- This is gonna be insane.
(energetic music playing)
(birds chirping)
If you move to Madrid, you will see
that Spaniards take their sports very seriously here.
From footfall, going through paddle to cycling,
there's a sport for everyone here to enjoy in Spain.
So today, we'll go to the stadium to watch live
something very, very special.
The best tournament in Europe.
The best team in Lithuania, versus the best team in Spain.
The most popular sport in Lithuania,
versus the second most popular sport in Spain.
What I'm talking about?
Of course, basketball.
Even if you don't like basketball,
you are not a fan or you are not an expert, don't worry.
I am not an expert either,
but the story behind the basketball
is the reason I'm making this video.
Of course, I'm gonna take you to the stadium with me.
So hopefully you can feel the vibe and understand
why this sport is so important for both countries.
Alright, so basketball
is the second most important sport in Spain
and their league called
Liga ACB or Liga Endesa
for sponsorship purposes, is the best league in Europe.
And many of those teams, they play in the EuroLeague.
So if you're a football fan,
think of it as the Champions League,
the best teams in Europe playing every year,
facing each other.
Of course in football,
the qualification process is different.
It doesn't matter who you are,
you still need to go through the qualification.
(vibrant music playing)
And in this Euro League, there are 13 members
that they don't need to qualify every year.
They are just there.
As expected, both Real Madrid and Barcelona
they have basketball teams,
and they play in the EuroLeague as well.
And they are quite successful,
especially when it comes to Real Madrid.
They've won 10 times the EuroLeague, so this is insane.
It's so difficult to win the EuroLeague,
it's such a big achievement.
When it comes to the country level,
Spain has also been super successful over the years.
In fact, they are ranked #2 in the world
only after the USA, of course,
but they won three Olympic silver medals, one bronze
and many other titles.
And their most successful player, Pau Gasol,
he played in the NBA in LA Lakers
and he won twice the championship.
And all this success obviously inspired
a lot of new generations and some existing players
to raise their level and basketball became
even more popular over the years
and Spain became more and more successful.
But what about Lithuania?
Well, basketball in Lithuania
is something very, very unique.
(crowd chanting)
Truly the number one sport, by a mile.
Don't be surprised if Lithuanians,
they say that basketball is like their second religion.
How is it possible that a country
with less than 3 million people is so successful
and why is it so popular?
Okay, so disclaimer, first.
My wife Kristina is Lithuanian and I've been traveling
to Lithuania for many, many years.
(mellow music playing)
After speaking with locals, my theory is that
the American-Lithuanian coaches and players
brought basketball to Lithuania in the late 1920s.
And then in the 1930s, there was this guy
called Pranas Lubinas,
the grandfather of Lithuanian basketball.
He won two Euro Basket's in 1937 as a player,
and 1939 as a player and as a coach.
So those two rather unexpected victories
were the reason why basketball became so successful
and so popular in Lithuania.
So the future seemed super bright for Lithuania,
but then World War II came,
and Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union.
Those dreams of becoming the best basketball nation crushed,
but Lithuania never stopped believing.
They were so good that in the Olympics in 1988
in Seoul, in South Korea, four starting players out of five
in the Soviet Union team, were Lithuanians.
And they won the gold medal.
So a year later in 1989,
something magical was about to happen.
The three brothers in the Baltics:
Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia
formed a peaceful protest against the Soviet Union,
and it was like 600 km human chain.
Another year later in 1990,
Lithuanian regained its independence.
And in 1992 in the Olympics in Barcelona,
Lithuania won the bronze medal.
(mellow music playing)
Imagine the Lithuanian people, what they felt.
It's just very hard to explain, I can imagine.
So if you haven't watched yet,
I made another video explaining
why Lithuania is the most underrated country in Europe,
but there's also a very good movie explaining this
called "The Other Dream Team".
And Dream Team, obviously, because Dream Team in 1992,
everyone thought it was Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson
and all the real Dream Team in the US
who ultimately won the Olympics.
But the Other Dream Team in this case was Lithuania.
So from my perspective, that's the reason
why basketball is so important in Lithuania.
It's much more than basketball.
It started as a sport and then it went beyond that.
One last thing, don't ever call Lithuanians Russians,
because they have their own language,
their own territory, their own freedom.
(vibrant music playing)
(Kris: Žalgiris, Žalgiris!)
- This stadium is originally
The Palacio de Deportes
in Madrid and you can host 15,000 people here,
approximately, so I think it's very similar to
Žalgirio Arena
It's gonna be interesting, I wanna see
how many Lithuanians will come today to Madrid to support
Žalgiris
I love Lithuania, I love Žalgiris
I'm rooting for them today,
but I'm not blind.
It's gonna be tough, eight matches,
eight losses for Žalgiris
but at least I expect them to put a fight, a good battle,
show that this is temporary and they can go through it.
Ready to watch, we have here, Real Madrid team.
(vibrant music playing)
I can't believe I'm here.
Žalgiris
Real Madrid.
This is gonna be insane.
(vibrant music playing)
- Very excited to be so close to my people.
(vibrant music playing)
- So hopefully, you guys.
Kaunas... Žalgiris
You can put a good fight today.
Announcer: Žalgiris - Real Madrid
♪ Don't nobody never know ♪
- Not too bad, I expected an overwhelming possession.
(vibrant music playing)
♪ Don't nobody never know ♪
They're still in the game, they've put in a tough fight.
Real Madrid 75 - Žalgiris Kaunas 70
- So I think anything could happen.
End of the game!
Real Madrid 95 - Žalgiris Kaunas 82
- A good battle.
At least for three quarters, they were very, very close.
At some point, there was only three points gap.
But Real Madrid, they showed they're such a solid team.
Really, really strong,
Nine losses Žalgiris
but I saw some nice elements today.
So hopefully next match is gonna be
the match for Žalgiris
In the meantime, congratulations, Real Madrid.
Go Madrid, Go Madrid!
Time to go home.
Hopefully you enjoyed and see you in the next one.