Domantas Sabonis

BIOGRAPHY

Domantas Sabonis was born on May 3rd, 1996, in Portland, Oregon. He is a power forward in the NBA. 

He previously played in Spain for Unicaja Málaga's junior and senior teams before playing two seasons of college basketball for Gonzaga. He is the son of the Basketball Hall of Famer Arvydas Sabonis and was born in Portland, while his father was playing for the Portland Trail Blazers.

Despite being only a 16-year-old, on September 5th, 2012, Sabonis debuted for Unicaja Málaga against Cibona Zagreb. He was later loaned to Clínicas Rincón for the 2012–13 season. He returned to Málaga for the 2013–14 season and debuted in the Liga ACB on October 13th, 2013, becoming the youngest Unicaja player to debut in the ACB (17 years, 5 months and 10 days). On October 18th, Sabonis debuted in the EuroLeague against Olympiacos Piraeus. In February 2014, he finished in the top 10 for the 2013 FIBA Europe Young Men's Player of the Year Award voting. His best ACB game came on May 3rd, when he scored 13 points on 100% shooting. On May 10th, Sabonis helped Unicaja's junior team win the Spain Youth Basketball League silver medal. In the final game, he recorded 14 points and eight rebounds. In January 2015, he finished in the top 5 for the 2014 FIBA Europe Young Men's Player of the Year Award voting. During his time with Unicaja, he never signed a professional contract with a salary in order to remain eligible for the NCAA

In early April 2016, several U.S. media reports indicated that he would declare himself eligible for the 2016 NBA draft and would hire an agent, marking the end of his career at Gonzaga. On April 20th, he signed with Jason Ranne and Greg Lawrence of Wasserman Media Group for representation in the NBA draft. Prior to the draft, he rejected the offer to participate in the NBA Draft Combine. Instead, he participated in four pre-draft workouts with the Phoenix Suns, Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics and Utah Jazz.

Sabonis was selected 11th overall by the Orlando Magic in the 2016 NBA draft. He was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder along with Ersan İlyasova and Victor Oladipo for Serge Ibaka on draft night.

In 2017, Sabonis was traded to the Indiana Pacers. In his first game he had 16 points and seven rebounds and won against the Brooklyn Nets. In 2018, the Pacers picked up the team option on Sabonis' contract. He played five seasons for the Pacers and was named an All-Star twice during his tenure. In 2022, Sabonis was traded to the Sacramento Kings in a trade for rising star Tyrese Haliburton in a move considered shocking to commentators.