The one and only Arvydas Sabonis has been voted the Top 16 MVP by media from all across Europe. The legendary center for Zalgiris becomes the first Euroleague player to win both the regular season MVP award - based on a statistical index - and that of the Top 16 - based on a survey last week of more than 85 sports journalists from 15 countries. The oldest player in the Euroleague at 39, Sabonis returned this season to his original club, Zalgiris of Kaunas, Lithuania, some 14 years after he had left to play in Spain and the NBA. While showing a new generation of Euroleague fans some of the most versatile skills ever seen in so big a center - 2.20 meters - Sabonis brought Zalgiris to the very brink of qualification for the Final Four.

Sabonis (39, 220), the ultimate basketball hero in Lithuania, has been a major international force since the early 1980's, when he debuted with Zalgiris and played for the national team of the Soviet Union. After a successful career in Lithuania, Sabas left for Spain in 1989, playing there for Forum Valladolid and Real Madrid, with whom he won a European club title, until 1995.

Then Sabonis crossed the Atlantic Ocean to join the Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA, with whom he averaged double figures as a scorer for several seasons until his last one there, 2002-03. Along the way, Sabonis indicated he would like to finish his career where he started, in Europe, and last summer surprised many by keeping his word, rejecting lucrative NBA offers to play for the original club he now owned, Zalgiris. From his first Euroleague game in November, Sabonis showed he meant business, and his double-double performances kept coming until he finished the season with averages of 16.6 points and 10.7 rebounds.