By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Roughly 30 years since the tragic loss of Drazen Petrovic, his absence is still felt not just by basketball fans, but also by his friends and family, and former teammates.
Petrovic’s close friend and Hall of Famer Dino Radja spoke to Walla and reflected on the moment he learned about the news of his passing, in a traffic accident on the evening of June 7, 1993, and how it still affects him to date.
“We were on the team together, we played in the European Championship qualifiers in Berlin, and we were supposed to meet for further training in Zagreb,” Radja tells Walla. “At two in the morning, I got a phone call. My mom called me and informed me. It was one of the most horrible moments of my life. I called Mirko Novosel, who confirmed it was true. At first, I thought maybe he was just injured, but the worst happened”.
“It was awful, just awful. For weeks I just thought about it. In the first practice, we stood on the court and just cried. We were not able to play at all. He was one of my best friends. We talked almost every day, we were together a lot. Many years passed, but I still think about him a lot. He’s one of the best players I’ve ever seen, and he also helped me a lot as a player. His way of thinking was so unique. In training, when someone was wrong, Drazen was the first to get upset and comment. Even before the coach. He swept you to strive for the best”.
Radja and Petrovic shared many accolades in their playing time together, including a silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, representing Yugoslavia, as well as a silver at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona after the breakup of Yugoslavia and the formation of Croatia.
“We were young guys, and in our head was just sports, sports, and sports. And when everything collapsed and broke, you start thinking thoughts. So bad things happened around us, but then I stopped and said to myself: did he [referring to his teammates] do something bad, to me or someone else? And if not, why shouldn’t we remain friends? And that’s how we managed to maintain the connection between us, to this day”, tells Radja.
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