Who is Domantas Sabonis' father Arvydas Sabonis? All you need to know

Arvydas Sabonis is a former professional basketball player who played for the NBA for seven seasons. Prior to his NBA stint, Sabonis also played basketball professionally for his home country of Lithuania. He then played in Spain in the early 90s before joining the Portland Trail Blazers six years later. Arvydas is the father of Sacramento Kings star Domantas Sabonis.

But how did Arvydas Sabonis shape his path to secure a career in basketball?

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Taking a closer look at Arvydas Sabonis' road to the NBA

Arvydas Sabonis

At the age of 13, Arvydas Sabonis started playing basketball. He had joined the Soviet Union's junior national team by the age of 15. Sabonis then made his professional debut in the Lithuanian league a couple of years later. He has found success playing for the Žalgiris basketball club given that he won three consecutive Soviet Premier League titles.

Arvydas Sabonis departed Žalgiris in 1989 and signed with Fórum Valladolid of the Liga ACB in Spain. In the 1991–92 season, Sabonis helped the club in advancing to the Kora Cup semifinals. After three seasons with Fórum Valladolid, Sabonis moved to Spain and signed with Real Madrid, where he won two Spanish League championships.

In the 1994–95 Spanish League season, Sabonis averaged 22.9 points, 12.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.3 blocks, and 1.6 steals while playing for Real Madrid. He also managed to win the FIBA European League championship that same year.

Technically, Arvydas Sabonis was drafted into the NBA in 1985. He was the 77th overall pick in the draft selected by the Atlanta Hawks. The association then decided to void Sabonis' draft pick that year considering that he was still under 21 years old at the time. He then re-entered the NBA Draft in 1986 and was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers as the 24th overall pick.

Unfortunately, Arvydas was barred from playing in the United States by the Soviet government. Despite LSU Tigers head coach Dale Brown's plans to have the Lithuanian star attend and play for Louisiana State University, Sabonis was held back.

Sabonis finally played for the Trail Blazers in the 1995-96 season, after years of playing in leagues outside of the United States. He was 31 years old when he started his rookie season. Sabonis was able to keep up despite making his NBA debut in his 30s. He averaged 14.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game as a rookie.

However, considering that he started playing in the league in his 30s, age was definitely going to be a problem. With that said, Arvydas Sabonis was never able to replicate his performances back when he was playing for the Lithuanian and Spanish leagues. His stats more or less remained the same for the next five seasons.

According to Basketball Reference, Sabonis retired in the 2001-02 season and then decided to return the following season. Obviously coming back didn't do him any good considering that he was already 38 years old at the time. As a result, Sabonis ended up averaging 6.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game in the 2002-03 season. He then decided to finally retire for good.