Drazen Petrovic – NBA Legends

Dražen Petrović was born in Šibenik, 22 October 1964. He was a Croatian basketball player who played in NBA. He was one of the greatest Croatian and world basketball players and was included among the 50 people who contributed the most to the Euroleague. He is the greatest Croatian NBA player of all time. He is considered the leader of the wave of European basketball players in the NBA(National Basketball Association).

Drazen Petrovic – Beginnings of career 

The public met early a  young Petrović who will mark European and world basketball a decade later for the first time. He started his tremendous and trophy-filled career at the age of 15 when the Zoran Slavonic(ex-star player)coach of the first league club, Šibenik, put him in the game.

Drazen began to play with his older brother Alexander, collecting and passing balls in his training sessions. He would stay alone in the gym after training and shoot until nightfall. When he started playing for the Šibenik cadets, he extended his training minutes on his own until late hours. Before school, he came to the empty hall and trained, and in the afternoon, he left the last one.

Incredible talent and unusual diligence for such a little boy could not miss even the top experts. Even then, they predicted his remarkable career, noting that at an early age, he was able to take full responsibility for his team and, if necessary, solve the game himself.

Drazen Petrovic – Professional Basketball Career 

After spending his first summer with the Yugoslavia national team for the European Championship, 19-year-old Dražen Petrović decided to do his compulsory military service in the Yugoslav People’s Army. He benefited from special treatment, which allowed him to continue to train.

Although many clubs from the former Yugoslavia fought for Dražen’s signature, he signed for Zagreb’s Cibona, the club where his brother Aleksandar was a professional basketball player. University of Notre Dame coach Digger Phelps, who watched the Yugoslavian player since he was 16, also wanted to sign him.

He took Cibona to the two consecutive EuroLeague championships, and in two seasons, he was the best European player. He then transferred to the Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid, where his teammates and spectators worshiped him because he also won trophies for the team.

In the first months of competition in the Liga ACB, Petrović established himself as one of the best passers in the championship and displayed impressive shooting percentages, scoring almost 30 points per game. In 1989, Real Madrid played against the Italian club Caserta in the Coupe des Coupes final playoff game. Motivated by the Brazilian star Oscar Schmidt, Petrović scored 62 points in his team’s 117–113 overtime victory. Schmidt scored 44 points.

This match is considered by many to be the best match ever played on European soil. In that period, Dražen was also the leader of the Yugoslav national team with great success; the victory at the World Championships in Argentina in 1990 and the gold medal at the European Championships in Zagreb in 1989 stand out.

Drazen Petrovic – NBA Career 

The phenomenal games in Europe did not go unnoticed among the North American Professional League scouts. The Croatian basketball star was brought into their ranks in 1990 when Drazen became a member of the Portland Trail Blazers. Real Madrid initially did not want to let him into the NBA at all, citing a contract between Spanish clubs and the NBA, which regulates player transfers.

Drazen filed a lawsuit, and after the verdict, in his favor, he could play for the Portland Trail Blazers. At the time, the club’s leading players were Clyde Drexler and Terry Porter. Although he sat on the bench more than he played in his first season due to politics within the franchise, he showed exceptional talent. 

Drazen Petrovic – Revival at the New Jersey Nets

In January 1991, Dražen joined the New Jersey Nets. , he broke his NBA career-high 27 points against the Washington Bullets. The 1991–92 season got off to a rough start for the New Jersey Nets. Without Kenny Anderson, who did not sign his beginner’s contract, and Derrick Coleman, with a back and ankle injury, the team went on to a bad start. Petrović finally became the starter after Reggie Theus left for the Italian club Ranger Varese. 

Drazen Petrovic – The Best NBA Season

He didn’t miss a game in his first entire season with the Nets, starting all 82 regular-season games. In a season marked by losing streaks and winning streaks, Petrović finished the regular season averaging 20.6 points per game. Defensively, he also improved, managing to contain Reggie Miller to just one point scored in a crucial game for the playoffs race. In March, Petrović scored 39 points against the Boston Celtics led by the Big Three Larry Bird – Kevin McHale – Robert Parish in a 110-108 win.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Nets meet the Cleveland Cavaliers, who finished the regular season with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference, behind Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. Dražen Petrović used media commentaries recalling his struggles in the finals in the Blazers jersey to motivate himself for the first series encounter. Petrović finished with 40 points and broke the Nets franchise record for most points scored in a playoff game.

In November 1992, Dražen Petrović scored 34 points in an overtime win over the San Antonio Spurs. He tied the score with a shot at the last second and memorably celebrated his performance by clapping his hands. The next day, he scored 29 points again in the win over the Miami Heat and was named NBA Player of the Week.

Offensive leader for the Nets, Petrović continued his fine 1992–93 season by scoring 24 points per game in December. He set his NBA record on January 24, 1993, with 44 points scored against the Houston Rockets. In early February, he scored 35 again against the Seattle SuperSonics and was a serious candidate to become the first international player to be selected to the All-Star Game. He was elected in all NBA third team.

Drazen Petrovic – NBA All-Star

His non-selection in the 1993 NBA All-Star Game was another major disappointment for Petrović. He was the only player appearing among the top fifteen scorers in the league to be absent from that game. He finished only eighth in his position in fan voting, and the coaches did not choose him or any other Nets players despite the team’s fourth-place in the standings.

That year, Dražen led the Croatian national team to the tremendous success, silver at the Olympics in Barcelona, in the final clash with the only real Dream Team played by the best representatives of the NBA, and also some of the best basketball players in basketball history – Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Scottie Pippen, Charles Barkley, and others.

Drazen Petrovic – Tragic career break 

Drazen’s American upsurge and the admiration of Americans for his games were interrupted by a car accident on June 7, 1993, at around 5:20 p.m., in which Drazen lost his life at the age of 29, at the height of his career. The death of ” the basketball Mozart” resonated like an absolute explosion in the European public.

Behind the wheel was Drazen’s then-girlfriend, a German model of Hungarian descent, Klara Szalantzy. In the car was Turkish basketball player Hilal Edebal, who ended up with severe brain injuries; only Drazen was killed, who crashed through the windshield in a collision. Dražen and Klara met through a mutual friend in New York, and very soon, Dražen and Klara became a couple. A few years after Drazen’s death, Klara Szalantzy married German footballer Oliver Bierhoff .

Drazen Petrovic – Legacy

He was an extraordinary young man and a favorite in the company of those who knew what professional basketball was. Although he knew how to destroy opponents as a relentless player, everyone admired his game, sportsmanship, and charisma, which was rarely seen. For his athletic legacy, he received the Croatian State Award for Sports “Franjo Bučar” in 1992, and posthumously, this time for his life’s work, he received the same award in 2002. In 1995, the Croatian Olympic Committee donated a statue commemorating Petrović’s significance to the Lausanne Olympic Museum.

The work of the best Croatian sculptors was placed in the park in front of the Olympic Museum. Drazen was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2006, the Dražen Petrović Museum and Memorial Center was opened in his honor in Zagreb, next to the basketball hall that also holds his name. The award named after him(Dražen Petrović Trophy) was established by the Croatian Olympic Committee in 2006 and is intended exclusively for young athletes, men’s and women’s teams for outstanding sports results and sports development.

In October 2011, a bronze casting of Dražen was unveiled in Šibenik(his hometown), showing a basketball player sitting on a bench in the first phase of his career with a basketball between his legs. The Dražen Petrović Memorial Center was opened on the same day, which was arranged in Dražen’s apartment on his mother’s initiative.

During the European Basketball Championship in September 2013, Dražen Petrović was chosen as the best European basketball player of all time. In the selection, 38 basketball players from Eurobasket in Slovenia were interviewed, naming the five best European basketball players of all time. Dražen Petrović, who was the world and European champion, and twice won the Euroleague and twice silver at the Olympic Games, collected the most votes.

Drazen Petrovic – Net Worth

Drazen Petrovic was an NBA star who tragically passed away in a car accident in 1993. According to reports, his net worth is estimated to be around $5 million at the time of his death. His legacy and impact on the game of basketball have been felt for many years, and he is still remembered fondly by fans all over the world.

What NBA teams did Drazen Petrovic play for?

He began his NBA career with the Portland Trail Blazers in 1989, but was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in 1990. He quickly became a fan favorite in Brooklyn, and was one of the league’s leading scorers during his time with the Nets. Petrovic tragically passed away in 1993, but his legacy as one of the NBA’s greats lives on.

Was Drazen Petrovic ever an all star?

Though he had a successful season, shooting 45 percent from three-point range and averaging 11 points per game, Petrovic didn’t make the All-Star Game. He felt undervalued and thought about leaving the NBA altogether.