I was only one year old, but my family had a dog named Drazen (and a cat named Clyde). If anyone knows of any good tribute videos you should post them, I'd love to see some of what I missed. R.I.P.
You should really watch the ESPN 30 for 30 of him and Vlade. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCC4FBNjgUc
I was too young to really know what he went through at the time but watching that 30/30 documentary really showed me how rough it was for Drazen. With a stacked roster and very little playing time -- his country in all-out war. I don't know how he kept it together.
I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was my 3rd year in college in Nevada and you could feel the collective Portland sadness all the way down here. I was really upset when the Blazers traded him, and I thought he could start at the 2 and the Blazers could have slid Clyde over to the 3. He along with Sabonis were two of my favorites.
That would never have worked. Most importantly, Drazen could not play defense - and at the time there were too many explosive two guards not to have defense at that position. Secondly, at SF we were already starting Jerome Kersey in his prime - AND he was backed up by the best 6th man in the league in Uncle Cliffy. The real problem is that we didn't get anything for him when we let him go.
He was nothing when he left here. Bill Fitch made his teams work hard, but even with Petrovic achieving more than his talent warranted, his Nets were just .500. Good player, but overrated in revisionist history.
