Dražen Petrović ( Croatian Dražen Petrović ; October 22, 1964 , Sibenik , Yugoslavia - June 7, 1993 , Denkendorf , Bavaria , Germany ) - Yugoslav and Croatian basketball player , three-time Olympic medalist , two-time world and European champion, two-time Winner of the European Cup . He played as an attacking defender . Member of the FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame and Hall of Fame .
| Drazen Petrovich | |
|---|---|
| Dražen Petrović | |
 Petrovich as part of the New Jersey Nets | |
| Finished his career | |
| Position | Attacking defender |
| Growth | 196 cm |
| Weight | 88 kg |
| Citizenship |  Yugoslavia →  Croatia |
| Date of Birth | October 22, 1964 |
| Place of Birth | Sibenik , SR Croatia , SFRY |
| Date of death | June 7, 1993 (28 years old) |
| Place of death | Denkendorf , Bavaria , Germany |
| NBA draft | 60th (3rd round), 1986 , Portland Trail Blazers |
| Statistics | |
| Games | 290 |
| Glasses | 4461 ( 15.4 on average per game) |
| Rebounds | 669 ( 2.3 on average per game) |
| Gears | 701 ( 2.4 on average per game) |
| Intercepts | 265 ( 0.9 on average per game) |
| Block shots | 27 ( 0.1 on average per game) |
Content
Sports Biography
Born in the Croatian city of Sibenik on the Adriatic coast in a family of Montenegrin and Croatian . The elder brother Aleksandar (born February 16, 1959) was also a famous basketball player and played for the Yugoslav national team , in which he became the bronze medalist of the 1984 Olympic Games , world and European championships.
Drazen Petrovich played for the following clubs:
- 1979-83 - BC Sibenka
- 1984-88 - BC Cibona (European Cup - 1985 and 1986, Cup Winners Cup - 1987)
- 1988-89 - BC Real Madrid (Cup of Cup Winners - 1989)
- 1989-91 - Portland Trail Blazers
- 1991-93 - New Jersey Nets
Doom
In the summer of 1993, after a successful season with the New Jersey Nets (in the playoffs, however, the team dropped out in the first round, losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers ), Petrovich went to Poland , where the Croatian national team held the qualifying tournament for the championship Europe 1993 . At that time, there were rumors that Petrovich was not completely satisfied with his position in the New Jersey Nets, and there was a possibility that he might go to one of the Greek clubs that expressed interest in acquiring the famous Croatian.
On June 7, at about 17 hours and 20 minutes, in conditions of poor visibility, on the German Autobahn No. 9 in Denkendorf , near Ingolstadt in Bavaria , the Volkswagen Golf car, in which 28-year-old Petrovich rode as passengers (he was returning from Poland after successful match in the national team) and the Turkish basketball player Hilal Edebal , and driving Klara Shalanzi , a German model and a basketball player (Klara and Petrovich were romantically involved), crashed into a truck. The latter, having lost control a few seconds before, turned around and stopped across the road. As a result, sleeping Petrovich, who was sitting in the passenger seat next to the driver and was not wearing a seat belt, was killed, and Edebal and Shalantsi received numerous injuries, but survived. Clara Schalanzi later married the famous German football player Oliver Bierhoff .
The death of Petrovich was reminded of many by the death of another famous Yugoslav basketball player Radivoy Korach , who crashed in a car accident in June 1969 at the age of 30.
Petrovich was buried in the Mirogoj cemetery in Zagreb .
Achievements and rewards
- On October 10, 1985, in the match of the Yugoslav championship against Ljubljana Olimpia, Petrovich scored 112 points.
- In 1986, at the World Championships in Spain, 21-year-old Drazen Petrovich was recognized as the best player in the tournament, despite the fact that the Yugoslav national team took only 3rd place.
- In the same 1986, he was selected at the NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers club under the 60th number.
- In 1987, Petrovich won the Universiade in Zagreb as part of the Yugoslav national team.
- In 1989, at the European Championships in Yugoslavia, Petrovich was recognized as the best player in the tournament.
- In the 1992/93 season, the first of the Europeans was included in the third team of all the NBA stars.
After death
- On October 4, 1993, the home arena of BC Zibon was renamed the Basketball Arena named after Drazen Petrovich [1] .
- On November 11, 1993, the third number under which Petrovich played for the New Jersey Nets was forever assigned to him [2] .
- April 29, 1995 in front of the building of the Olympic Museum in Lausanne , a sculpture was opened dedicated to the contribution of Drazen Petrovich to world sports.
- In 2000, as a result of a survey conducted by national television, Petrovich was recognized as the best athlete of Croatia of the 20th century [3] .
- In 2002, Petrovich’s name was included in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield , Massachusetts. [4]
- In 2004, Petrovich was also included in the list of 100 greatest personalities in the history of Croatia , compiled by Nacional magazine.
- In 2006, the Drazen Petrovich Memorial Center was opened in Zagreb, the basis of which was the Drazen Petrovich Museum.
- In 2007, the name of Petrovich was included in the FIBA Hall of Fame [5] .
Statistics
NBA Statistics
| Season | Team | Regular season | Playoff series | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | ||
| 1989/90 | Portland | 77 | 0 | 12.6 | 48.5 | 45.9 | 84,4 | 1.4 | 1,5 | 0.3 | 0,0 | 7.6 | 20 | 0 | 12.7 | 44.0 | 31.3 | 58.3 | 1,6 | 1,0 | 0.3 | 0,0 | 6.1 |
| 1990/91 | Portland | 18 | 0 | 7.4 | 45.1 | 16.7 | 68,2 | 1,0 | 1,1 | 0.3 | 0,0 | 4.4 | Did not participate | ||||||||||
| 1990/91 | New Jersey | 43 | 0 | 20.5 | 50,0 | 37.3 | 86.1 | 2.1 | 1,5 | 0.9 | 0,0 | 12.6 | Did not participate | ||||||||||
| 1991/92 | New Jersey | 82 | 82 | 36.9 | 50.8 | 44,4 | 80.8 | 3,1 | 3,1 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 20.6 | four | four | 40.8 | 53.9 | 33.3 | 84.6 | 2.5 | 3.3 | 1,0 | 0.3 | 24.3 |
| 1992/93 | New Jersey | 70 | 67 | 38,0 | 51.8 | 44.9 | 87.0 | 2.7 | 3,5 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 22.3 | five | five | 38.6 | 45.5 | 33.3 | 80.0 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 0,0 | 15.6 |
| Total | 290 | 149 | 26,4 | 50.6 | 43.7 | 84.1 | 2,3 | 2,4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 15.4 | 29th | 9 | 21.0 | 47.4 | 32,4 | 69.6 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0,0 | 10,2 | |
| Hover over the abbreviations in the table heading to read their interpretation | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes
- ↑ Dvorana (09/12/2008). Date of treatment April 26, 2015.
- ↑ Drazen Petrovic . NBA.com Date of treatment April 26, 2015.
- ↑ Drazen Petrovich: Life is a dream and death in a dream . sport-express.ua . Sport Express . Date of treatment November 14, 2014.
- ↑ Drazen Petrovic Hall of Famers . hoophall.com . Basketball Hall of Fame. Date of treatment November 14, 2014. Archived on August 5, 2009.
- ↑ FIBA.com, FIBA Hall of Fame Profile Archived on September 30, 2007.
Links
- Drazen Petrovich on the NBA official website
- Drazen Petrovich on the website of the Basketball Hall of Fame
- Drazen Petrovich on the site of the FIBA Hall of Fame (English)
- Drazen Petrovich on the Euroleague.net website
- Drazen Petrovich on the website Interbasket.net (English)
- Drazen Petrovich on Peoples.ru (Russian)