I have always been a little to sensitive when talking about Dražen Petrović. He is lika a God to us here in Šibenik. "Our little" as we like to call it or "The Captain" as the whole Croatia calls him.
Brooklyn Nets had a night remembering a legend two days ago. This is the cover picture from their facebook page.
Dražen started playing for the first team of "Šibenka" at the early age of 15. He was already showing remarkable signs that he will one day become the best of them all. The sports hall was very near his home and he used every single spare moment to go there to practice. His trainers remember that he use to go to the hall all by him self, before school, or late in the evening and just shoot the hoops. He loved that. He enjoyed when he was alone in the hall just shooting and shooting. He later on continued that practice even when he was in the NBA.
He was very well known for his work etics and his comitment to training from the early ages. There is a story when his class went to the prom that he was drinking juice and went home early because he had to practice in the morning. Imagine someone these days going early from the prom.
Dražen became a legend on 9th of April 1983. Final game of the Yugoslavian championship, Šibenka - Bosna, played in Šibenik. After the fenomenal season and a hard 10 years work of all the people in the club to put the club in the top, the deciding match was to be played in Šibenik, in front of the fenomenal crowd. Dražen scored 40 points including the last two free throws after a foul on him in the last second of the game. He scored them both and won the first title for Šibenka.
The next morning, after the great celebration in the streets of Šibenik, the Basketball aliance of Yugoslavia canceled the game for irregularity and ordered a new game to be played. That game was never played, because the Team of Šibenka didn't accept the decision and simply didn't go to that game.
To this day that was the biggest injustice ever made in Yugoslavian sport. It was thought that Bosna had to win the title because the Winter olimpic games was to be held in Sarajevo the next year.
On 10th of April a support group "Šibenski funcuti" was formed and to this day 1983. is in Šibenik celebrated and never forgot.
Next season Dražen was sold to Cibona, where he joined his brother Aleksandar, and went on to win everything that could be won, but to us in Šibenik he always was "Naš mali" or "Our little one".
I remember when I was was a little boy that my father took me to the game so I could see Dražen play. I waved to him while he was going to the locker room and I dont't remember did he waved me back or something but it really doesn't matter, we all loved him even when we were loosing from Cibona.
He stayed in Cibona for four years and in 1987 Cibona won the regular part of the Championship with 22-0, 22 wins and zero defeats. They were European champions two times and Dražen was named European MVP two times.
On the opening game of the season 1985./86. against Olimpija, which had problems with player registration and played with juniors and cadets, Dražen scored incredible 112 points. even if it was not a fair game this is still a remarkable result. Cibona won that game 158-77.
He went on to play in Real Madrid for one year and Real then won the European Championship in 1989. with Dražen scoring an amazing 62 points in the finals.
And finaly after a great struggle with his club Real Madrid, which didn't want to let him go, Dražen joined the NBA. He went to Portland where he spent 2 seasons mostly being a substitute for Clyde Drexler, a big name in the NBA then, not being able to work his way through. He was then frustrated, but worked even harder to acomplish his goals.
Finaly he exploded in New Jersey Nets and in 1992. he was named the best European in NBA, opening the path to all other Europen players coming to NBA. He was happy in Nets, finaly getting what he wanted. In the third season, the last and the best one, he was selected in the third line-up in NBA. He was a leading guard in the NBA with the 50,8 % field goals and leading Nets scorer with 20,6 points per game. He scored 44 points in one game against Houston. He was living the dream.
That year Croatia won silver medal in the Olympic games in Barcelona lead by Dražen. Gold was reserved for the greatest USA team that ever played. Jordan, Ewing, Bird, Barkley, Johnson, Pippen, Stockton, Malone, Robinson,...
Dražen scores 11 consecutive points against USA.
Who knows what could have Dražen achieved if he wasn't to be involved in the car accident on the German highway that took his life. But during his life he already became a legend. His monuments are all over the Europe, in Zgareb, in Šibenik, in Lausanne,...
He was named in the Basketball Hall of fame in 2002.
But his aproach in life, in training, his motivation, his love towards the game is to be remembered. He was a true leader, a true Captain and a true Legend.
We have built him a monument in Šibenik. The one he would have liked. We built a basketball court. In front of the court is a bench with Dražen sitting there waitnig to get in the court and play. The monument shows young Dražen as Šibenik remembers him, and the court for generations of new Dražens to come.
The best way to show what Dražen means to us is this picture.
When it's cold we put a jacket on him.
