Šarūnas Marčiulionis

Šarūnas Marčiulionis of Lithuania is the greatest guard to ever play for the Soviet Union national team. He played mostly for the Vilnius Statiba Club when not playing for the Soviet national team. Marčiulionis earned a gold medal in the 1988 Olympics and then became one of the first Soviets to turn professional. He was drafted by the Golden State Warriors in the sixth round of the 1987 NBA. He played shooting guard and was an excellent shooter and passer at 1.96 metres (6-5). After Lithuania became an independent nation, Marčiulionis represented his “true” nation at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics, leading them to two bronze medals. Marčiulionis played for eight years in the NBA, started with the Warriors, and later playing for the Seattle SuperSonics, the Sacramento Kings, and the Denver Nuggets. After his playing career, he became a successful businessman in Lithuania, and founded both the Lithuanian Basketball League and the North European Basketball League (NEBL), which was later absorbed into the Baltic Basketball League. He was briefly commissioner of the NEBL.