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Real Story Behind the Iconic Tie Dyed Slam-Dunking Skeleton worn by Sarunas Marciulionis & the 1992 Lithuanian Olympic Basketball Team

The Real Facts behind the Iconic Skullman worn by Marciulionis on the bronze medal podium- creator of the image corrects misreports made in the press about his famous Slam-Dunking Skeleton.

For Release -07-19-14 - New York, N.Y. – (Release from www.Skullman.com) With the coming induction of Sarunas Marciulionis into the Basketball Hall of Fame on August 9th, the story about the tie dyed Skeleton uniforms he and the Lithuanian Olympic Basketball team wore in the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics is sure to come up again.

Sarunas Marciulionis and the 1992 Lithuanian Olympic Basketball Team wore the iconic Skullman Slam Dunking Skeleton on tie dyed uniforms for the world to see as they received their bronze medals on the podium back in the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics. However misreports regarding the source of this famous design have proliferated for years publishing facts that were inaccurate. The misreports about the source of this famous image were repeated over and over and became a false narrative which was institutionalized in news reports which are difficult to correct.

When the story does come up again during the induction of Sarunas Marciulionis the press will have another chance to correct the past misreports and misrepresentations made about the source of this famous design.

The real story is that the iconic design that you saw the 1992 Lithuanian Basketball Team and Marciulionis wear in that famous moment on the podium stand in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics was actually created by New York artist Greg Speirs. The design was created by the artist, on his own, and came into this story independently by the artist as a Licensor and copyright owner and was not created as the icon of the rock group as had been reported, and was created with a totally different meaning than was reported.

When Sarunas Marciulionis and the 1992 Lithuanian Olympic Basketball team wore NY artist Greg Speirs’ iconic design, it became a worldwide news event and the artist’s Original Lithuanian Slam Dunking Skeleton became a historic symbol of Lithuania Basketball and part of the country’s new history. Every time the story about the 1992 Lithuanian Basketball team would come up the tie dyed uniforms would be included as an important, key part of the story but the source of the iconic skeleton design would be misreported and attributed to others. Credit to the artist as the creator of this iconic symbol was omitted from the story.

The 2012 Documentary film "The Other Dream Team” begins to help clear up the previous misreports by letting the artist describe his inspiration behind the famous skeletal image in the film.

The story will no doubt come up again during the Basketball Hall of Fame inductions, so the press will have another opportunity to correct the facts regarding this part of the story.

The artist’s design came to represent the spirit of the team and was also used as "The Other Dream Team" film poster and to promote its run in theaters across the U.S. and internationally. According to the artist who created the design, it was not created as the icon of a rock group as had been reported.

The origin of the Slam Dunking Skeleton - from the artist himself: “The 1992 Lithuanian Basketball Team represents what happens in freedom…people excel. The Lithuanian Basketball Team symbolized resistance against an oppressor, and the Slam Dunking Skeleton represented them, a whole country’s team. The political struggles of the Lithuanians struck a chord with me and the Slam Dunking Skeleton image represented an entire country's team coming up from nothing. It symbolized the team, like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, rising to overcome the obstacles, which are represented by the hands blocking the shot in the image. The image is one of breaking out of oppression represented by the skeleton finally rising up slam-dunking the basketball. It also symbolized what happened to the whole country of Lithuania politically. This was my interpretation when I created it in 1992 and its real meaning. It's not a dead skeleton at all, but this skeleton represents rebirth and a regeneration of new life. I know that the Lithuanians really understand what freedom is all about, and anywhere people love freedom Americans are there to help. Also, you can't have freedom without free enterprise. I would like to see where my money was sent to, see the basketball school, the Children’s charity and it would be great to personally meet some of the people they say my money helped. After so many years it's amazing that Marciulionis and I have never met. I thought that the making of the film would bring everyone together but that didn't happen. So at the Basketball Hall of Fame inductions in August maybe finally get a chance to meet and say you're welcome." said Speirs.

Speirs also acquired the status as the major sponsor of the team when he turned down all money generated from sales of his creation, and instead let it all (100%) ($450,000), go to the team and to Lithuanian charities. His donation eclipsed all of the funding by the big names involved. Any funds generated from the sale of shirts utilizing the trademark the artist was entitled to so any donations given from these funds ultimately came from him. The money that was given to the team, to the charity and was given to build the basketball school was Greg’s money and came from him. A second wave marketing of the artist’s trademark funded the 1996 Lithuanian Olympic Team as news reports millions more raised were given to Lithuanian Children's Charities and helped build the basketball school in Lithuania.

As the shirts continued selling after the Olympics, news reports boasted that marketing of the shirts with the Slam Dunking Skeleton raised millions more that were given to charities and the 1996 team. This was all done using the trademark Slam Dunking owned by the artist. This second wave funded the 1996 Team, Lithuanian Children's Charities and helped build the basketball school in Lithuania. Although news reports failed to credit the artist, these donations ultimately came from him as the owner and creator of the image. But when the story broke, it was more interesting to say that it came from the big names. But that was not factual. Any donation given as the result of a sale of a shirt came from the artist.
Greg will be looking forward to being in attendance at the inductions ceremony at the Basketball Hall of Fame in August according to Skullman.com.

Now that the reporters have been informed of the accurate facts they need to have some courage and perform their journalistic obligation to be fair to their readers and the public and correct their stories that they have published regarding the 1992 Lithuanian Olympic Basketball "Skullman" uniforms. That includes the newspaper articles and books that have been published about this story.

http://www.lithuaniatribune.com/31701/tie-dyed-lithuanian-slam-dunking-skeleton-back-for-the-other-dream-team-documentary-201331701/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnclarke/2012/02/25/doc-outs-olympic-dream-team/
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/mar/02/playing-for-more-than-a-prized-gold-medal/?print=1
http://biography.marquiswhoswho.com/sports-artist/greg-speirs/4298026
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1868151040/nm3998173

Contact: 
mikethompson@skullman.com