Sarunas Marciulionis Olympic medal record Men's Basketball Gold 1988 Seoul Soviet Union Bronze 1992 Barcelona Lithuania Bronze 1996 Atlanta Lithuania Raimondas Šarūnas Marčiulionis (pronunciation (help·info), born June 13, 1964 in Kaunas, Lithuania) is a former basketball player, one of the first Europeans to become a regular in the NBA. Marčiulionis started his basketball career with Statyba Vilnius in the USSR league. In the 1988 Summer Olympics, together with Arvydas Sabonis, he led the Soviet Union to a gold medal in basketball.
Marčiulionis was drafted by the Golden State Warriors in the 6th round of the 1987 NBA Draft. He moved to the NBA in 1989 and played four years for the Warriors, finishing as the runner-up for the NBA Sixth Man Award in 1991 and 1992. Marčiulionis became one of the first Europeans to get significant playing time in the NBA, helping to lead the way for the internationalization of the league in the late 1990s. After missing a year and a half with a leg injury, he was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics in 1994, then traded to the Sacramento Kings in 1995, and finished his NBA career with the Denver Nuggets after the 1996-97 season.
Following the restoration of Lithuanian independence in 1990, Marčiulionis almost single-handedly resurrected the Lithuanian national team. He contacted prospective players, encouraged several to join, selected the uniforms, negotiated a shoe deal, and arranged for sponsorships. One notable sponsor was The Grateful Dead; the band had one of its licensees design the distinctive warm up outfits the team wore that Olympics. The outfits were a tie-dyed design in Lithuania's national colors of green, yellow, and red, with a version of the band's logo and "LIETUVA" (the country's name in its own language) on the front. The team went on to win a bronze medal in the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Marčiulionis was again a bronze medalist with Lithuania in the 1996 Summer Olympics. In 1995, he was named the Most Valuable Player in the European Championship, leading Lithuania to a silver medal. In 1987, 1989, 1990, and 1991 he was voted as the best sportsman in Lithuania.
In 1992, Marčiulionis opened the Šarūnas Hotel in Vilnius. In 1993, he founded the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and became its president. In 1999, Marčiulionis founded North European Basketball League (NEBL) and became its commissioner. He is currently one of the most successful businessmen in Lithuania.
