Book Confirms Rumored Story That Drazen Petrovic Was Leaving Nets To Sign In Greece

[Euroleague]

The long rumored story that Drazen Petrovic was in fact leaving the NBA, and signing in Greece to play in the Euroleague, with the Greek League team Panathinaikos right before he died, has now been confirmed officially by a new authorized biography about Drazen.

http://www.eurohoops.net/2015/05/heba/98790

Another myth that NBA only fans have always claimed - "Drazen would have never left the NBA to play in the Euroleague", has now been debunked.

[Milbuck]

Why be a role player in the greatest league in the world when you could be a superstar in the international D-league?

[clipps]

Cool

[kamil]

Why be a role player in the greatest league in the world when you could be a superstar in the international D-league?

I've got a friend that thinks Drazen lit up MJ in 1992 Olympics... lol.

[NBAplayoffs2001]

I never watched Drazen that much but I do remember hearing from long time NBA fans that his shot was pure. RIP

[Milbuck]

I've got a friend that thinks Drazen lit up MJ in 1992 Olympics... lol.
Lol just realized this thread was about Drazen and not some random Greek scrub. Should probably start actually reading Euroleague threads.

[MP.Trey]

Would have been the GOAT Euroleague player. Anthony Parker a distant second.

[Real Men Wear Green]

Lol just realized this thread was about Drazen and not some random Greek scrub. Should probably start actually reading Euroleague threads.
Nah.

[JohnMax]

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/mavericks/post/_/id/4697444/dirk-nowitzki-dissed-by-europeans
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/p/petrodr01.html

This benchwarmer is ranked ahead of Dirk Nowitzki in a list of greatest European players. Yet only had two good seasons in the NBA.

[Yao Ming's Foot]

99.9% of NBA fans don't know who Drazen Petrovic is and among the 0.1% of them that do 99.9% of them had no opinion on whether or not he had a contract set up with the Euroleague before he died.

In other words you are delusional.

[NBASTATMAN]

Why be a role player in the greatest league in the world when you could be a superstar in the international D-league?


Role player :facepalm

Drazen was third team all nba

Best shooter ever until Curry showed up :bowdown:

[Smoke117]

99.9% of NBA fans don't know who Drazen Petrovic is and among the 0.1% of them that do 99.9% of them had no opinion on whether or not he had a contract set up with the Euroleague before he died.

In other words you are delusional.

:kobe:

[DonDadda59]

Another myth that NBA only fans have always claimed - "Drazen would have never left the NBA to play in the Euroleague", has now been debunked.

Literally the first time I've ever read that, anywhere. Literally.

Anyways, this is now a Drazen appreciation thread. RIP.

Basketball Mozart (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVaFtZskj08) :applause:

[outbreak]

99.9% of NBA fans don't know who Drazen Petrovic is and among the 0.1% of them that do 99.9% of them had no opinion on whether or not he had a contract set up with the Euroleague before he died.

In other words you are delusional.

wait what? How do you not know who drazen is?

Anyway notice how all the news about this says "according to" and "the author claims"? Nothing is confirmed and even if it was it's not that big of a surprise. There's interviews with his friends and family (I remember one with Divac in particular) where they talk about how much Drazen hated the NBA and how poorly he was treated when he first got there.

He wanted to bail much sooner (I never heard anything about him wanting to leave after he got minutes though) and back then there was an actual bias on euro players after they were signed, now the bias is mainly before signing or before a draft where people raise it likes it's a red flag. If there was a 7"1 american kid in this years draft who had the skill set of Porzingis (could shoot 40% from three, throw down dunks, drive) he'd be getting hyped up like crazy because teams love that skill set, but because he's a euro people say they can't take him too high because he's european, same with Hezonja's skill set. Both of them may still bust but they are no more likely to bust than an American player.

[gts]

Damn.. hadn't thought of him in eons...

[Rooster]

Would have been the GOAT Euroleague player. Anthony Parker a distant second.

Not so fast :no:

He said he's only planning to play 1-2 years at PAOK.

Not enough to surpass Anthony Parker Euroleague GOAT career:no:

5 Euroleague year
3 Euroleague titles
2 Euroleague MVPs
1 Euroleague Final Four MVP
Highest Euroleague Index Ever:bowdown:

[Yao Ming's Foot]

wait what? How do you not know who drazen is?


Who said I didn't?

He played in the NBA for 4 seasons and made 0 all star teams.

"He told American reporters that the lack of recognition in the league had him also considering leaving the NBA completely and playing club basketball in Greece"

What makes you think he is more well known that? His commercials? His shoes? His championship highlights?

:confusedshrug:

[NBAplayoffs2001]

99.9% of NBA fans don't know who Drazen Petrovic is and among the 0.1% of them that do 99.9% of them had no opinion on whether or not he had a contract set up with the Euroleague before he died.

In other words you are delusional.

I heard about him in the 90s. My uncle was a huge Bulls fan. The TV was always on during the early summers at his house showing all the playoff games and late season games. I grew up knowing who the Hardaway/Shaq were as well as pretty much the whole Utah team since I saw nearly every game in the 1997 and 1998 series.

[NBASTATMAN]

Who said I didn't?

He played in the NBA for 4 seasons and made 0 all star teams.

"He told American reporters that the lack of recognition in the league had him also considering leaving the NBA completely and playing club basketball in Greece"

What makes you think he is more well known that? His commercials? His shoes? His championship highlights?

:confusedshrug:


He did make 3rd team all nba though.. And that is better than ALL STAR TEAMS.... The dude wasn't appreciated but ask any other shooter that played during his era and they will say he is the best shooter they ever saw... Reggie Miller said that and so did most of the other great shooters during that time..

[Rooster]

Who said I didn't?

He played in the NBA for 4 seasons and made 0 all star teams.

"He told American reporters that the lack of recognition in the league had him also considering leaving the NBA completely and playing club basketball in Greece"

What makes you think he is more well known that? His commercials? His shoes? His championship highlights?

:confusedshrug:

Also Nets freefalled when Kenny Anderson got injured. Petrovic was overrated because of his novelty about being the first Euro to lead the NBA team but the reality was he's not better than Dirk.

[NBASTATMAN]

Also Nets freefalled when Kenny Anderson got injured. Petrovic was overrated because of his novelty about being the first Euro to lead the NBA team but the reality was he's not better than Dirk.


Dirk def better but Drazen was a great player...

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

One of the most overrated shooters ever and Nash level on defense
hed be a Calderon with worse passing in todays league

[NBASTATMAN]

One of the most overrated shooters ever and Nash level on defense
hed be a Calderon with worse passing in todays league



:facepalm
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1AFAB_enUS451US451&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=reggie%20miller%20drazen%20best%20shooter%20ev er

https://twitter.com/reggiemillertnt/status/537439623488626688

[Euroleague]

Would have been the GOAT Euroleague player. Anthony Parker a distant second.

I hate to break it to you, but Petrovic played in Euroleague for many years as it was.

[SpecialQue]

Lets see, dying in a car accident or playing for the Greek League.

Seems to me he made the right decision.

[Euroleague]

wait what? How do you not know who drazen is?

Anyway notice how all the news about this says "according to" and "the author claims"? Nothing is confirmed and even if it was it's not that big of a surprise. There's interviews with his friends and family (I remember one with Divac in particular) where they talk about how much Drazen hated the NBA and how poorly he was treated when he first got there.

He wanted to bail much sooner (I never heard anything about him wanting to leave after he got minutes though) and back then there was an actual bias on euro players after they were signed, now the bias is mainly before signing or before a draft where people raise it likes it's a red flag. If there was a 7"1 american kid in this years draft who had the skill set of Porzingis (could shoot 40% from three, throw down dunks, drive) he'd be getting hyped up like crazy because teams love that skill set, but because he's a euro people say they can't take him too high because he's european, same with Hezonja's skill set. Both of them may still bust but they are no more likely to bust than an American player.

I told you about how Petrovic wanted to leave the NBA because of its politics and because he was not being treated fairly before in this forum several times. Stop pretending you never heard that. Because I myself mentioned it here to you several times, when you were arguing that Spanoulis had no legit reason to claim Van Gundy purposely sabotaged his career because he was European.

I told you several times here before, that Adelman admitted he purposely benched Drazen solely because he was European and he said he did that because American coaches were taught to do that. That Europeans can't play and not to play them, because they would start taking away jobs and roster places from Americans if you did.

I also told you Petrovic said he was returning to Europe one week before the Balzers traded him to the Nets, and at the last minute he did not because that trade happened. And that if that trade never happened, he would be called "Euro scrub that can't play in NBA" all these years just like Spanoulis.

And I also told you that Petrovic said he then had made his mind up to leave the NBA after he played with the Nets, because he was not selected into the all star game, and he was insulted by that, as it was just because he was European, and even that some of the coaches had told him they heard other coaches say they were not voting for a European player to get in the all star game.

So he made his mind up he was leaving the NBA then and going back to Europe. Panathinaikos it was said back then as was talked about a lot in European media gave him a $5 million per season net contract (like $10 million gross per season in the NBA) for 2 years. That was more than Dominique Wilkins got when he signed with them, as he got $3.5 million net per season.

It was mentioned a lot in Yugoslavia and Greece at the time, but then immediately after, he died, and then all the news of his death just eliminated all that and drowned everything else out.

The US sports media of course and NBA would never dare mention it happened for marketing reasons.

But all through the years whenever someone like me would mention this, people like you would say no it would never happen and was nonsense.

Finally, now it was confirmed in an biography about him, because it did happen.

There is actually more to that story, that was not even said. When Panathinaikos made the agreement with Petrovic, there was also an agreement made with Arvydas Sabonis. They signed both Petrovic and Sabonis. But when Petrovic died, then Sabonis never came to their team.

That's just kind of a side part of the story that no one even remembers now and forgets. They were supposed to have -

Nick Galis
Drazen Petrovic
Arvydas Sabonis

all in the same team.........

[Euroleague]

Not so fast :no:

He said he's only planning to play 1-2 years at PAOK.

Not enough to surpass Anthony Parker Euroleague GOAT career:no:

5 Euroleague year
3 Euroleague titles
2 Euroleague MVPs
1 Euroleague Final Four MVP
Highest Euroleague Index Ever:bowdown:

2 Euroleague championships.

You keep stating this same lie 1,000 times here. Every time you say it, it is still a lie.


Petrovic was going to play with Panathinaikos, not PAOK. Two completely different teams you idiot.

And Petrovic had already played for many years in the Euroleague before he played in the NBA you freaking moron. He played in Euroleague with Cibona for a long time and won 2 championships with them. ACTUAL Euroleague championships also. Not imagined ones like that one you keep claiming Parker one.

[Euroleague]

Lets see, dying in a car accident or playing for the Greek League.

Seems to me he made the right decision.

In the 90s lots and lots of NBA players went to play in the Greek League. It was universally considered the top national league in Europe, and the salaries paid to American players, even top tier ones, were significantly higher than what NBA players were getting.