24 years ago today, on June 7, 1993, a traffic accident in Germany caused the death of one of the best and most beloved Croatian basketball players of all times – Dražen Petrović. In 2013, he was voted the best European Basketball player in history, by players at the 2013 FIBA EuroBasket.
Reggie Miller says that he was the best player he’d ever played against, with the quickest release he’d ever seen, adding that it was frustrating playing against him because he was so good.
"It was a thrill to play against Dražen. Every time we competed, he competed with an aggressive attitude. He wasn't nervous; he came at me as hard as I came at him. So, we've had some great battles in the past and unfortunately, they were short battles." (Michael Jordan)
Born in Šibenik in 1964, he always loved basketball. Some stories say that he used to throw 300 free throws every day, others that he practiced for 6 hours at a time. One thing is certain – his will and determination to play were extraordinary. He started playing at a local club, Šibenka, before following his older brother, Aleksandar, and moving to Cibona, in Zagreb.
That same year, Cibona won the Yugoslav League championship and the Yugoslav National Cup, and Dražen’s 36 points contributed to Cibona winning their first European Cup title, against Real Madrid. His shooting score was unbelievable: it often showed 40 – 60 points, and his personal best was 112!
"It's stronger than me. I'm happiest when I work hard. It's hard to explain it to someone who's never been one on one with a basketball at an empty court." (Dražen Petrović)
In 1988 he signed with Real Madrid, where he stayed only for a year, but he still holds the Spanish ACB League single performance bests in a final series game in points made (42) and three-pointers made (8).
The following season he decided to take his chances in the NBA, joining the Portland Blazers, who had drafted him back in 1986, but he decided to give Real Madrid a shot first. This marked a turning point for the NBA as more and more European players started coming to play to the USA. A year and a half passed and Petrović didn’t see much playing time because the Blazers wanted him to shoot three-pointers, and his role was very limited.
Things improved greatly when he moved to the New Jersey Nets. He was given more freedom and playing time, so his field goal percentage of 51% placed him near the top of all NBA guards, with Nets recording 14 more wins than the previous year. Even though he was among the top 13 scorers in the NBA that season, he was the only one not invited to play at the 1993 All-Star Game.
Petrović also made great results with national teams: first with Yugoslavia, winning gold against the Soviet Union at the 1990 FIBA World Championship, and silver as the leader of the Croatian national basketball team at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, the first summer Olympics featuring the independent Croatia.
Unfortunately, his tragic death at the age of 28 ended the promising career of the Mozart of Basketball too soon.
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The nation and the world were heartbroken: the Cibona stadium was renamed the Dražen Petrović Basketball Hall and the city of Zagreb dedicated a square in his name, as did Šibenik and Vukovar, while Petrinja dedicated him a street. The Nets retired his number 3 jersey, and in 1995, his statue was erected in front of the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, making him only the second athlete to receive this honor.
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Petro, as he was known in the US, was inducted posthumously into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002, as well as the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007.
In 2006, the Dražen Petrović Memorial Center in Zagreb was opened, dedicated to his life and achievements, with a four-meter high statue of Dražen in shooting position in front of it.
Watch a Vintage NBA documentary about him below
And stop by the Memorial Centre to learn more about the fascinating life and the tragic death of one of Croatia's most beloved athletes.
