National Basketball Association

Report: Sabonis suffers heart attack

Published Sep. 27, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Hall of Fame center Arvydas Sabonis suffered an apparent heart attack Tuesday while playing basketball, but is expected to recover, according to Lithuanian media reports.

The Lithuanian basketball website, LTbasket.com, reported that the 46-year-old was rushed to the hospital in his hometown of Kaunas, Lithuania. The website reported Sabonis' life was not thought to be in danger and that he would spend at least the next day in the hospital.

Arturo Ortega, a representative of Sabonis, told the Spanish website CadenaSer.com that the former Portland Trail Blazer was "out of danger."

Sabonis, who was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame this year, is heavily involved in building the national teams in his native country. He recently embarked on a swing through Europe to promote the EuroBasket 2011 tournament, which took place in Lithuania and was won by Spain last week.

The sweet-shooting seven-footer was named European Player of the Year six times from 1984 to 1999 and was a member of the Soviet Union's gold medal-winning Olympic team in 1988. He went on to play for the Portland Trail Blazers in 1995 and maintained a double-digit scoring average for six straight years.