Zydrunas Tribute Video

[Phills14]

I love Z but man that was a little over dramatic don't you think?

 

[afireinside7710]

i refuse to watch that video, i dont feel like crying

 

[Typhoon]

Great video, Z has been on the team since before I even started watching basketball. I guess, he's been the player seen the most in my lifetime. Man, I always took him for granted. He was always one of my favorites you know, but you get used to Z doin his thing every night and assume he'd always be there. These last 3 games I always have to remind myself that Z isnt on the bench or somewhere, its just weird.

 

[Cratylus]

I love Z but man that was a little over dramatic don't you think?

If I could give you 1000 NEGATIVE reps for this comment I would. For somebody who supposedly loves Big Z, I find your comment unfathomable. I'm sure you'll just try to brush it off by saying something like, "Well, he's not really going anywhere because he'll be back in 30 days." And a comment such as this would completely miss the point of why this video isn't the slightest bit "over dramatic". The video is heartbreakingly appropriate for anyone who appreciates everything that Big Z has given to this franchise, this city, this region, and its fans... that is, anyone who also has any sense of sentimentality and humanity. I'm not ashamed to admit that this almost-40-year-old man started crying the second I heard the first few bars of the Sarah McLachlan song and I didn't stop until a few minutes after the video ended.

My respect for the man goes way beyond his accomplishments on the basketball court. Very few of even the most die-hard of Cavs fans realize how generous Big Z is with his time. He has spent COUNTLESS hours visiting and caring for sick children in various Cleveland area hospitals. He has done it without fanfare, with flashbulbs flaring, without reporters' pens there to document his generosity. He's done it this way because HE GENUINELY CARES. As large as his 7'3" frame is, it is barely big enough to contain the size of his heart (is that too "overly dramatic" for you?). The only reason I know about Z's charitable work is because a friend of mine used to be a nurse at the Cleveland Clinic and she has told me about some of the things he has done. If you knew one-tenth of the things I know about what Z has done off the court you'd be changing your tune, I GUARANTEE IT.

And I won't even begin to speak about what he has done ON the basketball court and what he has endured to remain there. Instead, I'll let one of the most respected RCF members, Wine & Gold, say it for me:

My memories of Z aren't even game related. It's just my perception of Z as probably the one player I look at, as having given more of themselves just to get back out on the court again, than any other player I've ever been around in my life.

People that watch Z play today, really don't appreciate what skill level, and athletic ability he brought to the game before all the foot issues.

He was a 7'3 highly athletic center, with excellent ball skills, and a soft shooting touch. If Z didn't have all the foot issues that he did, he would have gone down as one of the greatest centers of all time. He was robbed of virtually all of his mobility, which was one of his greatest strengths.

If Z had the makeup of the normal human ...he never would have played NBA basketball again after the great number of surgical failures that littered his career early on.

He was a kid that at certain times in his life had spent 35% of his life on crutches. People remember all his issues as a Cavalier, but don't even know about all the issues he dealt with as a child, and having to go through never ending pain, not only with his feet but legs as well.

The degree of pain that he lives with on a day to day basis, and will continue for the rest of his life ..is something only he truly knows about and we can only imagine. But, Z has his feet in buckets of ice after every single game. Even when he gets back to his room or home after each game.

He deals with issues where the pain is so intense it's robbed him of nights upon nights of sleep.

Nobody realizes that on many a road trip, where accomodations aren't readily available to help him ...he may go successions of days and nights with no sleep at all, and still suit up and play to the best of his abilities every night, without complaint.

For this man to have lasted as many years as he has, and given as much as he has given to this franchise is unequalled by any other athlete that I've ever been associated with in my lifetime.

His personal sacrifices for this franchise will never be equalled.

Long after his playing days are over, he will continue to endure the aches and pains that are the result of doing whatever it took to get out on the court and play the game.

The thing that really is the measure if this man, that just really reflects what he is about is ...he was a very rich man very early on in life. He had the huge contract, and more money than he'd ever spend in his lifetime when the foot issues piled up on him in his early 20's.

He had the longterm contract worth over 100 mil. He didn't HAVE to put himself through all this, and could have lived the life that he leads today whether he ever suited up and played ever again or not.

But, he's not built that way.

He felt a debt of gratitude to this organization that you never ever find in today's athletes. He did whatever it took, and has lived a life of endless pain because of his love for, and gratitude to this franchise.

Not only did he go on to be one of the top players in our history as a franchise, but ... to me ...when his number gets risen up high into the rafters at the Q, it should stand higher and taller than all others.

Not as a measure of the level of player that he was and is ...but, of having and exhibiting the greatest strength of character, courage, tenacity, and perseverance of any athlete I've ever come in contact with in my life.

In those aspects, he's the greatest of all time, in my book.

 

[Silky Smooth]

Does anybody else get pissed when they watch Rasheed hurt Z the way he did and nobody on our team gets in the face of Rasheed? That shit just pisses me off.

 

[th1]

Rasheed would be knocked out if he would do this now.

 

[LeBrawn]

Not that good of a video. Still nice to see ppl react to Z´s departure. He will be a true Caveliers legend!

 

[Randolphkeys]

Sarah McLaughlin used to make me think of chicks who don't like the dick and dying dogs. Now it makes me think of Z leaving, chicks who don't like the dick, and dying dogs.

Fuck you, Sarah McLaughlin!