Miami Heat centre Zydrunas Ilgauskas retires: A look back at his time in NBA (Part 1)
Friday marked as a sad day for NBA and basketball lovers from all around the globe as one of the most exquisite international players in the history of league, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, decided to call it quits.
The manner in which the Lithuanian giant announced his retirement was quite reflective of his career. It did not come in the form of a fancy news conference or ballyhoo, rather as a subtle address to a small group of reporters before the inauguration of an urgent care centre owned by him and his wife.
The 7 ft 3 centre has always been a man of few words. Despite being a force on the basketball court, he was a non flamboyant character and remained a quiet individual throughout his fifteen magnificent years in NBA and let his game talk for him.
Such players are rare to find in NBA. Usually, fame gets to head of players and they end up talking more and doing less on court, throwing their respect and fame in the end. Zydrunas on the other hand earned his respect and won millions of hearts by his excellent display over the years.
He was the 20th pick of 1996 NBA draft and started his career with Cleveland Cavaliers. Unfortunately, he spent the complete first season sitting on bench after breaking his right foot’s bone. His foot injuries troubled him even after that.
At that time, some analysts believed that Zydrunas should retire because with so many injuries it was starting to get obvious that his fragile feet would not be able to support his humungous structure and he might sustain a permanent injury.
However, they were totally wrong.
Zydrunas’ fighting spirit always kept him going. He had the will power and the more he played, the stronger he got both mentally and physically.
For all practical purposes, he made his debut in 1997-1998 season and by the end of it, he had succeeded in making an impression in NBA. That year, he finished with an impressive average 13.9 points and 8.8 rebounds. Despite losing almost the whole next season again due to injuries, he was offered a six year contract by Cleveland Cavaliers - a not so wise move on the surface, but it did pay off for them in the longer run.
Zydrunas went on to play only 5 game in the next two seasons. In early 2000, he underwent a surgery on his left foot.
The surgery was successful and Zydrunas was back in action in the 2000-01 season, leading the Cavs to 15 wins in the first 23 games. However, calamity struck again as Ilgauskas again injured the same foot. The Cavs were never the same after that and without him, they finished the season at 30-52.
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