Nearly 25 years after his death, Croatian basketball legend Drazen Petrović is still making headlines on ESPN, senior writer Zach Lowe explains. Last night in Brooklyn, Petrović was honored by the Nets in a pregame ceremony which saw his mother, Biserka, and nephew, Marko, attend. The 2002 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee has left a legacy which will remain for future generations to come.
This is a great piece by Lowe which illustrates how future players will be impacted by Petrović’s move to the United States. Slovenian superstar Luka Dončić, who is projected to be the #1 pick in the draft this year, has been told dozens of stories of Petrović’s past by current coach Igor Kokoskov.
“Kokoskov told Dončić about how, during Yugoslavia’s run to the 1989 EuroBasket championship in Zagreb, Yugoslavia (now Croatia), Petrović would wake up before 6 a.m., drag an assistant coach into his red Porsche 911, and drive to a gym for a workout while the rest of the team slept. He would return two or three hours later, dripping in sweat, and eat breakfast with his groggy teammates.”
@lika Joey
Where do u live in the six?
Dogovoren. Anonymous.
@Zee
Stupid little twerps like you should just shut their mouthes.
“Ima jedan narod mali
koji mozda znao nije
da od deset svojih ljudi
svako treci dusman ti je”
This first part sings about people that might not know who there enemies are (out of 10 people every third one is an enemy).
@Black man said that Croatia is 99% white, that means that our enemies are white people. What makes these white people our enemies?
“Probudi se hrvatski narode
i pogledaj malo oko sebe
jer ti imas unutarnje neprijatelje
koji bi sve dali da te ne bude”
This part is imploring Croats to wake up and look around, because we’ve got enemies among us that would give anything for us not to be what we are.
Of course you wouldn’t know what to look for because you’re asleep. Wake up dumbass!
Neznas po nasi? Ja ne razumijem tebe. Pricaj po nasi!
@Zee
Tell us what you like about the song meathead? Don’t be scared.
@anonymous. Ne razumijem jelda? Ja cu ti pokazat. Sta imas smenom?
@Zee
You know not all the Anonymous’s are the same person dopey?
What’s wrong with the comment you pussy?
You don’t even understand the song dumbass!
Croatia is the 2nd most Catholic nation on earth per capita next to Brazil. Wtf?
If you wondering i love the song. Just shut up anonymous!
@Zee
What is wrong with Anonymous’s comment?
Zee is a Yugo cunt.
https://youtu.be/UtgXl6BgZP4
Enjoy!
@Zee, you shut the fuck you yugo cunt!
Shut up anonymous. You are embarrassing yourself.
@Black man
Diversity doesn’t only apply to race, there is also religious diversity. Only talking about racial diversity takes our attention away from what’s really going on.
Look at Afghanistan, Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey, Yeman etc. these countries are almost 100% Muslim.
Are they in need of some diversity?
I think Croatia should aim to be 100% Catholic.
Black Catholics, Latino Catholics and Asian Catholics would be welcome to live the Croatian dream in this case!
@Black man, is that good enough, Croatia would have racial diversity whilst maintaining their Catholicism?
Maybe we can trade out white non-Catholics and bring in some Black, Latino or Asian Catholics, this would make us more racially diverse, which seems to be your sole focus. What do you think?
@Black man
What are some of the benefits of diversity in your opinion?
Black Man crying about racists yet calling people “retards.” That’s progress alright!
I’ll answer that question.
How about never, much like the rest of the world.
@Slavonac, stop justifying your people’s racism. A murderer doesn’t get to say “lot’s of other people commit murder too”. Just answer my question: When will Croatia stop being backwards and fully embrace diversity?
Umm… I’m pretty sure that “Black Man” is HAET. Same overuse of Caps Lock. Also, don’t think Truth and Živa are the same guy. Similar trolling patterns but the latter was slightly better with words while the former cites numbers a lot more.
Black Man, who isn’t racist? aren’t we all?
blacks in the USA are more racist than most people are. they used a fake slogan and tried to put an honest man behind bars during the “hands up, don’t shoot lie”. Blacks hate and attack Jews every day, Latino’s make fun of white Americans, they think Americans are a dumb nation…and say it often.
Croatians are just like most other countries, we have our racist views but we aren’t different from any other Nation. most character traits and slurs are based on some truth…ie…dalmatians are lazy…is it true? of course it is! its the same as saying Czech’s are cheap/frugal and Chinese are smart cause there’s a lot of truth to those comments.
Europeans think Americans lack culture…which is why many Americans don’t sew on a USA flag to their backpacks when they travel. many muslim nations are very lazy and take advantage of the countries they emigrate to…thats not racist, thats the truth!
@Lika Joey, you said “Black man, don’t let a couple of goofs on this site fool you.”
I’m not letting anyone “fool me”, I don’t know what that means. I just know that Croatia is 99% White so it’s obvious Croatia isn’t embracing diversity like the rest of the civilized world. When are y’all going to stop being so racist and backwards?
@”the truth”, you said:
“We can all talk about how good drazen could’ve been… Even make claims like would-ve been the best European ever…. Without requiring the proof of action”
It’s an OPINION that obviously CAN’T be proved you fucking RETARD!
“the jury is out over whether he would have achieved it.”
The expression “the jury is out” is supposed to be used when there is an expectation that there will be a conclusion/an answer eventually. Obviously Petrovic is dead so there won’t be you fucking basic MORON!
Nobody answered my question, so I’ll ask it again.
Why is Croatia so racist, when are y’all going to become more diverse and stop being so backwards?
Ziva and truth are probably the same retarded idiot that talk bad about dead people and crave attention.
I remember Ziva criticising Modric while I did challenge him stating that Modric wasn’t at Real for the pre-season preparation…and that definitely hurt him. with that said, Ziva had some really good perspectives on many topics but his lack of compassion and his overall ego fuck him….which is probably true in his every day life…he has serious demons.
^ ^
Whoops that was me.
Whistle, horn however a game ends…
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22619867/jordan-clarkson-cleveland-cavaliers-throws-ball-dario-saric-gets-ejected
I hate shit like this!
How about playing some D to the final whistle and not getting dunked on.
I never understand why women get convicted for “crimes” like this:
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/science-teacher-26-sent-nudes-had-sex-romps-with-teen-boy-student-cops-say/news-story/c8811b506f8b360f40a1808f644a0770
I mean what is this? A conviction? That honey should be getting a MEDAL not a jail sentence!
Amirite?
😉
Game Time! Hslilovic starting vs Barcelona that treated him like balkan dirt!
This will be his chance to shine or bust!
@the Truth-you can do it, just a monumental jocksniffing waste of time. Each metric is not without it’s major flaw(s), even a blind man can see that.
People who watched the nets in the early 90’s know Petrovic’s importance.
@bz
You’re right. It’s silly to evaluate players based on production
There you go guys. This was the pick of the comments from January 8, 2013.
Ziva Istina says:
i agree…..lets see how he finishes the year in the league and the CL……right now, the bust label sticks
January 8, 2013 at 5:26 AM
Bobby V says:
Modric will not leave Madrid and will flourish next season after Mourinho goes.
January 8, 2013 at 3:00 PM
@truth
i didnt realize you were a black man. I agree croats are very racist. i steal, i take shits on the street, then steal some more and for some reason everyone calls me a cigan.
@everyone spreading misinfo
ziva never said luka was a bust, if you think otherwise then please go to the threads from years ago and take a screenshot of his comment where he states modric is a bust.
Honestly Ziva never called Modric a bust
He said his time in Spain was bad at the moment
Which it was, at first he wasn’t even worth his 36 mil price tag
@the Truth- answer D. Only a jocksniffer would ever care aboutthose NBA metrics.
I was actually disappointed the convo waa redirected. I would’ve been curious about who people thought was the best player based on the three anonymous European players i listed
BZ, lol…Brate!
But Nonameovic has more Serie A goals than Mario this year!
No way should Mandza start for us any more!
Mandzukic leads Juve to victory today. Allegri so confident in Mandzu’s winning brand of soccer, that he benched both Higuain & Dybala with confidence.
@Black Man-din’t let a couple of goofs on this site fool you, we know you aren’t black.
@Black man is @The truth, trying to change the subject from his stupid “the jury is still out” comment.
@Black man
I hate that they chose a bi-racial women as Ms Universe. I don’t care what her other part is, if it’s Croatian Miss Universe she should be a representation of the majority Croatians.. The only reason she was chosen was to create controversy and attention.
Additionally, she’s not even that attractive.
The reigning miss universe Croatia is bi-racial. I’ve been to Miami for Memorial Day weekend and must say that some, not all, blacks behaved poorly towards me because I’m not African American.
Black man, don’t let a couple of goofs on this site fool you. Bro I’m 100% croat living in the six….I have three best friends…one is a Croat the other two are a black trini…and a Filipino.
“the truth” said “the jury is out over whether he would have achieved it.”
No shit Sherlock, and guess what? The jury will always be out. Duhh! Now go back to your usual wasting time by talking shit about every Croatian athlete on this site.
You like to take credit for telling everyone what everyone already knows.
I found this site by googling the name of Drazen Petrovic, I was a fan of his when I was a kid. I liked alot of white ball players when I was a kid, you know how it is. Anyway, this looks like a good place to ask why Croatia is so racist, when are y’all going to become more diverse and stop being so backwards?
A couple points
1) i don’t think ziva ever called modric a bust. I think he simply said he was playing like a bust
2) petrovic did enough during his European, national and nba career that he is deserving of having a hat tipped to him for his accomplishments. I’m just saying that because of his early death, petrovic status has taken on mythical proportion. And the jury is out over whether he would have achieved it.
Let’s do a blind test. I’m going to list three European players and their peak nba performance. Tell me which one is best
A. Pts/100: 29.8, rb/100: 5, assists/100: 4. Per: 16.8 win share: 7.7,. Real plus/minus: +.8
B. Pts/100: 27.5, rb/100: 10.2, assists/100: 7.7, per: 21, win share +7.7, real plus/minus +4.5
C. Pts/100: 26.5, rb/100: 13.2, assists/100: 3.7, per: 21, win share +4, real plus/minus -1.2
@the other Anonymous, “the truth’s” reply about Modric has been “I was right at the time”. He takes credit for reporting what everyone else was “at the time”. But we all know when you call someone “a bust” you’re NOT saying “he’s had a rough start”, you’re saying he’s Ryan Leaf.
@The truth
I remember when the unimaginative @Ziva Istina called Luka Modric a bust, he had no idea what a player of his talent could be capable of, because all he saw was his early struggles at Real Madrid, and based on that he called him a bust.
Drazen Petrovic after some early struggles was showing plenty before he died and it’s not unreasonable to believe that Petro would’ve been great in the NBA as well from what we saw, I can’t imagine it being otherwise, why would anyone want to?
Why do you believe that Petrovic’s standing in the game is based on the fact that he died young?
An interesting topic i was discussing with some guys today is whether drazens legacy was much better off as a result of his unfortunate death?
If he had continued to play, who knows what would’ve happened… Perhaps lack of progress… Reduction in quality… Maybe, maybe not
But his death closed the real life story book, and in its place left only imagination and legend.
We can all talk about how good drazen could’ve been… Even make claims like would-ve been the best European ever…. Without requiring the proof of action
As a result, drazen will hold a mythical, legendary place in the eyes of European basketball even if what might have come of his career would not end up warranting a similar standing