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Drazen Petrovic: The video homage to a too-short career

June 7, 2012

Once again on June 7, BallinEurope takes a look back at one of the all-time greats, without whom the game of basketball would not be the same: Dražen Petrović. The man is still missed.

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 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.

Petrovic' grave site, 7 June 2012

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.

History has been unkind to Petrović vis-à-vis his NBA battles with that 1990s uber-phenomenon, i.e. Michael Jordan. Surely many Nets and Chicago Bulls fans remember the battles between these two powers which were mostly, as they say these days, “epic.”

Of course, the entire world was watching when perhaps the single most memorable contest between the two went down in the 1992 Olympic final. Not only did Petrović actually outscore MJ in the game, Team Croatia’s stud relentlessly directly went at Jordan once the Dream Team began pulling away in the third quarter, turning the match into a one-on-one contest whenever both were on the floor.

Dražen’s personal highlight in that Olympics? How about six points in 10 seconds against the Greatest Team Ever Assembled?

By the way, how did the Dream Team ever come to be? Maybe part of it had to do with the star-studded and, quite subjectively, freaking awesome Team Yugoslavia squads of the late 1980s and their eclipsing of the USA’s dominance over Olympic basketball. Petrović was a marquee name among marquee names in 1988, helping lead Yugoslavia to the silver medal in Seoul. And they’d take the gold at the 1990 FIBA World Championship as well…

On the professional level in Europe, Petrović regularly contributed breathtaking performances with Šibenka, Cibona Zagreb and Real Madrid. With the first, he broke through at age 16; at Cibona, he logged two years with the club in Euroleague play, and led the side to the Korać Cup final – ironically losing out to Dejan Bodiroga’s Real Madrid – and the Yugoslav Cup title.

Success didn’t come instantaneously to Petrović when he joined the NBA for the 1989-90 and the Croatian complained that he wasn’t getting quality minutes with the Portland Trail Blazers – a legitimate gripe, considering what he’d do with the Nets.

This YouTube is entitled “Dražen Petrović Unforgettable.” Damn, was he ever.

Finally, if you haven’t yet seen “Once Brothers,” do so. And if you have, you might want to take the time to play homage to one of the all-time greats from a seminal era in NBA basketball and international basketball history.

Jun 7, 2012ballineurope
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This post was published on June 7, 2012
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Comments: 2
  1. mike
    10 years ago

    I believe it was Reggie Miller that called Petrovich, ” the greatest shooter ever”. High praise coming from a great shooter himself. You will have to put Ray Allen in that conversation, I think.

    On NBA TV sometime on June 13, they will have a special on the dream team. Anyway the dream team is great, but they got trashed by a college all-star team early on. The ball is round and anything can happen.

    ReplyCancel
  2. Aleksandar Zoran
    10 years ago

    he also called him the greatest trash talker ever because he could insult you in 5 different languages lol

    ReplyCancel
Pingbacks: 2
  1. Drazen Petrovic: The Video Homage To A Too-Short Career
    10 years ago
  2. BallinEurope, the European Basketball news site » Blog Archive » Report: Brooklyn Nets to take on Cibona Zagreb in Croatia in October
    10 years ago

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ballineurope
10 years ago 4 Comments EuroLeague, More, NBA/NCAA1988 Olympics, 1990 FIBA World Championship, basketball highlights, Chicago Bulls, Cibona Zagreb, Dejan Bodiroga, Drazen Petrovic, Dream Team, EuroLeague, FIBA, Korac Cup, NBA, New Jersey Nets, Olympics 1992 Barcelona, Once Brothers, Portland Trail Blazers, Real Madrid, Team Croatia, Team Yugoslavia, YouTube, Yugoslav Cup
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