Dražen Petrović is simply a fable who volition not beryllium forgotten. His anecdotes inactive fascinate hoops fans today, and 1 of them was discovered acknowledgment to Vasilije Avramenko, the erstwhile doc of the USSR hoops team. The communicative takes spot astatine the 1988 Olympic Games erstwhile the Soviet Union defeated Yugoslavia 76:63 and won the golden medal.
– “When the celebrations successful the locker country calmed down, I went to the doping power with Sabonis, Tikhonenko, Kurtinaitis and Marčulinis. We sat determination for 2 hours, and Dražen and idiosyncratic other came from Yugoslavia” – recalls Avramenko.
It is this item aft the crippled that reveals the benignant of antheral Dražen Petrović was. And portion the different members of the delegation went their abstracted ways, Dražen made a motion that volition beryllium remembered for decades.
Dražen's sportsmanship
– “After that, we each returned to the Olympic Village unneurotic successful the aforesaid minibus, and past Kurt whispered to maine to inquire the operator to halt astatine the store. 'Ask him to stop, we privation to bargain a fewer beers to celebrate,' Kurt said astatine the time. However, thing unthinkable happened,” says Avramenko.
Drazen past enactment his manus connected Avramenko's enarthrosis and said successful Russian: – “No, I'll bash it”. He returned with a crate of brew and a container of ‘Napoleon’ cake. He handed them to Sabonis and said: – “Congratulations.”
This tiny gesture, an enactment of sharing and attraction to his rivals, erstwhile again shows what benignant of champion helium is and what benignant of antheral helium was. Drazen's sportsmanship and dedication person ne'er been seen successful the satellite of hoops successful the aforesaid way, and stories similar this further corroborate his greatness.
Even today, the sanction Dražen Petrović inspires respect and admiration, due to the fact that down the legendary jock stood a idiosyncratic who, by his example, taught radical what it means to beryllium a existent champion and man.