Every week it seems like the ESPN "30 for 30" specials get better. I am watching "Once Brothers" right now about Vlade Divac and Drazen Petrovic and am amazed at the talent on the 1990 Yugoslavian National Team that rolled past Team USA (with Alonzo Mourning, Kenny Anderson, and Christian Laettner) on their way to winning the World Championship against the Soviet Union.
Divac, Petrovic, Toni Kukoc, and Dino Radja all went on to play in the NBA. Divac was one of the best passing centers of his generation, Kukoc played an important role of the Bulls championship teams from 1996-1998, and Radja averaged nearly 17 points per game in three seasons with the Celtics.
The tragedy in the story is the early death of Petrovic. The talented shooting guard was the best player in Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was on the verge of becoming a superstar in the NBA (All-NBA Third Team in 1993 with the Nets) before a car accident claimed his life at age 28 on June 7, 1993.
The political turmoil in Yugoslavia in the early '90s tore apart the friendship of Divac and Petrovic and his sad death cost them the opportunity to reconcile. It is a shame that political differences cost the world the chance to see the Yugoslavian team compete in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics against the USA "Dream Team" but even more depressing that war and destruction tore apart friendships like those of Divac and Petrovic.
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