How Sarunas Marciulionis Injury Sparked the Rise of the Euro Step

The untold story behind basketball’s most iconic move

Today, the Euro step is everywhere. From James Harden slicing through defenders to Giannis Antetokounmpo galloping to the rim like a gazelle on roller skates, the move has become a staple of modern basketball. It’s slick, it’s effective, and it’s a nightmare for defenders trying to guess which direction the attacker will veer next.

But while many associate the Euro step with stars like Manu Ginobili or Harden, its roots stretch back further—and to a much more unexpected place. In fact, the move was born not out of flair or design, but out of necessity. The man behind it? Lithuanian basketball legend and Hall of Famer Sarunas Marciulionis.

A freak injury that changed everything

Speaking on the BasketNews Off the Record podcast, Marciulionis opened up about a little-known chapter of his story—one that not only changed the trajectory of his own career but arguably altered the course of basketball history.

Back in 1989, just before he would take his talents to the NBA and the Golden State Warriors, Marciulionis was still playing in Europe with his hometown club Statyba. During a rare international tournament in Germany, he was at the peak of his powers. “I dominated that tournament,” he recalled. “We didn’t get many chances to play abroad, so I was fired up.”

That momentum came to a crashing halt—literally—after a single freak play. Marciulionis had stolen the ball and was heading in for a dunk when an opponent slid underneath him mid-air. “Some guy went under me and ran off with my feet,” he said. “I fell from high up, straight on my back.”

It wasn’t just a hard fall. It was catastrophic. “I wasn’t the type to roll around like a footballer. I tried to get up—but I couldn’t.” Later, doctors confirmed the full extent of the damage: a severely tilted pelvis, and one leg now longer than the other.

From high-flyer to grounded craftsman

For a player once known for his explosive athleticism, it was devastating. Marciulionis, in his prime, had been one of the most powerful guards in Europe—a combination of speed, strength, and vertical leap that few could match. But after the injury, he was never the same physically.

“I went to the States, and I couldn’t even touch the rim jumping off one leg anymore,” he admitted. And yet, that didn’t stop him from succeeding in the NBA. It just meant he had to find a new way.

That’s where the story of the Euro step truly begins.

“I had to come up with all sorts of different ways to score,” Marciulionis explained. “I couldn’t jump over people anymore, so I started going to the rim… crookedly.”

What started as an improvisation became innovation. Unable to rely on one-legged takeoffs or vertical bursts, he began weaving through defenders with lateral steps—one long step to the right, then a sudden swerve left, avoiding contact and finishing with finesse rather than force. The Euro step was born—not in a gym, not in a playbook, but in the mind of a player adapting to survive.

A move ahead of its time

Marciulionis was still playing in Europe

For much of the 1990s, Marciulionis quietly carved out a reputation in the NBA as a crafty scorer and relentless competitor. Though his numbers were solid, they didn’t fully reflect the ingenuity of the techniques he was developing on the fly. “When you talk about the points I scored in the NBA, you should double them,” he joked, “because I had to work twice as hard to get them.”

He retired in 1997, but his influence lingered. Soon after, players like Manu Ginobili—another international star—began using the same side-stepping technique to outwit defenders. Then came Harden, Tony Parker, and eventually a whole generation of guards who turned the move into a cornerstone of their offensive arsenal.

What was once a survival mechanism is now an art form.

A legacy etched in every sidestep

It’s rare that a single player can point to a move seen in every NBA game today and say, “That came from me.” And it’s even rarer for that move to come not from brilliance, but from brokenness. That’s what makes Marciulionis’ story so remarkable.

“I didn’t think I was inventing something,” he said humbly. “I just needed to find a way to get by.”

In the end, that’s what the Euro step represents. It’s more than just a move—it’s creativity under constraint, resilience disguised as footwork. It’s a reminder that in sports, as in life, sometimes limitations don’t stop you from being great. They force you to discover new ways to be great.

So the next time you see a player Euro-stepping around a defender for a smooth finish at the rim, remember Sarunas Marciulionis. Remember the fall in Germany. Remember the tilted pelvis. And remember how one man turned a career-threatening injury into one of basketball’s most iconic weapons.

Not every hero wears a cape. Some just step around you and lay it in off the glass.