Anniversary of Dražen Petrović’s death marked in Croatia
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
ZAGREB, 7 June 2022 – It has been 29 years since Croatia lost one of the greatest sportsmen the country ever produced.
On 7 June 1993, basketball legend Dražen Petrović lost his life in a tragic accident. Dražen was just 28 years of age when he died in a car accident in Germany after returning from playing for Croatia in Poland the previous day.
Wreaths and flowers will be laid on Tuesday to mark the 29th anniversary at his grave in Zagreb and also at his monument in his hometown of Šibenik.
Nicknamed ‘Basketball’s Mozart’, Dražen was born in Šibenik on 22 October 1964. After making a name for himself with local club Šibenka, where he debuted for the club’s first team at the age of 15, Dražen moved to Zagreb where he played for Cibona from 1984-1988.
After winning a number of titles he moved to Real Madrid where he helped them win the title. Dražen was the league’s regular season top scorer. Including the playoffs, he scored a total of 1,327 points, in 47 games played, for a scoring average of 28.2 points per game.
The grave of Dražen Petrović at Mirogoj in Zagreb (Photo: SpeedyGonsales under CC licence)
Voted the Best European Basketballer in History, Dražen moved to the Portland Trailblazers before he enjoyed an illustrious career with the New Jersey Nets, averaging 20.6 points in 36.9 minutes on the floor, and nearly leading all NBA guards in field goal percentage (51%). He did not miss a single game.
Dražen also won Olympic basketball medals, as well as a gold and a bronze at the FIBA World and European Championships. Petrović was regarded as a crucial part of the present-day mass influx of European players into the NBA.
Last year, at the age of 94, Dražen’s father passed away in Zagreb after a long illness. His mother, Biserka, and brother, Aco, are still alive.
