Gone Too Soon: The Story Of Dražen Petrović

In the 1989-90 season, the Portland Trail Blazers bought out Dražen Petrović’s contract with Real Madrid and convinced him to join the NBA. This would mark the start of a trailblazing career that was tragically cut short. 
     Dražen Petrović was born in Šibenik, Croatia on the 22^nd of October, 1964. At the age of 15, he was already in the first team of his hometown club, and by the age of 18, Petrović had blossomed into a star for Šibenik. After serving in the military for a year, he moved to Cibona in 1984, where he would play till 1988. At Cibona, Petrović shined. He once scored 112 points in a Yugoslavian League game (40/60 FG, 10/20 3Pts, 22/22 FT), which is possibly the most efficient performance in any European league ever. He averaged 37.7 points in the Yugoslavian first division and 33.8 points in European competitions in his 4 years at Cibona, cementing his status as a European star. In 1988, at the age of 23, he moved to Real Madrid, where he stayed for one season before joining the Portland Trail Blazers. 
     After winning innumerable honors in Europe, Petrović made the jump to the NBA. However, his NBA career was fraught with obstacles. The Trail Blazers did not see Petrović as a primary ball handler, instead wanting to use him as a 3-point specialist. However, Petrović was not used to playing off the ball. Additionally, the Blazers already had many serviceable guards, with star Clyde Drexler and veterans Terry Porter and Danny Young. The addition of Danny Ainge in the 1990-91 season dropped Petrović’s playing time from 12 minutes to 7 minutes per game. In January of 1991, he would be traded to the New Jersey Nets, where he would soon blossom into a 20-point scorer. In both his full seasons in New Jersey, he averaged over 20 points per game on 50/40/80 shooting splits, making the All-NBA Third Team in the 1993 season, despite not making the All-Star team. Petrović shot 43.7% from 3 for his career, and despite the low volume (career high of 3.4 attempts per game), he was one of the most feared 3-point shooters in the league.
     In June 1993, Petrović was travelling to Croatia with his girlfriend after playing a Eurobasket qualification tournament. On the 7^th of June, he was involved in a car accident on the Autobahn (the German freeway). A sleeping Petrović was killed, and his girlfriend and another passenger in the back seat were left with grave injuries.
     After the news of his death, the basketball community was devastated. A moment of silence was observed before the start of Game 1 of the 1993 NBA Finals. Cibona, the team with whom he became a European star, renamed their stadium in his honor. The New Jersey Nets retired his number 3 jersey, and multiple trophies were named after him.
     Petrović is enshrined in both the basketball Hall Of Fame and the FIBA Hall Of Fame. He is also one of the original European stars who made the jump to the NBA and is one of the reasons why many European players now play in the NBA. The career of Dražen Petrović is a flame that burnt bright, but was extinguished far too soon.