Sarunas Marciulionis: biography, photo, growth

When you look at this tight, tightly built man you see only confidence and inner strength. In it you immediately recognize the athlete. He is coordinated, accurate in the movements, everything does accurately and without haste. Striking is his expressive look. Behind the cunning squint and good shine, the strength and power of the winner is felt. This was, is and will be Sharunas Marchulenis - basketball player, who became the Olympic champion in the USSR team (1988) and twice as a bronze medalist in the Lithuanian national team (1992, 1996). The athlete is the first player in the NBA, who was taken from the Soviet Union. Last year, Sharunas celebrated its 50th anniversary. In this article you will be presented with his brief biography.

A chidhood dream

Raymondas Sharunas Marchulenis was born in Kaunas (Lithuania) in 1964. Every boy in this city knew in face of all basketball players of the local team "Zalgiris" and dreamed to play with them. The same desire was for the hero of this article. But fate decreed that Sharunas did not play for a single minute for Zalgiris. Now it is difficult to imagine what efforts it cost Rimas Andrews, coach of "Statiba", for which Marciulionis played. After all, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Lithuania dealt with the acquisition of the best team of the country.

NBA and USSR national team

But Sharunas Marciulionis (photo below) remained true to "Statiba" and played for this club until his transition to the NBA in 1989. In fact, such actions are characteristic only of the elect. After all, for several years Sharunas was playing only on enthusiasm, without the prospects of awards and prizes. Plus, the basketball player had a few disappointments in terms of attempts to "break through" into the USSR national team. In the end, he still achieved his goal. In 1987, Sharunas invited the great coach Gomelsky A. Ya. To play for the USSR team.

Episode from the beginning of a career

In "Soviet Sport" an interesting case from the life of a basketball player, which occurred at the beginning of his career, is described. In the middle of 1980, Sharunas Marchulionis agreed with Virginius Yankauskas about a meeting at the Kaunas railway station. Young athletes were supposed to leave for Vilnius to enter the university. As a result, Jankauskas did not come, and Sharunas left his hometown alone. As it turned out later, the people from the team "Zalgiris" came to Virgininus on the eve of the evening and offered the place of the center team in the team. Naturally, Yankauskas stayed in Kaunas.

The game for "Stati"

And Sharunas Marciulionis, whose height was 186 centimeters, went to Vilnius and entered the university at the Faculty of Journalism. The basketball player has repeatedly participated in the championship of universities. At one of these competitions, Rymas Endryaitis - the coach of the team "Statiba" - came up to Sharunas and gave the young man his phone number with a request to call back. Soon Marciulionis contacted Andriyitis and asked to help him with the hostel. Six months later, Sharunas became one of the leading players of "Statiba". There he played for nine years until his departure to the NBA.

Invitation to Zalgiris

Vladas Garastas, coach of the leading Lithuanian team, repeatedly tried to return Marciulionis to Kaunas. In the "Soviet Sport" was even published an interview, where he described his attempts. Initially, Garastas talked with an official who assured the coach that he would come to an agreement with Sharunas. But soon Vladas learned about the departure of Marciulionis and his game for "Stati". Garastasu had to go to Vilnius and communicate with the Central Committee of the party. The arguments of the coach were quite logical. In "Stati" Sharunas played for survival in the higher league, and in "Zalgiris" he could fight with the best basketball players in Europe. The Central Committee of the Party agreed and said that everything depends on the decision of Marciulionis himself. After that, they gave the basketball player a new apartment and "Lada". In general, Garastas left with nothing. A year later the coach of "Zalgiris" decided to try again. Again, the Central Committee of the Party agreed with his arguments and repeated last year's reply. And then gave Sarunas "Volga" and a three-room apartment. So the decision of the athlete was obvious.

Team of Lithuania

In 1987, Sharunas Marchulionis came to the Lithuanian national team. There he quickly became friends with his countryman Arvydas Sabonis. These basketball players formed the most stellar sports pair among all Lithuanian players. Despite the fact that they were from the same city, there were no relations between the countries and the relations between them. On the contrary, men often argued and even fought in the shower. Sharunas did not want to be number two, so he always fiercely defended his position.

In an interview, the basketball player told about the moment of his acquaintance with Sabonis. For one team athletes began playing in Kaunas in 1974. Sabonis first approached Marciulionis and asked to show where the gym is located. Sarunas escorted him. Then the hero of this article changed school and began to compete with Arvydas. And this rivalry continued between athletes before they left the basketball.

Olympiad-88

The peak of Marciulion's career was participation in the Olympics-88. The basketball player played in Seoul for the USSR national team. In a match with Puerto Ricans, Sharunas Marchulionis scored 32 points. And in the semifinals of players waiting for a meeting with the US team.

The USSR vs. the USA

Our team had to stick to the game plan. And he was this: in the case of the pressure of the Americans, the removal of the ball was carried out with the help of Sabonis' shields. Quick detachments of the opponent had to be stopped. Also, you can not give to score from above, otherwise Americans will "grow wings". As for the positional attack, the defenders must either draw opponents to themselves and give the ball under the ring, or throw it back to the team members who have freed themselves from the guardianship of the enemy. Before the match, basketball players of our team was not particularly confident. But Gomelsky helped. A couple of days before the game, the coach came up to everyone and reminded that during the student days they already beat "Atlanta", so you need to believe in yourself. The Americans also "untwisted" the upcoming match by statements like: "Now, after 16 years, we will find out which of us is stronger". In general, the basketball players of the USSR laid out 100% and won. Account 82:76 spoke of a tense struggle. Sam Sharunas Marchulenis shipped the Americans 19 points.

The final

In the final, the USSR national team defeated Yugoslavia with a score of 76:63. The best players were Sabonis (20 points) and Marciulionis (21 points). Thanks to this triumph and Gorbachev's Perestroika, three members of the national team (Marciulionis, Volkov and Sabonis) were able to get to the NBA. The hero of our narrative spent in the Association for eight whole years.

Marciulionis in the NBA

Lithuanians four times went to the playoffs. For all the years of performances in the NBA, Marchulionis earned about $ 12 million.

The most memorable meeting for Sharunas was the 1991 match between Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors. In this game, the basketball player won 9 balls and earned 32 points, leading his team to victory with a score of 124: 116.

Despite the superficial knowledge of the language, the athlete was loyal not only to Golden State, but to whole cities. After the California earthquake of 1989 (3,700 casualties and 63 dead people), Sharunas volunteered and helped to save the victims. Марчуюленис did it selflessly and sincerely, having surprised thereby own trainer of Don Nelson. He immediately realized that the Lithuanian had a good heart. According to the coach, it is unlikely that any of the Americans would do this, being in a foreign country for only a few months.

As for the playing qualities of Sharunas, Nelson considered him to be the best player outside of America. The most suitable nominee for the NBA, according to Don, was simply not found. Well built and aggressive in the attack, Marciulionis was a wrestler to the core. He was always a headache for the opponents. Protect against his attacks did not work even with stars like Michael Jordan and Scotty Pipen. The most successful for Sharunas was the 1991/1992 season. At that time, the basketball player performed 3-4 assists per game and earned 18 points. And this statistics is given taking into account the fact that the athlete conducted the beginning of the majority of matches on the bench. Sharunas enjoyed great authority not only among the members of the team, but also rivals. He was respected for the harmony of the attacking and defensive game. The athlete regularly entered the top 10 rounds of the NBA.

Contribution to Lithuanian basketball

The contribution of Sharunas to the Lithuanian basketball is huge. At the 1992 and 1996 Olympics, he headed the national team. And in 1995 he helped the Lithuanian team win the silver medal at the European Championship.

Nowadays

Now Marciulionis Sharunas is a successful businessman. He runs his four-star hotel in Vilnius. Since 1998, Sharunas is an Honorary Minister of the Lithuanian Embassy in the United States. After the completion of the playing career, the athlete created the North American basketball league. True, it did not last long. A more successful project Marciulionis was a children's basketball school. Several of her students joined the national team that defends the honor of Lithuania at the 2014 World Cup.