In the late 90s, European players began to land more in the NBA and became NBA stars, such as Parker, Dior, Nowitzki, and doncic, who has been very popular recently, but if we look a little further, we will see more basketball elites from Europe, one of whom is worth knowing, he is Dratzen Petrovich.
Petrović is from Croatia, the young he led the team in the Croatian league and Europa League to kill four sides, become a side of the hegemon, at the Barcelona Olympic Games, he led the Croatian national team and the "Dream Team" to compete for the gold medal, although the Croatian team finally lost to the "Dream Team" and won the silver medal, but Petrović scored 24 points in front of the "Dream Team", so that everyone in the "Dream Team" did not dare to despise him.
In 1986, Petrovich participated in the NBA draft and was selected by the Blazers, but because of other factors, Petrovich failed to land in the NBA immediately, the obstacle was lifted in 1989, Petrovic landed in the NBA, but did not immediately play a reputation, in the Nets, Petrovic ushered in the peak of his career, scoring 44 points in a single game to lead the team to win, in the NBA field, Petrovic also proved himself, becoming one of the few white players who can shine in the NBA, but when everything is fine, Petrovich suffered a car accident, and his life was frozen at the age of 28, a generation of European kings, and fell.
<h1>Radiant "King of Europe"</h1>
October 22, 1964, Petrovich was born, there are many children born on this day, Petrovich is just one of them, it does not appear special, with the change of the seasons, Petrovich grew up, Petrovich's temperament is different from other children, very special in the pile of children, when other children are still chasing naughty, Petrovich has sweated on the basketball court, although the basketball looks particularly big in front of Petrovich, but Petrovich has the confidence to conquer it, Let him move with his heart in his own hands, in order to achieve this goal, Petrovich holds the basketball every day, the love of basketball can be said to reach the level of obsession, and his brother has to snatch the ball away to make Petrovich's love of basketball cool down.
Early training coupled with extraordinary talent, let Petrovich play with the team at the age of 13, driven by Petrovich, the originally weak team, became very competitive, and how did Petrovich make himself stronger? Simply put, it is to arrive early, leave late, and practice diligently. Petrovich was the first to arrive every day, and then shot, when his teammates were leaving, Petrovich was still there, and when he had to leave, Petrovich left, so hard training, laid a very solid foundation for Petrovich.
Petrović's performance is getting better and better, the small team is no longer the place for Petrović to stay, he came to the domestic first division, in the higher league, Petrović's performance has not deteriorated at all, but played very well, in the Yugoslav domestic union competition, Petrovich averaged 43.4 points per game, in the European Union game, Petrovic averaged 37 points per game, in the face of the old club, Petrovich on the field did not care about the previous friendship, slashed 56 points, this fierceness, so that Petrovich has the psychological basis for becoming a superstar.
Under the leadership of Petrovich, Petrovich's team won the European Cup twice, Petrovich has become a household name, people have given him a lot of nicknames, such as "scoring machine" and "basketball prodigy", etc., but from petrovich's achievements in Europe, it is more realistic to call each other "european kings", because in that era, Petrovich was the brightest star in European basketball. After achieving great success in Europe, Petrović also wanted to enter the NBA, in another arena, to show his ability, so he participated in the NBA draft in 1986.
Although in Europe, Petrovich is a player who is widely watched and recognized by everyone, but in the United States, the recognition of European players is not enough, and it can even be said that some contempt for European players, in this context, Petrovich was selected by the Blazers in the third round of the 13th pick, this pick reflects the attitude of the NBA team to Petrovich, although it did not get attention in the NBA, but Petrovich still wants to go to the United States, but at this time because of other irreversible factors, Petrovich's plans to play in the NBA were put on hold until 1989, when Petrovich landed in the NBA, however, Petrovich's NBA journey was not smooth.
<h1>Rushing to the trailblazers is not taken seriously</h1>
In '89, Petrovich left his hometown for a strange place, Portland, where he will play in the NBA as a Trail Blazers player in the new season. Although Petrovich overcame many difficulties to come to a foreign country and play for the Blazers, perhaps the Blazers lineup is complete, the Blazers management does not want to destroy the chemistry in the team, or the Blazers do not believe that Petrovich can also shine in the NBA.
Whatever the reason, the Blazers didn't give Petrovich a high tactical status, even though Petrovic was able to cut down 24 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist in a single game. In the rookie season, Petrovich played in 77 games, did not start a game, averaged only 12.6 minutes per game, and at the end of the season, Petrovic averaged 7.6 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game, shooting 48.5% from the field, a European king, who met a snub in the NBA.
In the 90-91 season, the Blazers further compressed Petrovich's opportunities, which meant that Petrovich's Blazers career was coming to an end, and sure enough, after playing 18 games for the Blazers, Petrovich was sent to the New Jersey Nets, and when he first arrived at the Nets, the Nets did not dare to immediately push Petrolovic to the starter, and they believed that the Blazers put Petrovich in the starting lineup because Petrovich was not capable enough.
However, after 43 games of testing, the Nets believe that Petrovich is fully capable of playing the starter, Petrovich averaged 12.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game in these 43 games, and cut 20+ many times, this performance, let the Nets very much recognize Petrovich, they put Petrovich on the team leader position, Petrovich, like a dragon, rode the wind and stepped into his peak.
<h1>Leading the team into the playoffs, Petrovic's glory years in the NBA</h1>
91-92 season opener, Petrovich started the game, shot 13 times, cut 20 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 steal, helped the team to win the opponent by 8 points, made the season start, the second game against the 76ers led by Barkley, Petrovich shot 11 of 16, contributed 24 points, 1 rebound, 8 assists and 4 steals, but unfortunately the team still lost 2 points to the opponent, against the Rockets, Petrovich felt hot, how to shoot, whether it is three points or two points, 19 shots 13 shots, cut 33 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal, this is Petrovic's first 30+ in the NBA, facing the Celtics with Bird, Reggie Lewis, McHale, Parrish, Petrovich's limelight overwhelmed these people, he shot 17 of 26 from the field, cut 39 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals, helping the team to a 2-point narrow victory over the opponent.
At the end of the season, Petrovic averaged 20.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game, shooting 50.8% from the field, 44.4% from three-point range and 80.8% from the free throw line. Under Petrovich's leadership, the Nets finished 40-42, finishing seventh in the East and qualifying for the playoffs. This was Petrovich's first team to lead the playoffs, the first game of the series, Petrovich shot 17 of 31, cut 40 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal, but the team still lost to the opponent by 7 points.
In the second game, Petrovich still played hard and played well, but his teammates still did not give very good support, the third game, Petrovich both scored and connected, contributing 20 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists, Petrovich's teammates also played very well, this game, the Nets finally won. Petrovich played well in front of the Cavaliers in succession, so that the Cavaliers also began to target Petrovich, in this case, Petrovic shot 6-of-14, contributed 14 points, 2 assists and 2 steals, Petrovich failed to play a good enough performance, and the Nets stopped in the first round.
Although the Nets were eliminated, but Petrovich's play really made many people shine and like him, Petrovich played very smart, this is the talent of European players, he will receive the ball at the right time, and then throw the ball in, Petrovich's range covers half- and although shooting is Petrovich's housekeeping skill, But Petrolovic can also burst into the basket, even in the face of Jordan, Petrovich can also shake Jordan away, let Jordan out of place, and then hit the ball himself. In the 92nd Barcelona Olympic Games, Petrović faced the "Dream Team" to show his skills, and Jordan did not fall behind, helping the team to stalemate with the "Dream Team" in the first half, although in the second half, the "Dream Team" defeated the Croatian team, but Petrović's performance in the first half was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and he scored 24 points in this game.
In the 92-93 season, Petrovich played more brilliantly than last season, shooting more accurately, against the Rockets, Petrovich shot 17 of 23, cut 44 points, 4 rebounds and 1 steal and a block, facing the Spurs, Petrovic shot 7 of 5 three-pointers, cut 34 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal, 7 times in the season cut 30+, 25 times 25+, in the NBA, Petrovich as a white player, can play against those black players, lead the team to win the game, Petrovich's brilliant performance changed the stereotype of white players. At the end of the season, Petrovich averaged 22.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game, and was selected to the all-team third team, which was a recognition of Petrovic.
In the NBA field, Petrović broke out for himself, whether it is the NBA or the European Championship, Petrović can do it, in the 93 European Championship, Petrović played for Croatia, helping the team sweep Poland with 30 points.
At this time, Petrovich can be described as a winner in life, fame and fortune, and a girlfriend, but the danger is sudden, on the way to visit his girlfriend, Petrovich suffered a car accident, the car was hit and deformed, Petrovich lost his life, a basketball genius, the future NBA superstar, passed away, this year Petrovich was only 28 years old.
Petrovich's death, for the European basketball world, and even the world basketball world is a loss, people feel extremely sorry, the New Jersey Nets, will retire his jersey, in 2002, Petrovich was selected for the Naismith Basketball Memorial, which is the biggest reward for Petrovich's wonderful performance over the years.
After Petrovich's death, people built a memorial for him in order to commemorate him, and there is a square named after him, although Petrovich is gone, but the hearts of those who love him, so that Petrovich is still known in various ways, may Petrovich be in heaven, still with basketball.