Sabonis: “I was approached by Spain to compete with the national team”

A guest on the podcast of the ESPN reporter and Adrian Wojnarowski was the Domantas Sabonis and among other things shared stories and details from the early stages of his career. The Sacramento Kings’ Lithuanian center grew up in Spain as his family moved there in 2003, shortly before his father retired from NBA for last time. As a teenager, he played professionally for Unicaja Malaga.

“I definitely learned and developed a lot of skills growing up in Spain. Those years I grew up, those teenage years, I think were the most importantsaid Sabonis.

Sabonis was then asked if Spain had ever approached him in the hope of getting him to play for the national team. “I think they tried when I was quite young. When I was 14, there was a camp. They tried to sell it at least that way. “It’s just a camp, come on.” But my dad rejected them immediately. He said “No, no, you will come to Lithuania in the summer”»

For Sabonis, wearing the Lithuanian shirt is priceless. “Generations pass, but the feeling remains the same. Nothing can compare to playing in your country’s colors, especially for Lithuania. Basketball is like a religion over there. Just being in this team, every summer, the feeling you get, you can’t compare it to anything else. When you wear the colors of your country on the shirt, every year a special bond is created between us, regardless of who is next to you. You build that bond and that translates to the floor».

The 27-year-old center made the decision at the beginning of the year to delete all his social media accounts, a move that he claims paid off. “I personally deleted all my accounts at the start of the season. It was the best thing I’ve ever done. You don’t worry about anything. You just go and play your game. You have your coaches, your family, your teammates, and their opinion is the only one that matters. You go out there, trust your game, and competesaid Sabonis and added:It is impressive. You have a lot more free time. Your mind is clear. You watch movies, you try to learn something yourself, you don’t feel the need to read or learn something they say about you, because at the end of the day, you’re the one competing on the floor».

The international center who is his teammate Sasha Vezenkov in the Sacramento Kings, he is having the best season of his career. He is averaging 19.6 points, 13.8 rebounds and 8.3 assists in 78 games. In addition, he is first in triple doubles by counting 26 while he has 61 consecutive double doubles.