He would have been 51 today
Today, Croatia remembers one of its greatest basketball players of all times – Dražen Petrović. Born in Šibenik on October 22 1964, his stellar career was cut short by a fatal car accident in Germany on June 7th 1993 the prime of life, just four months shy of his 29th birthday..
To mark his birthday, his birth city of Šibenik will unveil a new city square Dražen Petrović, and once again pay tribute to their famous citizen, and it is only fitting since we know how much Dražen loved his home town.
TNC’s very own Paul Bradbury honouring the legend in Šibenik
Dražen, or basketball Mozart as they called him, was a pioneer in international recruits, becoming among the very first Europeans to be recruited to the US, later followed by other Croatian basketball greats Toni Kukoč, Dino Rađa and many others who made a mark for themselves in the American Basketball mega-club, the NBA.
After Dražen’s untimely death, the New Jersey Nets retired his #3 jersey forever by raising under the roof of their arena. He was posthumously admitted into the NBA Hall of Fame.
Dražen Petrović was a World and European champion, two time Europe League winner and a two-time Olympic silver medalist but most of all, he was and always will be a true legend, sports hero and a name that will forever be remembered in the history of Croatian sport.
