Did you know that Croatian basketball player Dražen Petrović was called the “Mozart of basketball” because of his dedicated work, ease of play and exceptional talent? At the beginning of his career, Dražen played for domestic clubs such as “Šibenka” (1976) and “Cibona” (1984). He signed with the Spanish “Real Madrid” in 1988, and a year later he continued his career in the American professional basketball league (NBA), becoming the first Croatian basketball player in the league. He played in the clubs “Portland Trail Blazers” (1989) and “New Jersey Nets” (1991).

Dražen’s sporting successes are numerous, among which we can single out appearances and medals at the Universiade in Edmonton (1983) and Zagreb (1987), the European Championships in Athens (1987) and Zagreb (1989), the World Championships in Spain (1986; also declared the best player of the championship) and Argentina (1990) and the Olympic Games in Los Angeles (1984) and Seoul (1988). He was also the first captain of the Croatian basketball team, with which he won a silver medal at the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992. He was named the best basketball player in Europe several times.

He died in a car accident in Germany in 1993. After his death, Dražen’s New Jersey Nets number 3 jersey was retired and, in 2002, Dražen was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield (USA).

*Enrico Campana, an Italian sports journalist for La Gazzetta dello Sport