CROATIAN SPORT – Dražen Petrović

Dražen Petrović More than three decades have passed since the world of basketball lost one of its greatest gems – the tragic death of Dražen Petrović on 7 June 1993 caused by a horrific automobile accident on the German autobahn. Over thirty years flew by without the greatest basketball player Croatia has ever had, but the memories of those who had the honor to see the basketball Mozart at work are still alive. Dražen was born on 22 October 1964 in Šibenik, the town where his career began. When he was 15 years old he joined the first team of Šibenka and soon became their lead player. With that team in 1982, as a member of the starting lineup, he played in the finals of a major European competition – the Radivoj Korać Cup. He led them there again in 1983 where he, with his baskets against Bosnia, won the team's first championship title of Yugoslavia, which the Federation stripped off him. He was a wunderkind who improved his great talent with his remarkable work ethic. He trained more than anybody and the success simply awaited him. When in 1984 he arrived in Zagreb's Cibona, it did not take long for Dražen to transform from a basketball player to a real movement. He was an idol to the whole generation, he was even respected by the supporters of the biggest rival clubs. He did not hide the secret to his success: "When I couldn't train, I would get sick. I was many times asked from where I derive my will for work and improvements. The answer isn't so hard – while I play basketball, I want to be the best!" And while he played, he was the best. He was a double champion with Cibona in the European Cup and one in the Cup Winners' Cup, which he also won as a Real Madrid player, with the Yugoslav national team he won silver and bronze in the Olympic Games, champion of Europe and world. His proudest moment was when he won silver in the 1992 Summer Olympics with his Croatia, the first big competition of his independent state. Only the mighty American Dream Team, the greatest basketball team of all time, was better than Dražen and his teammates. He arrived in the NBA at a somewhat different time, in 1989, when the players outside of the USA were not appreciated as much and the times were hard. But that did not stop Dražen – he struggled in the Portland Trail Blazers, but luckily he transferred to the New Jersey Nets. After his arrival, the times were changed because Dražen, and the rest of his generation, paved the way for European players in the NBA who became the faces of the best basketball league in the world. Dražen showed the Americans that they were not the only ones in the basketball world. After he was finally acknowledged and after he played his best season in the NBA, the curtain was brought down on his magnificent career. Only a day before, on 6 June 1993, he played for Croatia against Slovenia in the Polish Wrocław for the qualifications for the European Cup and while the rest of the team flew from Frankfurt to Zagreb, his deadly mistake was taking the car from Munich. In 2002 he was introduced in the Basketball Hall of Fame – Dražen Petrović arrived where he belonged. A legend amongst legends. Damir Dobrinić, editor and journalist of Sportske novosti (Sports News)