101 Greats of European Basketball

Vladimir Stankovic
because her absence disrupted his plans for the first
Olympics with women’s handball. He never called Rita
to the team again.
Rita gave preference to his motherhood over her
sports career. Many years later, she told her son that he
“owed her an Olympics.” In Sydney 2000, Saras bought
two tickets for his parents. His father Linas was a table
tennis player. Sarunas for sure didn’t lack for sports
genes. His parents say that he was a lively kid, always on
the move. His worst punishment was having to be still
and sitting down. When he started playing basketball,
his coach Feliksas Mitkevicius quickly saw his talent, but
Sarunas wasn’t sure his future was in basketball and at
12 years old, he decided to switch to tennis.
Mitkevicius went to the Jasikevicius’ household to
explain that Saras had a huge talent and a bright future
in basketball. The three of them convinced Saras
to stay in basketball, even though he has admitted
that he didn’t see himself in basketball until he was 14
years old. The first calls to the cadet Lithuanian national
team sparked his ambition and his competitiveness.
Little by little he realized that he played well, that it was
easy for him and that he had fun. This last one, his joy
for the game, would become his career trademark. In
1994, when he won the U18 European Championship
with Lithuania in Tel Aviv (73-71 against Croatia and
two years later 85-81 against Spain in the U22 World
Championship), his future was decided.
At 17 years old, Jasikevicius moved to the United
States to study at Solanco High School in Quarryville,
Pennsylvania. The next logical step was college. He
chose the University of Maryland, but when four years
later the NBA showed no interest, he moved back home
and signed his first pro contract with Lietuvos Rytas for
$50,000. He went from Vilnius to Ljubljana and then
from Slovenia to Barcelona, where he started rewriting
basketball history as the point guard for the club’s first,
long-awaited EuroLeague title. He would continue later
in Tel Aviv, Istanbul and Athens and then, to finish
his career, in his native Kaunas. After winning his first
EuroLeague with Barcelona in 2003 at Palau Sant Jordi
against Benetton Treviso in the final, he signed for
Maccabi and they won back-to-back European crowns.
Since the days of the great Jugoplastika, there had been
no players with three consecutive titles. He entered a
select list with Toni Kukoc, Velimir Perasovic, Zoran Sretenovic,
Luka Pavicevic and Zan Tabak. His fourth title
arrived in 2008-09 with Panathinaikos. Nobody except
him has ever won the EuroLeague with three different
teams.
Exhibition in Sweden
I was a direct witness to his four continental club
crowns, but I think that the one that brought him even
more happiness was a fifth one, won with Lithuania at
EuroBasket 2003 in Sweden, where his national team
lifted the trophy for the first time in 64 years. In the
big final, Lithuania defeated Spain, 93-84. Jasikevicius
ended up with 14.0 points and 8.2 assists per game.
In the final he scored 10 points but dished 9 assists. It
was his great moment. In May that year he had won his
first EuroLeague trophy with Barcelona, and months
later his first EuroBasket. Lithuania had a great team:
Ramunas Siskauskas, Saulius Stombergas, Arvydas
Macijauskas, Eurelijus Zukauskas, Mindaugas Zukauskas,
Ksistof Lavrinovic, Darius Songaila and Donatas
Slanina. They averaged over 90 points in six games at
the tournament. It was an offensive display of happy
basketball, with imagination and improvisation that
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