend

[sisibilio]

I believe old Sabonis was not the athletic monster that some saw in him.
Looking at that old footage I don't see anything that Domas could not do today if he was as tall as hid dad. And Domas is pretty ordinary by NBA standards.
Jokic is comparable too, just has waaay more skill and touch.

Dad was a much better mid range and long range shooter and nearly unstoppable in the low post, not comparable. And i'm a big fan of Domas.

[sisibilio]

I believe old Sabonis was not the athletic monster that some saw in him.
Looking at that old footage I don't see anything that Domas could not do today if he was as tall as hid dad. And Domas is pretty ordinary by NBA standards.

Domas may not be a multiple time MVP, but "pretty ordinary" does him huge disservice.

I think he's speaking on athleticism specifically. Sabonis isn't some jump out the gym freak.

Athleticism isn't only about vertical jump, also balance, explosiveness, coordination, speed, agility. Maybe he was not Wilt, but for a 7'3" guy he was pretty freaky.

[sisibilio]

When I watched his highlights a couple years ago, I thought he looked like a bigger, more athletic and better offensive version of Marc Gasol.

I think Jokics offense and playmaking is in a league of his own.

That's out of the question, Sabonis was great, but Jokic is up there with the likes of Magic or Bird as playmaker.

[-Luke-]

Detlef Schrempf played against Arvydas since they were 15/16 years old. He talked about it in this podcast: https://player.fm/series/iconic-sonics/detlef-schrempf (starts at 00:47:00).

7'2 athletic player that totally understood the game. He could grab a rebound off the backboard one-handed and scoop it out and fill the middle lane and dunk it from the free-throw line. Those are things you had never seen before. [...] could step out there and shoot a three [...] great passer, they ran everything through him [...] dropping dimes behind his back.

(The segment after this is funny. Det wasn't a big fan of Scottie Pippen as a teammate)

[Duke4life831]

Ive gone down the Arvydas path multiple times on here. I think I have watched every young Arvydas highlight and game available on the internet by now haha. My issue with the Arvydas talk is the way some put him in this otherworldly tier. Because ya I only saw Sabonis when it came to the NBA, and Ive seen many people on here describe his younger years as basically Jokic's passing, with David Robinson/Wilt level of athleticism, with Hakeem's defense.

After all the stuff I have watched, he is nowhere close to a Robinson/Wilt level of athlete. But he was a good athlete for his size. I also think when it comes to players that couldve been even better in today's era, I think he would be a prime candidate. I think he was a fantastic passer, but nowhere close to the level of Jokic. The thing with Jokic is its beyond just making the flashy passes. Jokic runs a complete offense as well as arguably anyone has in the history of the game. Plus I have not seen the level of foot work, the amount of counter moves and the ungodly touch Jokic has.

I do think Arvydas wouldve fit in with some of the really great bigs, but the way some talk about him, youd think they're describing a GOAT level of player.

[GSWFan1994]

Now imagine if Jokic starts sporting a full-on mullet like Arvydas in his golden days... he will basically double his production

[cupcakesnake]

Ive gone down the Arvydas path multiple times on here. I think I have watched every young Arvydas highlight and game available on the internet by now haha. My issue with the Arvydas talk is the way some put him in this otherworldly tier. Because ya I only saw Sabonis when it came to the NBA, and Ive seen many people on here describe his younger years as basically Jokic's passing, with David Robinson/Wilt level of athleticism, with Hakeem's defense.

After all the stuff I have watched, he is nowhere close to a Robinson/Wilt level of athlete. But he was a good athlete for his size. I also think when it comes to players that couldve been even better in today's era, I think he would be a prime candidate. I think he was a fantastic passer, but nowhere close to the level of Jokic. The thing with Jokic is its beyond just making the flashy passes. Jokic runs a complete offense as well as arguably anyone has in the history of the game. Plus I have not seen the level of foot work, the amount of counter moves and the ungodly touch Jokic has.

I do think Arvydas wouldve fit in with some of the really great bigs, but the way some talk about him, youd think they're describing a GOAT level of player.

I think I'm higher on Sabonis' athleticism and a little lower on his skills and IQ. I agree he wasn't quite Robinson in terms of athleticism or fluidity, but his run and jump athleticism at that ridiculous size was pretty incredible to watch. When he'd get out in transition it was scary to see a man that tall and thick run that fast. Not in a tier with the other elite athletes, but he was bigger than any of them (though probably not much bigger than Wilt or Shaq). His gigantic head and face made him look ever bigger. He sometimes looked like a different species. (His son has a bit of that too. Domas has normal center sized but sometimes just looks gigantic next to other players with the same big head his dad had). I think his tremendous strength is another factor that would have allowed him to compete physically with any of the NBA's best athletes.

Sometimes watching Sabonis footage, I found he was a little over-enamored with his skills. He'd throw really tough passes and turn the ball over a lot, often telegraphing and forcing the issue. He threw some awesome looking passes out of post-ups but he wasn't a super dynamic or surprising passer, imo. His shooting form was sloppy when he was young, but looked pretty solid by the time he got to the NBA.

[sisibilio]

Sometimes watching Sabonis footage, I found he was a little over-enamored with his skills. He'd throw really tough passes and turn the ball over a lot, often telegraphing and forcing the issue. He threw some awesome looking passes out of post-ups but he wasn't a super dynamic or surprising passer, imo. His shooting form was sloppy when he was young, but looked pretty solid by the time he got to the NBA.

That recklessness in his younger days came out of boredom since he had no real challengers in Europe.

The thing is we never saw prime Sabonis, he was playing in 1 leg since he was 23.