An entire generation has entered basketball since his untimely passing and while ever-growing numbers of NBA and European stars who have never seen him play emerge, all owe a debt to Dražen Petrović.
It was on this day in 1993 that the only man who realistically could have held claim to the sobriquet of “the European Michael Jordan” was killed in a car accident in Germany. As detailed most recently in the excellent ESPN “30 for 30” documentary “Once Brothers,” Petrović was a fearless, proud player with Team Yugoslavia and later Team Croatia in international play; was on the verge of entering the prime of a Hall of Fame-level career with the New Jersey Nets.
For those of you who never saw Petrović play, do yourselves a favor and take some time to watch below. For those of us fortunate enough to remember this European pioneer blazing trails all over the world, it’s a welcome (if slightly meandering) trip down memory lane. We still miss you, Dražen.
Happy Monday, everyone. To get that week started right, BallinEurope has compiled a healthy-sized video play list at which you may goggle over morning coffee. From all corners of Europe (and Portland, Oregon) came the action last week as the barrage of title-awarding begins on The Continent.
In advance of the 2010 FIBA World Championship, Team Turkey has announced the addition of a new assistant coach: 
Who says it’s too far away to be thinking about the 2011 NBA Europe Live tour? Not BallinEurope, certainly, and apparently not EA Sports, Euroleague and the NBA: The organizations have released information on participating teams – and o boy, they’re good – for the October event.
The FIBA EuroChallenge may be considered a bit of a lower-tier club tournament here on The Continent, but the 2009-10 edition of the contest is certainly among the tops in terms of competitive balance.
