Dario Šarić became only the fifth Croatian basketball player in the NBA league finals. Dražen Petrović, Toni Kukoč, Žan Tabak and Ante Žižić succeeded before him, reports Šibenik.in.
Šarić reached the finals with the Phoenix Suns, who topped the Los Angeles Clippers 4-2 in the NBA Western Conference Finals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v=IfIyQgHiWw0
It will be the third final for the Suns, who have lost the previous two they participated in. They last played in the finals in 1993, when they were led by Charles Barkley, but lost to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in six games.
Before that, they lost to the Boston Celtics in 1976, also in six games.
The first Croatian basketball player to reach the NBA Finals was Dražen Petrović in 1990 with the Portland Trail Blazers. However, Petrović did not play next to Terry Porter and Clyde Drexler, and Portland lost to the Detroit Pistons 1-4 in the finals.
After Dražen, Jean Tabak reached the final in the Houston jersey in 1995 and won. However, Tabak didn’t have many minutes, as he was a replacement for Hakeem Olajuwon. Houston beat Orlando 4-0 in the final.
Interestingly, Tabak is the second European basketball player ever to win an NBA ring. Only a season before him, Slovak Richard Petruška won the title, also in the Houston jersey. Tabak also made it to the finals with the Indiana Pacers in 2000 when the LA Lakers defeated them.
Toni Kukoč played an important role with the Chicago Bulls, winning three consecutive championship titles (1996-1998). In the first final, the Bulls defeated Seattle and the Utah Jazz in the next two seasons.
Ante Žižić also played in the NBA league finals with Cleveland in 2018, but the Golden State Warriors won 4-0.
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