Arvydas Sabonis was inducted into the James Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame last night. The legendary big man from Lithuania made his mark overseas before coming over to the NBA after several injuries (and Soviet syringes) had already taken their toll on his legs and ankles.

Discuss Arvydas Sabonis and his Hall of Fame Career

The 7-3 behemoth lumbered up and down the floor like someone 20 years older than his 31 years.

Still Sabonis, who was an eight-time European player of the year, was effective with his rolling hook shot and learned to use his massive body against more agile opponents.

“Sabas” as he was known, was welcomed into the hall along with Chris Mullin, Artis Gilmore, Dennis Rodman and others. For more on Sabonis and his career – check out this great video on NBA.com.

Lithuanian center, international basketball legend, and former Portland Trailblazer Arvydas Sabonis will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall-of-Fame in the class of 2011.

Discuss Dennis Rodman, Arvydas Sabonis, & Chris Mullin’s career in our forum

Already a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame (he joined with the 2010 class), Sabonis will be inducted into the hall as one of basketball’s most accomplished players and intriguing.

“Sabas” won multiple medals and titles, including Gold Medals in the 1988 Olympics (which helped spur the creation of the 1992 Dream Team), World Championship (1982), and a Eurobasket (1985).

Sabonis is a six-time European Player of the Year (1984, 1985, 1988, 1995, 1997, 1999).

Sabonis was considered one of the best big men in the world back in the 1980s. In a time when international players were unknown and considered not good enough for the NBA, the Portland Trailblazers drafted the 7-3 center in 1986 draft with the 24th overall pick.

Sabonis chose to stay in Europe for nearly a decade when he joined the Blazers at age 31, after injuries to his legs and achilles had ravaged his body. No longer did he have his athleticism, Sabonis was still effective – using his massive ~300lb frame, instincts, behind-the-back passes and rolling hookshots.

Sabonis would play seven seasons in Portland, including a season in which he averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds, before returning to Europe in 2004.

Joining Sabonis is in the class of 2011 is Piston’s bad boy Dennis Rodman, Dream Teamer and NBA all-star Chris Mullin, ABA superstar Artis Gilmore, former NCAA women’s coach of the Year Tara VanDerveer, 4x Olympic gold medalist Teresa Edwards, all-time NCAA coaching wins leader Herb Magee, NBA and collegiate coach Tex Winter, Tom “Satch” Sanders, and former Harlem Globetrotter Reece “Goose” Tatum, who died in 1967.

The players will be enshrined into the hall in a ceremony held August 11-13, 2011.

Check out ArvydasSabonis.com

Last night in a game between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Indiana Pacers, the Buck’s big Aussie center Andrew Bogut dropped a soft behind-the-back pass to a cutting Carlos Delfino. Watch the video below:

Bogut doesn’t always get the chance to display his passing skills (2.0 assists a game), but that was Arvydas Sabonis-esque. Bogut’s scoring is down this year, but he’s leading the league in blocks (2.8) and pulling in a double-double every game (13.2 points and 11.5 rebounds). His free throw shooting, however…

SABONIS FOR GOVERNOR 2010! (Discuss)

These Sabonis posters were sarcastically plastered around the Portland area as former Blazer Chris Dudley lost his bid to become Oregon’s new Governor. Interbasket wonders if Big Red is a Democrat, GOP or independent?

A who’s who of international legends will be inducted into the FIBA’s Hall Of Fame’s third class in a presentation on court at the men’s World Basketball Championship final.

(Discuss the FIBA Hall Of Fame in our international basketball forum)

Arvydas Sabonis, Cheryl Miller, Oscar Schmidt, Vlade Divac, and Dino Meneghin are amongst 17 players, coaches and officials from 12 different countries inducted into the International Basketball Federation’s Hall of Fame.

“The 2010 class has stardom, character and countless merits for the promotion of our game,” FIBA President Bob Elphinston said. “The inductees were and still are brilliant on and off the court.”

FIBA will induct these basketball legends on September 12th in Istanbul, Turkey for their Olympic accomplishments and achievements in world championships, global tournaments and developing the international game.

In addition to the the reason why Interbasket ever came to life, Arvydas Sabonis won Olympic and world titles with the Soviet Union. As part of the 1988 Gold Medal winning Soviet squad that was partly-responsible for bringing about the 1992 Dream Team, Sabonis was considered one of the best big men in the world.

After the U.S.S.R. broke up, the 7-3 giant led his native Lithuania to two Olympic bronze medals before arriving in the NBA at the age of 30. Sabonis would spend seven seasons in the NBA with the Portland Trailblazers before returning to Europe the following season to capture the Euroleague’s Regular Season MVP.

Throughout his career, Sabas would win the Euroscar Award six times as the best European player.

Cheryl Miller is considered one of the best, if not the best woman, to ever play the game of basketball. Miller won 1984 Olympic gold with the U.S., won two NCAA championships at the University of Southern California, and is one of only a handful of players to have scored 100 points. She is currently a television commentator for NBA games, along with her brother Reggie Miller.

Oscar Schmidt, of Brazil, holds the Olympic record for total points in Olympic games with 1,093 points from 1980-96, of which he participated in five Olympics, a men’s basketball record. One of Schmidt’s many scoring escapades included 46 points in Brazil’s upset over the United States in the 1987 Pan Am Games.

Dino Meneghin of Italy, played 20 seasons in the Italian league, never finishing less than second. Meneghin led his teams to 12 Italian Basketball League Championships and second place 8 times. In the 1980 Moscow Olympics, his Italian National Team brought home the silver medal. Additionally, Meneghin was the first foreign player to ever be drafted by an NBA team (1970 by the Atlanta Hawks).

Vlade Divac helped the former-Yugoslavia win two world championships and two Olympic silvers, and is now the president of Serbia’s Olympic Committee. Divac’s jersey was retired by the Sacramento Kings.

The first class of inductees were mostly posthumous inductees and included Sergei Belov (Russia), Fernando Martin (Spain), Nikos Galis (Greece), Kresimir Cosic (Croatia), Teo Cruz (Puerto Rico), and Drazen Petrovic (Croatia).

For more about the FIBA Hall of Fame, check out their official site.

Today, August 27th, 2009, is Interbasket.net’s sixth anniversary.

Can you believe it’s been six years since Interbasket began?  From a small Arvydas Sabonis yahoo group has spawned into one of the internet’s largest basketball news site and forum. In honor of our sixth anniversay, we’ve decided to switch things up a little bit.  We’ve created a new banner for the site, as well as a new tagline for Ibn:

Interbasket: Where there is never an offseason

What do you think?  Too cheesy?  Or is it too cheesy because I bolded, italicized, and centered it?

Anyways, I want to thank all the great members that have contributed to the site over the last six years. I’ve learned so much about basketball outside of the NBA/United States and I am really looking forward to continuing our goal of furthering the globalization of the game and bringing basketball fans from every corner of the globe together.

I’d also like to thank Spencer from SaltCityHoops.com for creating the new banner for us. Thanks so much, Spencer.

Last night, the 1992 U.S. Men’s Olympic Basketball Team, better known as the Dream Team, was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.

The 1992 Dream Team, the first Olympic team to include NBA players, was sent on a mission to regain the gold medal after a team of college stars lost it to the Soviet Union in 1988 (the Soviet team featured future NBA players Arvydas Sabonis and Šarūnas Marčiulionis).

The team led by Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan would go on to destroy the competition in both the 1992 Tournament of the Americas and the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

The Dream Team would outscore their opponents by an average of 43.8 points, on an Olympic record 117.3 points per game, on their way to reclaiming the gold.   Even though they blew out their opponents, the team was treated like royalty by both fans and opponents alike. With their awe-inspiring play and international celebrity, the Dream Team is partly-responsible for how quickly the game went global.

On hand for the ceremony last night were seven of the Dream Team members Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Christian Laettner, Chris Mullin, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, and John Stockton.

Also inducted into the hall was USA Woman’s great Teresa Edwards, the most decorated basketball player, man or woman, in Olympic history.  Edwards is both the youngest (1984, 20 years old) and oldest (2000, 36) U.S. women’s basketball player to win an Olympic medal played in five Olympics, gold medaling four times.

I usually don’t post things like this, especially when it’s about one of my basketball idols, but this one is begging to be posted.  I was perusing the Sabonis Facebook fan page, and came across this awesome pic of Big Red, or to you mere mortals – Arvydas Sabonis.  It’s good to know that the more things change, the more they stay the same, and good ol’ Sabas still loves his alcohol.

Infamously missing from the 1992 Olympic medal ceremony, which featured the US Dream Team, Sabonis was reportedly too drunk from celebration to join team Lithuania

In this undated photo, the Lithuanian Legend is sharing a drink with a fan.  This photo, and the awesomeness of Sabonis, can be explained by the following excerpt from a 1995 New York Times article on Sabonis:

His car is American, his career has been Bohemian and his thirst is from another world. Arvydas Sabonis — recruited to the National Basketball Association by congressmen, senators, secretaries of state and the Portland Trail Blazers — finished his first two-a-day practice this month, perspired in Niagara Falls proportions and was asked if he required water.

“Beer,” he said.

Enough said, really. I am not a big fan of Beer, but even I get the extreme coolness emitted by that single word.  With players like Maun Ginbili, Chris Paul, and Rudy Fernandez capturing my imagination, I almost, almost sometimes forget how obsessed I was with Sabonis.  The guy was such a unique player.

For more rare photos of Arvydas Sabonis and others, check out our Have you seen this Pic? Thread in our forum

Links and Resources:  Have you Seen this Pic? v2.0 (Interbasket), Arvydas Sabonis, Lithuania Fan Page (Facebook),  Arvydas Sabonis website (Arvydas Sabonis.com), The Courtship of a Wayward Star: Sabonis (New York Times)

Spanish basketball superstar Pau Gasol was honored with the coveted “European Player of the Year” award by Italian paper La Gazzetta dello Sport on Friday.

Gasol won the award for his accomplishments in 2008.  Gasol helped the Los Angeles Lakers reach the 2008 NBA Finals after being traded away by the Memphis Grizzles for his brother Marc, Javaris Crittenton, and Kwame Brown.

Though the Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics in six games, Gasol’s presence provided Kobe Bryant a consistent interior presence, and a mentor to the young Andrew Bynum.  The Lakers would go 27-9 with Gasol in their lineup, and ended the regular season as divisional champions, and with the best record in an ultra-competitive Western Conference.

Then in August, Pau Gasol won the silver medal with the Spanish National Team in the 2008 Beijing  Olympics.   Losing to the US National Team 118-107, the Spaniards put up a valiant effort as the underdogs to the American “Redeem Team”.  Gasol scored 21 points and pulled down 6 rebounds in the Olympic Final game.

In 8 Olympic games, Pau Gasol led the entire Olympic field in scoring (19.6) and was second in Field Goal Percentage (65.3%), and he also led Spain in rebounds (7.0) and blocks (1.1).

Gasol finished the voting with 116 points, defeating his Spanish National teammate Rudy Fernandez, whom placed second with 76 points.  Hideyet Turkoglu was third and  Another one of Pau’s team mates, Ricky Rubio, finished fifth.

Coincidentally on the same day that Gasol won the award, he also surpassed 10,000 NBA points in the Laker’s win over the Utah Jazz, and put on a spectacular move towards the end of the game; Pau gathers in a rebound, dribbles up court with Kobe Bryant to his right and Trevor Ariza to his right, fakes the behind-the-back pass between his legs at midcourt, and makes a no-look scoop pass to Trevor Ariza for the slam.  You have to see it to believe it:

The 28 year old forward-center is the first Spanaird to win the annual award in 30 years of existence.  Dirk Nowitzki had dominated the award in the 2000s, winning the honor five straight years (2001-2006) before Tony Parker won the award last year in 2007.

Other past winners of the La Gazzetta dello Sport award include European superstars and former NBA players Arvydas Sabonis of Lithuania, whom won the award a record six times, Drazen Petrovic of Croatia (4), Toni Kukoc of Croatia (4), and Peja Stojakovic of Serbia (1).

Ann Wauters of Belgium won the award on the women’s side.  Below is the list of Men’s winners since 1979.

1979 – Vladmir Tkachenko (Urss)
1980 – Dalipagic (Jug)
1981 – Kicanovic (Jug)
1982 – Kicanovic (Jug)
1983 – Dino Meneghin
1984 – Arvydas Sabonis (Urss)
1985 – Arvydas Sabonis (Urss)
1986 – Drazen Petrovic (Jug)
1987 – Nikkos Galis (Gre)
1988 – Arvydas Sabonis (Urss)
1989 – Drazen Petrovic (Jug)
1990 – Toni Kukoc (Jug)
1991 – Toni Kukoc (Jug)
1992 – Drazen Petrovic (Cro)
1993 – Drazen Petrovic (Cro)
1994 – Toni Kukoc (Cro)
1995 – Arvydas Sabonis (Lit)
1996 – Toni Kukoc (Cro)
1997 – Arvydas Sabonis (Lit)
1998 – Toni Kukoc (Cro)
1999 – Arvydas Sabonis (Lit)
2000 – Gregor Fucka (ITA)
2001 – Predrag Stojakovic (Ser)
2002 – Dirk Nowitzki (Ger)
2003 – Dirk Nowitzki (Ger)
2004 – Dirk Nowitzki (Ger)
2005 – Dirk Nowitzki (Ger)
2006 – Dirk Nowitzki (Ger)
2007 – Tony Parker (Fra)
2008 – Pau Gasol (Spa)

Links and Resources:  Pau Gasol, the Best (SportsYa.com), Pau Gasol great pass, dribble move against the Utah Jazz (YouTube), , Pau Gasol conquista el premio Europlayer 2008 (Marca), Tony Parker wins 2007 European of the Year Award (Gazzetta dello Sport) (Interbasket), Pau Gasol Photo/Video Thread (Interbasket)

Of all the NBA’s players, those that stand 7 foot and above, (213cm), whom stands the tallest when it comes to free throw accuracy?

The question recently came up during a Phoenix-Houston telecast on ESPN. Color commentator Hubie Brown noted that the best free-throw shooting 7-footer in the history of the NBA was Dirk Nowitzki.  Not far behind the German superstar was Yao Ming, whom hit his first 17 free throws this season before settling down to ~86% this season.

Here’s the breakdown:

Highest Free Throw % for 7-footers in NBA History:

1. Dirk Nowitzki 87%
2. Yao Ming 82.6%
3. Brad Miller 79.9%
4. Steve Stipanovich 79.6%
5. Joe Kleine 79.4%

Not surprisingly, the top two are foreign-born.  I wondered, however, who are the best free-throw shooting “giants” in NBA history and how does Yao Ming compare to them?

Definition of a Giant
So for the sake of keeping the data relatively low, I arbitrarily defined a “giant” as 7-foot 2-inches tall and above. I wondered how Yao Ming’s accuracy compared to 7-2+ centers in NBA history and those now playing in Europe and Asia.

I researched keyhoops.com, eurobasket.com and basketball-reference.com. I published my findings comparing Yao Ming to “giants” currently playing abroad at my blog, the global hook. Researching the NBA proved more detailed, however.  Here are the best shooting NBA “giants” in order of their career free throw shooting percentage. I have boldfaced players born outside of the U.S.

1. Yao Ming, 7-6
Career %: .826 (2571 FTA)
Best Season %: 2006-07, .862

2. Arvydas Sabonis, 7-3
Career %: .786 (1690 FTA)
Best Season %: 1999-00, .843

3. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, 7-3
Career %: .781 (2959 FTA)
Best Season %: 2008-09, .838

4. Rik Smits, 7-4
Career %: .773 (2932 FTA)
Best Season %: 1998-99, .818

5. Luc Longley, 7-2
Career %: .760 (947 FTA)
Best Season %: 1999-00, .825

6. Karl Petur Gudmundsson, 7-2 (possibly the only player from Iceland to ever play in the NBA)
Career %: .754 (252 FTA)
Best Season %: .807

7. James Donaldson, 7-2
Career %: .732 (2722 FTA)
Best Season %: 1986-87, .816

8. Tom Burleson, 7-2
Career %: .726 (1452 FTA)
Best Season %: 1977-78, .794

9. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 7-2
Career %: .721 (9304 FTA)
Best Season %: 1977-78, .784

10. Shawn Bradley, 7-6
Career %: .716 (1322 FTA)
Best Season %: 2001-02, .922

11. Primoz Brezec, 7-2
Career %: .706 (603 FTA)
Best Season %: 2004-2005, .745

12. Dikembe Mutombo, 7-2
Career %: .684 (4951 FTA)
Best Season %: 2001-02, .764

13. Ralph Sampson, 7-4
Career %: .661 (1786 FTA)
Best Season %: 1987-88, .760

14. Jake Tsakalidis, 7-2
Career %: .657 (513)
Best Season %: 2004-05, .778

15. Mark Eaton, 7-3
Career %: .649 (1653)
Best Season %: 1984-85, .712

16. Gheorghe Muresan, 7-7
Career %: .644 (761)
Best Season %: 1994-95, .709

17. Randy Breur, 7-3
Career %: .628 (1278)
Best Season %: 1985-86, .712

18. Keith Closs, 7-3
Career %: .606 (165 FTA)
Best Season %: 1998-99, .800

19. Stojko Vrankovic, 7-2
Career %: .598 (132 FTA)
Best Season %: 1996-97, .676

20. Swede Halbrook, 7-3 (NOT a Swede, btw ; )
Career %: .591 (391 FTA)
Best Season %: 1961-62, .636

21, Chuck Nevitt, 7-5
Career %: .589 (90 FTA)
Best Season %: 1985-86, .731

22. Greg Ostertag, 7-2
Career %: .569 (1465 FTA)
Best Season %: 1996-97, .678

23. Alan Ogg, 7-2
Career %: .568 (44 FTA)
Best Season %: 1992-93, .750

24. Manute Bol, 7-7
Career %: .561 (403 FTA)
Best Season %: 1986-87, .672

25. Priest Lauderdale, 7-4
Career %: .554 (92 FTA)
Best Season %: 1996-97, .565

26. Bruno Sundov, 7-2
Career %: .526 (19 FTA)
Best Season %: 2004-05, 100% (2-2)

27. Shaquille O’Neal, 7-2
Career %: .525 (10,400 FTA)
Best Season %: 2002-03, .622%

Some fun facts to chew on:

• There have been a total of 27 NBA players that are 7-2 or taller.
• International Flavor: The top six free throw shooting “giants” in NBA history were born outside of the U.S – Yao (#1), Sabonis (#2), Ilgauskas (#3), Smits (#4), Luc Longley (#5), and Gudmundsson (#6).
• Yao Ming (#1) is the top free-throw shooting giant at nearly 83% from the line, while Shaquille O’Neal (#27) is the worst, shooting 52.5%, a difference of 30%…  wow.
• Only 0.01% separates #26 Bruno Sundov and last place Shaquille O’Neal (#27), coincidentally, Sundov has the least amount of free-throws attempted on the list with only 19 attempted in his career, while Shaq has the most attempts by far, with 10,400.
• After Shaq, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has the second most with 9304 free throws attempted during his career, followed by Dikembe Mutombo (4951), Zydrunas Ilgauskas (2959), Rik Smits (2932), James Donaldson (2722), and Yao Ming (2571).

Shaquille O’Neal the Worst FT Shooting Giant
Shaquille O’Neal has by far shot the most free-throws amongst all 7-2+ players (10,400 FTA and counting), a full 1000+ more FTA than NBA all-time leading scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (9,300).  And there’s a reason why teams employ the”Hack-a-Shack”, O’Neal is the worst free-throwing shooting 7-2+ player in the history of the NBA.

What if Shaq shot 72?% from the Line in his Career?
In their careers, Jabbar (~72%) had nearly 20% better accuracy from the charity stripe than Shaq (~52%).  With that fact in mind, Shaquille O’Neal just recently reached tenth place all time on the top NBA scorer’s list, surpassing John Havlicek with 26,402 points.  If he continues at his current season averages, he can pass Dominique Wilkins (26,668), Oscar Robertson (26,710) and Hakeem Olajuwon (26,946) without much of a problem.

However, if Shaq had shot a paltry 62% from the free-throw line for his career, he would have already surpassed Hondo, ‘Nique, The Big O, Dream, AND Elvin Hayes with 27401 points.  With a career 62FT%, the Big Aristotle would be sixth all-time, instead he sits at ten.

At 72%, he would have eclipsed Moses Malone easily, and sat solidly at fifth on the all-time list (28432) for the most of this season, but with a solid injury-free 2008-09 season, Shaq would have raced past Michael Jordan (29277) on the list.

Even Shaq, whom almost always plays down his free throw woes, recognizes these missed opportunities, “It’s nice, but I should’ve been there a long time ago,” O’Neal said. “I sit there and say to myself, ‘You know how many games I missed? How many free throws I missed?’  I’m very upset with myself. I should have been there two years ago. When it’s all said and done, maybe I’ll be in the top five, maybe I won’t.”

Links and Resources: Despite Scoring Rank, O’Neal Laments Misses (Arizona Republic), Shaquille O’Neal becomes NBA’s 10th all-time Scorer (AFP), keyhoops.com, eurobasket.com and basketball-reference.com

The 1992 Olympic Mens Basketball Team, or the Dream Team as they were commonly known, were the first US Olympic Team to feature professionals.

This legendary team featured three of the best basketball players EVER in Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. And the rest of the roster was filled with luminaries from the NBA’s Golden Era, 1980s, such as Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, John Stockton, and Clyde Drexler. The team also had the best NCAA player in Duke’s Christian Laettner, winner of the 1992 John Wooden Award.

Purchase the 1992 Dream Team’s games on DVD – individually, the Tournament of Americas set, the Barcelona Olympics set, or the entire 14 games (TOA and Olympics). The information about the DVD quality, cost, shipping and handling.  There are 14 DVDs for 14 games, and each game is two hours long.

Please only click ADD once – and your shopping cart will appear on the right after you have added an item.

Dream Team Sets:

TOA Set: All 6 Tournament of the Americas Games – $44.99 USD $35.99 SALE SAVE $24

Olympic Set: All 8 Dream Team Games – $59.99 USD $45.99 SALE SAVE $39

Dream Team Complete Set: All 14 Dream Team Games including the Tournament of the Americas and the 1992 Olympics. – $94.99 USD – SAVE $37 over buying individually $75 SALE with $3 shipping in United States! SAVE $60

International (Non-USA) Shipping +$5.99

Tournament of Americas 1992: Individual Games

Game 1: USA 136 vs. Cuba 57 (Quality: 8.0) – $8 USD (recap)

Game 2: USA 105 vs. Canada 61 (Quality: 9.5) – $8 USD

Game 3: USA 112 vs. Panama 52 (Quality 9.0) – $8 USD

Game 4: USA 128 vs. Argentina 87 (Quality 7.0) – $8 USD

Game 5: USA 119 vs. Puerto Rico 81 (Quality 6.5) – $8 USD

Game 6: USA 127 vs. Venezuela 80 (Quality 8.5) – $8 USD

1992 Summer Olympics: Individual Games

Game 1: USA 116 vs. Angola 48 (Quality 9.5) – $8 USD

Game 2: USA 103 vs. Croatia 70 (Quality 8.5) – $8 USD

Game 3: USA 111 vs. Germany 68 (Quality 7.5) – $8 USD

Game 4: USA 127 vs. Brazil 83 (Quality 7.5) – $8 USD

Game 5: USA 122 vs. Spain 81 (Quality 8.5) – $8 USD

Game 6: USA 115 vs. Puerto Rico 77 (Game Quality 8.0) – $8 USD

Game 7: USA 127 vs. Lithuania 76 (Semifina Game, Quality 9.0) – $8 USD

Game 8: USA 117 vs. Croatia 85 (Gold Medal Game, Quality 8.5) – $8 USD

Shipping Information:
Shipping cost is $2.99 USD for individual DVDs, unless when ordering a set then shipping is a set amount. Shipping prices are good for the continental US, I will use USPS express shipping (3-5 business days) and will include delivery confirmation.  Each DVD is shipped in a DVD sleeve and will be packaged with care and safely in mind.

Shipping covers the cost of materials; DVD-Rs, DVD sleeves, packaging, and handling. Please allow 3-5 business days for the processing of your order and preparation. If the items need to be expedited (faster delivery) OR are shipping internationally (outside of the USA), please add another $5USD in shipping to the total amount using the button below. We do not offer delivery confirmation or insurance for orders outside of the United States.

Add International Shipping +$5.95

Payment Information
We proudly accept PayPal. Feel confident ordering as Interbasket is a verified PayPal member.  Once we do receive payment, we will confirm your order and begin processing of your DVDs.  If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Dream {at} interbasket, net.

Are you interested in the 1992 Olympic Dream Team DVDs? Click here

Whether you are interested in an individual game, the Olympics, the Tournament of Americas, or the entire set, Interbasket has all 14 of the Olympic Dream Team games on DVD.  Catch the team that featured Magic, Bird, Jordan, Barkley, Ewing, Pippen, Drexler, Mullin, David Robinson, Stockton and Malone.

The Dream Team played fourteen games over the course of two months, in June and July of 1992, starting in Portland, Oregon for the Tournament of the Americas, the Olympic qualifying tournament, and ending their run in Barcelona, Spain for the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Watch as their opponents take group photos with the Dream Team before the game and ask for their jerseys after the game.  See the plethora of sports stars and celebrities in the stands.  Watch as an opponent walks up to Magic Johnson to shake his hand after he makes a free-throw.  This is why there will never be another Dream Team.

Watch as these legendary individual superstars dominate the competition as a team with talent, class, style, and sportsmanship.

Click here to buy the Dream Team games on DVD. If the link is not working, you may contact dream [at] interbasket.net

Sources: The Original Dream Team (Nba.com), Interbasket’s Olympic Dream Team Profile (Ibn), Buy Dream Team games on DVD

After two games in the CBA-Euroleague challenge, Yao Ming has averaged 27 points and 7 rebounds going 1-1 against Benetton Tamoil and CSKA Moscow. Yao Ming gave Euroleague.net his unique perspective about his experiences, thoughts and what he has learned playing against and with European players during his career.

“…back 10 or 11 years ago, when I was still playing in China, the year before I started my career, actually, we had a Lithuanian player, Saulius Stombergas, in the CBA,” Yao said. “I think that until now he remains one of the best players to come from Europe or even America to play in China – the best one, really, in CBA history. So, people don’t know the teams, but they know the players, like Sabonis and Spanoulis, my former teammate from last year.”

Yao then went on about his personal experiences he has had against European teams “I think that European teams have a couple of different styles. Some, like those from Greece, play good organized games, using the full shot clock of 24 seconds. You have to play a lot of attention on defense, because they keep moving the ball until they find the best chance to take a shot. Some other teams, like Slovenia, play more like a U.S. team. They play very physical and try to score as much as they can. And France, I don’t know much about except they left a big impression on me in 2000 when Antoine Rigaudeau made six three-point shots in a row to beat us.”

For the full interview text, click here.  Official Euroleague-CBA Site

In a farewell ceremony held this past weekend in Belgrade, Vlade Divac closed-out his basketball career as only Divac could, with a huge three-day party.

But it wasn’t only a farewell party, it was three days full of activity around the Serbian capital; an auction, a basketball tournament, a fundraiser, a carnival, a concert, an museum-inauguration, and finally, the ceremony.

It all started on Friday, September 21st at the palace of Serbia’s royal family, Prince Aleksandar and Princess Katarina Karadjordjevic. And by the end of the weekend, there was a new Vlade Divac museum open in his hometown of Prijepolje. Needless to say, it was a good weekend for Divac.

Stars from all over the world were present to wish Divac well including Serbian basketball legends Aleksandar Djordjevic, Dejan Bodiroga, Predrag Stojakovic, Predrag Danilovic, Zoran Savic, Zarko Paspalj as well as current NBA players Chris Webber, Scot Pollard, and Glen Rice. The guest-list also included former Yugoslavian teammates Toni Kukoc and Dino Radja from Croatia.

The ceremony also featured a short film for players/celebrities that couldn’t make the ceremony. Well-wishers included Magic Johnson, Bobby Jackson, Yao Ming, coach Phil Jackson, rapper Snoop Dog, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, actor Billy Crystal and others.

In 1989, Divac traveled to the United States to join Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Showtime Lakers were coming to an end, but not before Divac made his mark. In game 3 of the 1991 NBA Finals against the Chicago Bulls, Divac made a layup with 10.9 seconds left in the game and drew a foul. It would give the Lakers a 92-90 lead.  Immediately after the basket, Divac showed such disbelief at what he had just done, found Magic Johnson and hugged him with such genuine emotion — and as important as the shot was at that moment, it was even more memorable because it was one of the first times Americans witnessed the European celebration and emotion en masse.

Divac, along with the late Drazen Petrovic, Arvydas Sabonis, Sarunas Marciulionis, Rik Smits, Manute Bol, Dino Radja, and Detlef Schrempf are considered the first crop of international NBA players that not only showed up in games, but contributed significantly.  Divac and his peers helped pave the way for future international superstars such as Dirk Nowitzki, Peja Stojakovic, Yao Ming, Tony Parker and Andrei Kirilenko.

Vlade Divac started and finished his career with the Los Angeles Lakers. Ironically the player Divac was traded away from LA for way back in 1996, was the player he would finish out his Laker career with (Kobe Bryant). Divac’s career averages of 11.8 pts, 8.2 rebs, 3.1 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.1 steals in 1,134 games played were worthy of mention because those numbers makes him one of only three players in NBA history to have amassed 13,000 points (13,364), 9,000 rebounds (9,294), 3,000 assists (3,522) and 1,500 blocks (1,630) – the other two players being Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Hakeem Olajuwon.

Thanks for the great memories, Vlade.

source: Fiba