Sabonis Can Still Shoot, But Missed Title Shot

He is a big man with a guard’s shooting touch, which gives Portland’s Arvidas Sabonis something in common with former Blazers center Bill Walton.

His playing time is limited to about half a game because of chronic foot pain, another link Sabonis shares with Walton.

But what they don’t have in common is an NBA championship ring. Walton has one from his days as a Blazer; Sabonis should have two.

Sabonis is one of the league’s early surprises and perhaps its unique player. At 7-foot-3, 290 pounds, he’s difficult to move from the blocks and virtually closes the lane on opposing point guards. Yet he ranks among the league leaders in 3-point and overall shooting percentage. No center has led the league in 3-point shots; no player has captured both categories.

Sabonis, who turned 31 December 19, also has a shot at the sixth man and rookie of the year awards.

Sadly, he may have seen his best chance at a title evaporate over the last six years, when he was in Lithuania battling his foot problems - while the Blazers were putting extra rings on the fingers of the Pistons and Bulls.

Portland chose Sabonis 24th in the 1986 draft, but he was reluctant to spend half a year in the States and decided to remain in Europe. One year later, he underwent surgery twice to repair a ruptured Achilles’ tendon, which effectively robbed Sabonis, perhaps the greatest European player ever, of his vertical leap.

“He was the best center I ever saw in my life,” says the Lakers’ Vlade Divac, who faced Sabonis in his prime. “I can say easy he was a better player than Shaq, Hakeem, Ewing. He was passing the ball, shooting 3s, dribbling, jumping. He did everything.”