FIBA World Cup 2023: Jonas Valanciunas and Lithuania to "put everything on the line" in Olympic bid
The Pelicans big man says Lithuania will "go out there and fight" against the USA in Manila as they set about securing a place at Paris 2024.
Basketball
At Tokyo 2020, Lithuania's men were missing from the Olympic basketball tournament for the first time since gaining independence from the Soviet Union.
The team, spearheaded by Jonas Valanciunas, is desperate to return to the Games with the New Orleans Pelicans centre calling basketball "a second religion in our country".
The Grateful Dead tie-dyed jerseys from Barcelona 1992 may be a distant memory, but Lithuania has a proud record in international basketball with three Olympic bronze medals - at Barcelona, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 - and bronze at the 2010 World Cup.
And with four wins out of four so far at FIBA World Cup 2023, they have already booked their place in the quarter-finals.
Their final second-round game is against tournament favourites USA who are also unbeaten in the tournament.
It may be something of a dead rubber, but Valanciunas told Olympics.com, "We're going to go out there and fight. Who knows what can happen. Tomorrow after the game, we can sit down and talk about what was good or was bad. But, right now, we go into the game with the mentality that we're going in there and fight and give everything on the court.
"They have a really strong team. They have really good players, especially individual, individually, very, very capable, very talented players. But we're not going to give up just like that."
Jonas Valanciunas: "We're hungry for being at the top again"
Lithuania produced a remarkable second-half display to beat Greece 92-67 on Friday to clinch their place in the knockout stages.
And Valanciunas said, "We are hungry. We are hungry for wins. We are hungry for being at the top again. You're going to do everything to win more games.
"All 32 teams are good but now even better teams are left in the tournament, so it's not going to be easy. But we are going to give everything, put everything on the line and play basketball.
The 12-year NBA veteran would love to make a third Olympic appearance in Paris next year and added, "Olympics is the goal, too. Right now we're looking at this tournament. But being able to qualify for the Olympics during this World Cup, that would be amazing. Every player has a goal to participate in the Olympics."
Lithuania's team dynamic has served it well over the years, and Valanciunas hopes this latest bunch of players can bring back the good times for the Baltic Giants.
He said, "We have a big history, a big passion for basketball. Basketball is a second religion in our country. It's a team sport. We play team sports as a team. We support each other. No egos, everybody's humble, everybody wants to win, wants to grow.
"We don't have an exact leader who we're going to go through - this guy or that guy. We all play basketball. We all enjoy the minutes we spend on the court. We all, you know, share the ball, help on defence and support each other. So that's the best way to play basketball, I think."