25 Best International Players Of All Time

20. Arvydas Sabonis, Lithuania

Arvydas Sabonis was one of the best passing big men i have seen play the game and at 7-foot-3 he was a very big man. Unfortunately, the NBA only saw Sabonis at the end of his career. He only started playing in the NBA at the age of 31 before retiring at 38.

Sabonis spent his entire playing NBA career with the Portland Trailblazers, his best season was when he was 33 years of age where he played 73 games, averaging 32.0 minutes, 16.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.1 blocks per game. This was his third season in the NBA.

If he had come to the NBA when he was in his early 20s, there is a chance that we would have been talking about Sabonis as one of the best centers ever to play in the NBA.

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For his career, Sabonis averaged 12.0 points per game at 50 percent from the field. He also averaged 7.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.8 steals and 1.1 blocks. All of this after most centers are starting to decline.

Individual awards did not follow Sabonis, he was not in the league long enough to get anywhere in the all-time ranking but he was named to the All-Rookie first team in 1995-96 and inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011 for his play in the NBA and his contribution to the Olympics.

Who can forget that he was part of the 1992 Soviet team that won gold. Let’s hope that his just-drafted son, Domantas Sabonis, has even half the ability of his father.

Next: No. 19 Mychal Thompson