The wine and vodka store Sabonis is based in the heart of St. Petersburg, the Petrograd district.
"After we called the store, a shop assistant assured us it was not part of a chain but a single store in the city bearing such name," the Delfi news side reports.
Juliaus Kalinsko/„15 minučių“ nuotr./Arvydas Sabonis |
The store's administrator later told the Lietuvos Rytas daily that “sabonis” was first of all a one liter bottle of vodka.
"Our store has nothing to do with basketball star Arvydas Sabonis," the administrator told on condition of anonymity.
Sabonis, 47, won the Olympic gold with the Soviet national team in 1988 and played in Žalgiris Kaunas club in the 1980s, contributing to its legendary victories against CSKA Moscow. After Lithuania regained independence, he won two Olympic bronze medals with the Lithuanian team.
In 1995-2001 and 2002-2003, he was the center at NBA's Portland Trail Blazers and last August was included in the NBA Hall of Fame. He currently serves as the president of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation.