Under the Patronage of the Croatian Government, a Memorial Spectacle Honoring Dražen Petrović was held in Zagreb

The memorial game in honor of the "Basketball Mozart," who tragically passed away at the age of 28, brought numerous former and current Croatian, European, and global basketball stars to Zagreb. The event was held under the patronage of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, with the support of the City of Zagreb and the Croatian Basketball Federation. Among the attendees was Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.

The spectacle, held in front of a full arena with 16,500 spectators, began with a short film about Dražen Petrović, tracing his journey from his hometown of Šibenik, through Cibona, Real Madrid, Portland, and New Jersey. Iconic moments from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics were also shown, where Croatia played in the final against the original American Dream Team.

- Dražen would have loved playing in such a beautiful atmosphere," said Aleksandar Petrović. After that, two Croatian NBA stars, Bojan Bogdanović and Dario Šarić, along with Slovenian star Luka Dončić, took center stage.

- I’ve heard a lot about Dražen from people who played with him, and it’s truly an honor for me to be here," said Luka Dončić, while Dražen’s fellow townsman Dario Šarić also expressed his pride and honor to be part of the spectacle.

- My first club was named Dražen Petrović. I have fond memories of my early basketball days, growing up with stories about Dražen. It's an honor to come from the same town and take my first basketball steps in his academy," said Croatian national team player Šarić.

The main event was an exhibition game between Croatia and Team Dražen, composed of numerous notable current EuroLeague players. Watching from the front row were many former basketball stars, including Dražen's teammates from the 1992 Croatian national team. Among the attendees were also his former teammates from the Yugoslav national team and various other basketball legends from around the world.

Croatia was coached by Josip Sesar, and the roster included Goran Filipović, Martin Junaković, Krešimir Radovčić, Antonio Jordano, Mateo Drežnjak, Filip Krušlin, Mario Hezonja, Dario Drežnjak, Toni Nakić, Krešimir Ljubičić, Roko Prkačin, and Danko Branković. Team Dražen included Marcelinho Huertas, Shane Larkin, Nenad Dimitrijević, Džanan Musa, Andre Obst, Vanja Marinković, Jaka Blažič, Tornike Šengelia, Dyshawn Pierre, Walter Tavares, Mathias Lessort, and Boban Marjanović.

Team Dražen was coached by the legendary Željko Obradović, with assistance from Croatian strategist Neven Spahija.

Although the match was purely an exhibition, each pause in the game was used to commemorate Dražen's journey. The first pause took the audience back to 1983, when Dražen led Šibenka to the Yugoslav championship title with a victory in the final against Bosna. Representing that generation, Predrag Šarić spoke, and the audience was greeted by Šibenka’s then-coaches Vlade Đurović and Zoran Slavnić.

Later, generations from Cibona and Real Madrid made their appearances, while Portland was represented by legendary player Terry Porter, and New Jersey, now Brooklyn, by Kenny Anderson.

- It’s hard to describe how great Dražen was as a basketball player. A phenomenal player and shooter, - said Porter, while Anderson added:

- Dražen was incredible. The news about him was a massive shock because we lost a fantastic basketball player, but an even better person.

Although the result was secondary, Team Dražen defeated Croatia 110-107 (28-25, 28-26, 22-32, 32-24), with Mario Hezonja leading all scorers with 37 points.

One of the game breaks featured a three-point contest, where Hezonja won, outperforming his Real Madrid teammate Musa in the tiebreaker.

A particularly emotional moment occurred when Dražen’s teammates from the 1992 Croatian Olympic silver medal-winning team took the court. Representing that generation were Aramis Naglić, Dino Rađa, Alan Gregov, Stojko Vranković, Žan Tabak, Franjo Arapović, Vladan Alanović, Toni Kukoč, and Danko Cvjetićanin. A hologram of Dražen, created using artificial intelligence, also appeared, greeting his former teammates and the audience, wishing them enjoyment in the basketball spectacle...