OT-ish: 20 years later, Drazen Petrovic tragedy still stings

[Boise Blazer]

http://www.northjersey.com/sports/Popper_20_years_later_Drazen_Petrovic_tragedy_still_stings.html

It is 20 years ago today that Drazen Petrovic died in a horrible car wreck on a rain-soaked autobahn in Ingolstadt, Germany. After playing a game in Poland with the Croatian National team, Petrovic did not fly with the team and detoured to Munich to meet his girlfriend, model Kiara Szalantzy. She did the driving to Frankfurt, where Petrovic was to reunite with the team. Petrovic was in the passenger seat of a Volkswagen Golf, and a friend of Szalantzy was in the back seat.

A truck had crashed, blocking the entire no-speed-limit highway. As the truck driver tried to warn oncoming traffic, Petrovic’s vehicle was moving too fast on the slick road. In an instant, it was over. Petrovic, sleeping in the passenger seat without a seat belt, flew through the windshield and slammed into the truck. The police declared him dead at the scene.

In that instant, one that has haunted those who knew him, loved him, respected him, and competed with him, Petrovic was gone.

 

[Boise Blazer]

http://blog.northjersey.com/meadowlandsmatters/5957/drazen-petrovic-now-20-years-gone-too-soon/

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

I remember I was on summer vacation and was in the kitchen when I heard the news. Absolutely devastated.

He remains my favorite basketball player of all time.

 

[jlprk]

http://m.espn.go.com/nba/story?storyId=9345747&src=desktop

No mention of Bill Fitch, only one mention of Chuck Daly--the whole ESPN article is a tribute to Willis Reed. The speeding girlfriend killed him in Germany--in today's overfunded American legal system, drivers go to prison for that.

Rudy Fernandez tried like Petrovic to get traded quietly, but with Rudy, stupid management's delay forced it out into the open.

"He [would] always tell me, I can do it, I can do it, I can play, the coach is stupid for not using me," said Dino Radja...It wasn't until midway through his second season that Petrovic saw that opportunity, as he was traded to New Jersey early in the 1990-91 season, a deal largely pushed for by both him and LeGarie.

Wow, this is new information. The 6-2 female player on Turkey's national team, who was in the back seat, still can't last at jobs 20 years later due to memory malfunctions.

http://m.nydailynews.com/1.948653

 

[Pinwheel1]

Rick liked the Clyde/Jerome combo. For the majority of the minutes. Both Drazen and then Ainge were both frustrated by it. I think that it was partly Dexler's reluctance to want to play SF. It used to piss me off. I loved it when they used the 3 guard units of either Portler/Drazen/Cylde or Porter/Ainge/Clyde.

Maybe Rick was right. You can't argue with his success, but IMO his stubbornness to go small more often was a mistake. Clyde was big enough to play SF, and getting that extra three point shooter in the game really opened things up. I mean we are talking about two really good 3 pt shooters in Ainge and Drazen. Then you add Porter.........

 

[maxiep]

I've driven the A9 a number of times through Bavaria and always think of Drazen. We made a great pick, that turned out to be almost too good, because Clyde was one of the few guys Petro couldn't beat out for a job.