One of our favorite ESPN 30 For 30 documentaries, Once Brothers, tells the story of the rise (and fall) of the Yugoslavian national team in the 1980s, and the fractured friendship between Serbian Vlade Divac and Croatian Drazen Petrovic after civil war ripped the country apart. Petrovic was the intense, animated leader of a Croatian squad that made a spirited first half run against the Dream Team in the gold medal game in Barcelona. The doc shows plenty of Drazen at his best — a fearless, long-range assassin, who Reggie Miller even admits is the best shooter he ever played against.
However, often lost in the shower of three pointers and brazen “come at me, bro!” challenges to Michael Jordan, is Petrovic’s craftiness. Check out this nifty move from January 24th, 1993 — just months before his tragic death in a car accident — where he pulls off a rare feat: embarrassing the normally unflappable Hakeem Olajuwon, by spinning the defensive wizard around with a fake-out worthy of the Dream Shake Hall of Fame. Petrovic went on to score a career-high 44 points that night against Houston, on 17/23 shooting from the field (oh, you want highlights of every bucket? Glad you asked!), adding to the legacy of one of the best international ballers to ever play the game.
About John Ferensen