OKLAHOMA CITY (FIBA EuroBasket 2017) - The results on the court at the Rio de Janeiro Games in Brazil last summer didn't go as Domantas Sabonis envisioned they would, yet the young Lithuanian still holds his Olympic debut in a favorable light.

A rookie in the NBA now with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Sabonis is playing big minutes and trying to prove he belongs in the best league in the world, one that his father, FIBA and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Arvydas Sabonis, once competed in with the Portland Trail Blazers.

The 20-year-old Domantas Sabonis spoke this week to FIBA.com.

Your first Olympics - how do you evaluate the experience?
It was an amazing experience being there representing my country with the best athletes in the world and being on that stage was awesome.

Mindaugas Kuzminskas and Sabonis made their Olympic bows

You and Lithuania had far greater aspirations than seventh place. You started with three wins in a row but then went off the rails in a blowout loss to Spain. Everything went downhill from there. What went wrong?
We started off well and then something happened in the team chemistry. I don't know what happened. But as a team, we just broke down.

FIBA EuroBasket 2017 will be a chance for Lithuania to redeem themselves. Do you want to be there?
Of course. It would be awesome to participate and represent my country again but it all depends on what the team (Oklahoma City) wants me to do this summer.

Going from Gonzaga University to the NBA, did you ever consider not going to Rio?
Not really. If I could and the team would let me, and I wanted to go - it was maybe a once-in-a-lifetime experience to play in the Olympics. I really wanted to play and the team luckily agreed to let me go.

You were already playing with Unicaja Malaga in Spain and in Europe but then went to Gonzaga to experience college basketball. Did playing for the Zags have a big influence on your game?
Yes, I improved a lot there. Gonzaga is like my second home. I love everyone there. I think the two years I spent there were the best.

Your dad, Arvydas, played for the Soviet Union at the Olympics but also in 1992 and 1996 with Lithuania. Did you talk to him about the experiences and did he tell you what to expect?
He told me before going that it's completely different to the Euros (EuroBasket) or the World Championship (FIBA Basketball World Cup) because you are there with every best athlete with every type of sport. 

What about giving you advice on dealing with the Opening Ceremony and the pomp and circumstance?
That was his first time in the Opening Ceremony with me. They usually played the night after so wouldn't go. This year we luckily had the day off after so we were able to go.

FIBA