Through its Rex Foundation created in 1983, it long funded altruistic endeavors like supporting needs for the homeless, AIDS awareness and building of the arts around the world.īecause of its complete lack of even basic necessities, funding a basketball team only two years after winning independence wasn’t exactly high on the list of Lithuania’s governmental priorities. What the band did with its money back then was quite admirable. It introduced a whole new batch of fans to the group, and made the band lots and lots of money. In 1987, The Grateful Dead released its single “Touch Of Grey” - arguably the single that catapulted the Dead into mainstream psyche because of its unique music video (relentlessly played on MTV) and constant radio play. So where do a few guitar playing stoners come into this mix? Great question, here’s your answer. Those four made up the core of the Soviet Team in ’88, but then stood proudly in the fight of their lives against those who brought so much pain to their home for so long in '92. Rimas Kurtinaitis and Valdemaras Chomicius. Sure, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird are legends of the era, but so were Arvydas Sabonis and Sarunas Marciulionis. Yet as the title of the documentary suggests, there were others out there on the court to watch and root for. It’s no coincidence that four years later, The Dream Team came to be the most dominating force in Olympic history. Olympic Committee began to allow professionals to compete in the Olympics. The defeat was so embarrassing to America that shortly thereafter the U.S. It actually had four Lithuanians, who reluctantly stood on the top of the winners podium under the flag of its longtime oppressors when gold was won in ‘88. The Soviets went on to win handily because of the basketball talent Lithuania produced even then.
LITHUANIA GRATEFUL DEAD BASKETBALL PROFESSIONAL
team then was led by young burgeoning superstars David Robinson, Danny Manning and Mitch Richmond - not yet signed to a professional NBA team. in 1988 during the Seoul, South Korea games. The Lithuanian talent on the team ensured a good walloping of the U.S. It says that, because of Lithuania’s political position at the time, athletes were often made to compete under the Soviet flag. This is all explained quite well in a documentary titled “The Other Dream Team,” directed by Marius A. Just know, Lithuania didn’t have any shred of independence from various warmongers from about the late 1800s until 1990 - absolutely thrashed from almost a hundred years of oppression and imperialist rule. It’s far too much to get into here though. Lithuania’s spot in all of this is, quite literally, hundreds of years in the making. Putin’s recent attack on Ukraine is basically him trying to build back that rule to what it was several decades ago. Putin is said to have been heavily influenced by a now defunct conglomerate of land masses known as the USSR, which captured Lithuania as its own years earlier. You see, Russia’s aggressive style of geopolitical bullying didn’t birth itself out of thin air. The story begins well before the iconic 1992 podium photos were taken of several lanky white dudes, arms raised, in tie dye fits. Lithuania, a team that wouldn’t have even existed if not for the generosity of The Grateful Dead. Hockey team (who beat the Soviets), wrestler Rulon Gardner (who beat an undefeated Russian) and the 1992 Lithuanian Basketball team … a major underdog which, you guessed it, beat the former Soviet Union for a bronze medal finish in 1992. It’s a spirit carried on through decades of historic wins: the 1980 U.S. And though they’re far less potent than they once were, the participants themselves gave at least a small glimmer of hope to a world removed from the nonsense. Yet through it all, the spirit of the games persevered. It was a somber reminder that assholes still rule the world and we’re only one broken thought process away from tragedy no matter what corner of the world you’re from. Let’s be honest, for the several dozen people who watched the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Olympics, it was a terrifying sight to see China’s President Xi cuddling up to Vladimir Putin mere days before Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
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