PAY TRIBUTE
On Monday the Nets will celebrate the legacy of the late Drazen Petrovic. It’s been 25 years since the Hall of Famer’s tragic death, and a quarter of a century later he still hasn’t been forgotten — or replaced.
From the giveaway Petrovic figurines to the video tribute to his mother, Biserka, being welcomed from Croatia, the night will be about Petrovic, whose red, white and blue No. 3 was retired by the Nets after his death in 1993.
“This guy,” ex-teammate Kenny Anderson told The Post, “was special.”
Voted the best European player ever by players at the 2013 FIBA European Basketball Championship, Petrovic led legions of European youngsters to take up the game behind him, and led a rising young Nets team to the playoffs in both of his full seasons in New Jersey — until an offseason automobile accident cut his life short at just 28.
“He wanted to perform. He wanted to be one of the greats,” Anderson said. “He was like a god over there. He came here and people didn’t really pay him [any] mind. It was a great fit for me, young guys. … At the point-guard position you need a great shooting two-guard. It brings you so much joy. He made my job a lot easier.” And it made the Nets better. After his defense — and Clyde Drexler’s presence — kept Petrovic on the bench in Portland for is first 1 ½ NBA seasons, he asked for a trade. The Nets were the beneficiary, seeing Petrovic average 12.6 points in just 20.5 minutes during the second half of the 1990-91 season.
“Him being this figure overseas, you’re like, ‘Damn, I can’t get on the court?’ That’s frustrating. It can go one of two ways: It can break you, or you file it away and become that motivation, that chip on your shoulder,” Derrick Coleman told The Post.
“We’d talk all the time. He had something to prove. Being an icon in Croatia, and then coming to the U.S., not getting time to play and then getting traded, he always felt he had something to prove. You file stuff like that away and you use it for motivation every time you step out on the court.”
Petrovic took that chip and weaponized it.
The next two years saw him average 20.6 points per game on 44.4 percent shooting from deep in his first full season with the Nets. He led the newly independent Croatia to Olympic silver (trash-talking Michael Jordan en route to game-highs of 24 points and four steals versus the Dream Team) and in his final NBA season poured in 22.3 points on 44.9 percent shooting from behind the arc.
But that offseason, after Croatia had played a 1993 EuroBasket qualifier, Petrovic decided to drive back from Germany to Croatia with his girlfriend.
That June 7, on a rain-soaked Autobahn 9, a tractor-trailer lost control and crashed into the car in which he was a passenger, and killed him.
“I was at Houlihan’s,” Anderson said. “I was eating and a friend paged me. I couldn’t believe it. I was shocked. I couldn’t even talk. Wow. Then it was all over.”
As was the Nets’ success, bereft of their leader.
“I remember it like it was yes- terday. I was coming out of Houlihan’s in Secaucus. I was going to my car and coach [Chuck] Daly called me and told me,” Coleman said. “You hear he was in an accident, the first thought is, “Is he OK?” Then coach Daly told me he passed away. For me that was the turning point for our organization in New Jersey.
“Drazen passing away, then Kenny got traded the same year, and they didn’t rehire Chuck Daly. We did a complete 360. Here it is we’re going to the playoffs consistently, and we did a complete 360 and did 10 steps backwards. … It’s like we’re still searching, trying to figure it out, even in Brooklyn.”
Robbed of Petrovic — who gave a young team veteran savvy, and is still third in NBA history in 3point shooting at 43.7 percent — the Nets had losing marks in six of the next eight seasons. Other than brief stretches, they’ve largely struggled since.
“To this day it bugs me,” Anderson said. “What would it have been if we kept that team together? If we’d stayed together what career would it have been? I have a lot of Nets stuff around the house. I always tell my wife how would it have been. It was tough when he passed away in that accident. Everything went south in the organization. It was just tragic.
“They had a ceremony in the city [with] all the Croatians. It was great playing with him. He was quiet, an extremely hard worker, the first one at practice, the last one to go, dripping sweat. I got my professionalism from him. I’d be getting myself together in the locker room and he’s [already] out there sweating. He was one of first guys I’d seen come to work early, leave late. He’s a legend.”
His legend is still very much alive. The first European to be named to an All-NBA team (third team in 1993), he blazed a trail for stars such as Dirk Nowitzki, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Tony Parker and Kristaps Porzingis. His name is on the trophy that goes to the winner of a series between NBA and European champions.
Petrovic started playing because he idolized his big brother Aleksandar, and became an idol himself.