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5-way tie tbh:
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Recent article on Petro
Drazen Petrovic remembered on 20-year anniversary of his tragic death
Drazen Petrovic averaged 15.4 points over the span of his short NBA career. (The Oregonian file photo)
By Sporting News
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on June 07, 2013 at 4:18 PM
June 7, 2013 marks the 20-year anniversary of a tragic day for not just the NBA, but the global basketball community. It's the day Drazen Petrovic died.
Petrovic, who was a member of the New Jersey Nets at the time, was in the passenger seat of a car being driven by his girlfriend, Klara Szalantzy. A disabled vehicle blocked all lanes on a high-speed highway and while a driver tried to warn them, there wasn't enough time to stop. Petrovic was killed, another passenger was gravely injured. Szalantzy went on to marry German striker Oliver Bierhoff.
In 2011, the New York Daily News wrote an exceptional piece about the forgotten passenger in the car, Hilal Edebal, who was also gravely injured and lost her basketball career, which included a spot on the Turkish national team and a place at Niagara University.
NorthJersey.com spoke with Willis Reed, who was the Nets' GM at the time of Petrovic's death, for the 20-year anniversary of the somber occasion.
“Then I started getting details of what happened," Reed said." It really tugs at my heart. It’s one of those things that you went though and you’ll never get over. I won’t. I know I won’t.”
Petrovic gained lasting fame in the eyes of many in the U.S. when he faced off against the Dream Team. Highlights below.
In the NBA, Petrovic averaged 22.3 points during his final season (1992-93) with the Nets. He was originally a member of the Portland Trail Blazers, but couldn't find time in a backcourt that included Clyde Drexler and Terry Porter.
One of the great stories about Petrovic was his 112-point game (40-for-60 from the field, 10-for-20 from 3-point range and 22-for-22 from the free throw line) for BC Cibona Zagreb.
Petrovic was recently a subject in an ESPN 30 for 30 film led "Once Brothers," which detailed his relationship with Vlade Divac. Their close relationship splintered when war broke out, forcing Petrovic, a Croatian, and Divac, a Serbian, to choose sides.
Petrovic is a member of both the Basketball Hall of Fame and FIBA Hall of Fame.
5-way tie tbh:
Ah the good old days!5-way tie tbh:
(it seems like a 4-way tie to me)
Career WS
Tim Duncan
Dirk Nowitzki
Hakeem Olajuwon
Steve Nash
Patrick Ewing
Dikembe Mutombo
Pau Gasol
Detlef Schrempf
Vlade Divac
Tony Parker
Manu Ginobili
Peja Stojakovic
Andrei Kirilenko
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Yao Ming
Hedo Turkoglu
Tony Kukoc
I didn't include Dominique Wilkins, Kiki Vandeweghe, Carlos Boozer and James Donaldson, U.S. military brats born overseas.
Nando De Colo.
Dirk, tbh.
Prove it.
Top 5:
Michael Olowokandi
Yi Jianlian
Hasheem Thabeet
Nikoloz Tskitishvili
Darko Milicic (at least he has a ring)
1.) Hakeem Olajuwon
2.) Oscar Schmidt (close second)
PGs-Parker, Nash, Calderon
SG-Ginobili, Petrovic, Marciulionis
SF-Schrempf, Kukoc, Kirilenko
PF-Duncan(The NBA considers him International so why shouldn't I?), Nowtizki, P. Gasol
C-Olajuwon, Sabonis, Smits, Divac, Yao
Nice but i'll put Kukoc above Schrempf and you forgot about Oscar Schmidt and Peja Stojakovic.
Best player not from Earth:
Sam Cassell
Duncan.
Olajuwon
Manu Ginobili
Er...Olajuwon.
GOAT healthy YAO MING!
Drazen.
lol at Manu being here. He's not even the best Spanish speaking NBA international(Pau Gasol is)
...and Dejan Bodiroga. If you want to win, you put Dejan on your team.
Greatest scorer of all time in international play is Oscar Schmidt...if you just want to judge by points (which I don't).
Last edited by Solid D; 07-18-2013 at 09:53 AM.
I guess it depends on how you define international player. If you define it from the US perspective and birthplace...any player born outside of the USA, then I'd probably say Hakeem Olajuwon. Although Hakeem was never a great player in Nigeria, he ranks:
9th all-time in NBA points scored
1st all-time in NBA blocks
8th all-time in NBA steals
12th all-time in NBA rebounds
If you look look at it from world perspective, that would come with lots of caveats and require more definition. Michael Jordan was an international player if you define him as someone who played internationally with the USA NT.
Last edited by Solid D; 07-18-2013 at 10:27 AM.
Manu now is probably much less valuable than either gasol at this point. That said 2005-2010 Manu Ginobli was arguably the second best 2 guard in the world after Kobe Bryant. People were honestly saying that they would rather have him over kobe because he didn't go into ball hog must score 35+ points and was generally playing hard (though some would say gamblers) defense.
People forget that Manu tosses himself all over the court very hard (which is a big part of why he is oft injured) and was 25 before coming to the NBA with lots of time played a euro league that packed the paint against driving guards. He is now an old 36 year old guard and he seems to be having way more trouble adapting to his new limitations than most thought he would. There are a number of reasons for it, but I think its a 3 fold combination of his driving ability and explosiveness have declined so that people are honoring that a bit less knowing they can probably adjust, which means those passes just a hair beyond their fingertips are now within reach since they are playing him more tightly. I also think he has probably lost quite a bit of endurance and recovery. When you are tired you can't move with the same ease which has likely hurt some of the passing and shooting. The final bit is that his own determination and will which have served him so well to this point, are betraying him in admitting to and accepting the changes, in the past trying harder and taking more on himself allowed him to overcome, and now he can't just try harder, which after years of conditioning to do that and be the man might just be the hardest thing of all to accept.
My statement has nothing to do with their current ability - they're both pretty washed up at this point. If you look at their resumes objectively, you can see that Gasol has had a better NBA career than Manu.
Did Dwyane Wade not exist from 2005-2010? Ginobili was never better than him.
^
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