YouTube Gold: Drazen Petrovic

One of the first great European players who made it clear that basketball had become an international game.

It’s hard to believe now, but there was a time when people were very skeptical about international players making it in the NBA.

So when Croatian Drazen Petrovic began to surge in the NBA back in the late 80’s and early ‘90’s, for a lot of people, it was unbelievable. How could this guy be cocky enough to talk back to Michael Jordan - and back it up?

Because he was that good.

Petrovic was 25 when he got to the NBA - it wasn’t as easy then as it is now - and spent two average years in Portland before being traded to the New Jersey Nets.

And there, he was a revelation.

Petrovic became one of the finest shooters in the history of basketball. He couldn’t defend a guy like Jordan but he could score on anybody.

From 1991 to 1993, Petrovic was as good as almost any guard in the league Just 28, he was riding high.

But it didn’t last. Petrovic felt unappreciated and considered returning to Europe. He did go home and while sleeping in a car his girlfriend was driving, a trucker lost control. Petrovic was thrown from the car and suffered massive head injuries and died at the scene.

But when you see the long parade of Internationals who followed him to the NBA from all corners of the globe, well, that’s not a bad legacy.