The newly-minted Hall of Famer was feted by the city of Portland, for which Arvydas Sabonis was extremely appreciative. From the Oregonian: “It has been eight years since Arvydas Sabonis has been in Portland, but the former Trail Blazers great said it seemed like yesterday when he was honored during a sun-splashed gathering at Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square. An estimated 2,500 people showered Sabonis with applause, chants of his name and signs Thursday, nearly a week after he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. ‘I feel like I’ve been here the whole time,’ said Sabonis, who lives in Kaunas, Lithuania. Always a humble and private person, Sabonis appeared embarrassed by the attention and adulation. ‘I say thank you for remembering me,’ Sabonis told the crowd. ‘I’m surprised.’ One of the most beloved Blazers ever for his stylish and unique playing style, Sabonis was legend before he arrived in Portland in 1995, nine years after the Blazers made him the first European to be drafted in the first round.”
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