Drazen Petrovic was a legendary basketball player in his home country of Croatia (formerly Yugoslavia). The six-foot-five shooting guard was a young icon in the EuroLeague, and he was well on the way to becoming an icon in the NBA as well. Unfortunately, his life was tragically cut short on June 7, 1993. At the age of 28, Petrovic was involved in a car crash in Germany that ended his life far too prematurely. The news rocked both the NBA and his home nation of Croatia.
Even though it has now been more than 30 years since he passed, Petrovic’s legacy has continued to live on. He is still spoken about by those that were in awe watching him play. There will be a basketball game played in Petrovic’s honor next month.
Drazen Legacy Game To Take Place On September 5 In Croatia
Drazen Legacy Game Will Feature Active NBA Players
It was in the beginning of 2024 where Drazen’s brother, Aleksandar Petrovic brought up the news that there will be an exhibition basketball game taking place in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. The game is taking place on September 5, and it will be known as the Drazen Legacy game. It will feature players from Croatia playing against players from the rest of Europe. Aleksander, 65, never played in the NBA, but he was a longtime professional basketball player as well. He won a bronze medal in the 1984 Summer Olympics playing for the former nation of Yugoslavia.
While full rosters are not known for the game, some names have been revealed. Bojan Bogdanovic, now of the Brooklyn Nets, will be playing in the game. That’s a good sign for Brooklyn that he will be ready for their training camp. The 35-year-old had both knee and wrist surgery and missed much of the postseason in 2024 while with the New York Knicks. Ivica Zubac, who has been the Los Angeles Clippers full-time starting center for the past three seasons, has been confirmed to play. The other active player is Dario Saric, who spent last season with the Golden State Warriors and has since signed to play 2024-25 with the Denver Nuggets. Also confirmed to be playing are Gordan Giricek (played in NBA from 2002-2008) and Damjan Rudez (played in NBA from 2014-2017).
Basketball Hall of Fame Career
Petrovic’s NBA career lasted four seasons, but who knows how long he would have played had tragedy not struck. In his first NBA season (1989-90), Petrovic played for the Portland Trail Blazers. They reached the NBA Finals where they lost to the Detroit Pistons in five games. While Petrovic was part of their rotation, he didn’t play huge minutes as Portland rostered Hall of Fame shooting guard Clyde Drexler.
After receiving even less playing time in his second season, Petrovic was traded to the New Jersey Nets in January of 1991. It is there where his NBA career started to go to new heights. In the 1991-92 season, Petrovic was the runner-up for Most Improved Player. In what turned out to be his last season (1992-93), he earned a spot on the All-NBA Third Team. He averaged more than 20 points in 1991-92 and 1992-93 while combining to connect on 44.6% of his three-point tries.
Prior to his NBA career, Petrovic had plenty of accolades plenty overseas as a young man. He won a bronze medal in the Summer Olympics of 1984 and a silver in 1988 with Yugoslavia. He won two EuroLeague championships with Cibona in 1985 and 1986. Petrovic was posthumously inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002.
In a cool moment, then Nets guard Anthony Morrow took part in the 2012 Three-Point Contest. For the event, he put on a Petrovic #3 Nets jersey showing his respect to the sharpshooter.
(2012) Anthony Morrow honors Nets legend Dražen Petrović in the 3-Point Contest! Classic. pic.twitter.com/vuw4KMChCZ
— Timeless Sports (@timelesssports_) February 18, 2018
