The latest Amazing Sport Stories podcast tells the true story of how the Lithuanian basketball team made it to the 1992 Olympics with help from the US rock band, the Grateful Dead.
Amazing Sport Stories: Bill Walton’s The Grateful Team from BBC World Service is narrated by the late basketball legend and US sports broadcaster, Bill Walton.
Bill was a ‘Deadhead’ – a massive fan of the Grateful Dead. He regarded both the band and the 1992 Lithuanian basketball team as his friends. This podcast is one of Bill’s last media projects. He sadly passed away in 2024, not long after recording the series.
In 1992 Lithuania had only recently got its independence from the Soviet Union and its men’s basketball team wanted to prove themselves as a newly independent country on the world stage.
They raised funds to make it to the Barcelona Olympics, with one of the more unexpected donors being the American rock band the Grateful Dead.
Some financial support was provided by the band, along with a set of iconic tie dye t-shirts. The only thing standing between Lithuania and Olympic bronze? The Unified Team – the team representing former Soviet countries and, for Lithuanians, their former occupiers.
Will the Lithuanian basketball team be able to beat the Unified Team with the world watching? Can they triumph in tie dye?
The weekly series features contributions from Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, the band’s official historian Dennis McNally, and Lithuanian basketball stars Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Rimas Kurtinaitis, and Valdemaras Chomicius.
While recording for the series, Bill Walton said: “Basketball is life; so is the Grateful Dead. The Lithuanians have shown and given us life’s highest level, meaning, and purpose.
“The inspiration, the motivation that drives us to do better, to be better, and to do more. This is all so much more than just a game.
“You couldn’t make this story up if you tried. It’s what makes this life, and the Grateful Dead so special. I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”
Bill’s wife, Lori, says: “For Bill, the collaboration between the Grateful Dead and the 1992 Lithuania Olympic Basketball team was a perfect fusion of his two passions.
“Arvydas Sabonis and Šarūnas Marčiulionis were two of his favourite players, and the Grateful Dead was his favourite band.
“Witnessing their unique partnership and success at the Olympics was a dream come true for him. Bill was incredibly proud and honoured to be a part of the BBC World Service’s Amazing Sport Stories Podcast.”
The BBC World Service has extended its thanks to Bill’s family and friends for supporting the project after Bill’s death.
You can listen to Bill Walton’s The Grateful Team from 19 May on BBC Sounds, and from outside of the UK, it will be on most podcast apps/platforms.
It will also be broadcast weekly on BBC World Service radio from 28 June.
