The Legendary Tie-Dyed Slam-Dunking Skeleton Lives on with
New Official 2024 Apparel Editions Released from
Skullman.com
NEW
YORK, July 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- After
clinching the bronze medal 32 years ago in the 1992 Barcelona
Summer Olympics, the Lithuanian Olympic Basketball Team showed up
on the Olympics medal platform wearing the way-out Skullman
tie-dyed basketball uniforms. They wowed the world wearing
something unexpected, that was never before seen in the world of
Olympic sports.
It's difficult to understand the magnitude, significance,
impact and power of what went down with those shirts -Bill Walton
The uniforms were created by NYC apparel brand designer
Greg Speirs for the team to have something fun to wear,
energizing and inspiring the team. Reaction was overwhelming. The
players wore the shirts everywhere. The public wanted to buy
one. "It became major news impacting popular culture, taking its
place in Olympics history, and changed sports fashion forever. The
Tie Dyed Skullman became a household icon." said Mike Thompson of Skullman.com.
It began when Lithuania broke
from the Soviet Union and became
free. Former Soviet player and NBA star Sarunas Marciulionis rallied donations for the
new, financially strapped team, with hopes of the Lithuanians
competing as a free nation in their first Olympics. Marciulionis
received donations, including one separate $5,000 donation from the Grateful Dead, according
to news reports, which was the part they played in this story.
New York apparel Licensor Greg
Speirs also heard about the team's plight & independently
created the Skullman tie dyed uniforms, so the team could have
something fun to wear during the Olympics. Listen to the true
podcast facts here
The 2012 documentary film "The Other Dream Team" highlights the
Lithuanian Basketball Team's experiences behind the Iron Curtain,
who shared a goal – to utilize their athletic gifts to help free
their country.
The film celebrates Speirs' iconic tie-dyed uniforms. Olympics'
basketball history.
Where the uniforms came from:
"The Skullman Lithuanian tie dyed basketball shirts are an
independent line created and owned by designer Greg Speirs, were never an actual team jersey or
part of the Grateful Dead. All licensing rights always originated
exclusively from the designer." added Mike.
Speirs is the art director who created the music magazine Grooves
in the 1970's, designed the legendary "Monaco Monk" icicle
bobsleds for Prince Albert of
Monaco for the Nagano
Olympics and collaborated in the 1970's with famed Woodstock Music
Festival founder and record producer Artie
Kornfeld, in particular with RCA Records.
"As demand for the shirts continued, the artist saw an
opportunity to help the team and donated all of his
profits and licensed use for a limited time to raise money for
Marciulionis' team and charities. Greg was the major sponsor of the
1992 Lithuania Olympic Basketball Team after the Olympics by giving
100% of his profits starting at $450,000 & may have skyrocketed to
millions from news reports. His profits were given to Sarunas Marciulionis' Children's Fund and
basketball school. Greg played a more significant role than
initially reported." added Mike. See the CNBC article
"The Lithuanian Basketball Team represents what happens in
freedom. The Slam-Dunking Skullman represents rising from
nothing, like a Phoenix from the
ashes to slam-dunking a flaming basketball. It's not a dead
skeleton but is alive and represents a new life. It was not only a
victory in Olympic sports but was a triumph over communism itself.
It's about freedom." recalled Speirs. Listen to interview
The uniforms were "enshrined" in the Basketball Hall of
Fame on Dec.7th 1993, below a giant 12ft. x 8ft. 3-D Slam
Dunking Skullman.
"It's really difficult to understand the magnitude and the
significance and the impact and the power of what went down with
those shirts." said NBA Hall of Famer Bill
Walton.
Vintage editions sell for hundreds of dollars online. The
Official, Original 1992 Skullman® Lithuania Tie
Dye® T-Shirts are available at Skullman.com.
Official Licensor of Original Lithuania Tie
Dye® Brand Apparel.1992 ©Copyright &
Trademark® property of Greg
Speirs. Lithuania Tie Dye® & the
Lithuanian Slam-Dunking Skeleton® and all related
trademarks, indicia and symbols are Official Trademark Brands and
Licenses of Greg Speirs. Official
Licensor/ Exclusive Source.
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SOURCE Skullman.com