On this day: Drazen Petrovic played his last game ever 30 years ago / News - Basketnews.com

Drazen Petrovic scored 30 points in a losing effort against Slovenia on June 6th, 1993 in EuroBasket 1993 Qualifying Tournament. He died in a tragic car accident the day later.

Credit: Twitter/ManuSuarez16 Credit Twitter/ManuSuarez16

Drazen Petrovic was one of the most prolific scorers in European basketball history. 30 years ago, he played his last game ever just one day before the fatal accident.

Drazen Petrovic

Position:SGAge:58Height:196 cmWeight:91 kgBirth place:Šibenik, CroatiaProfileNewsStatistics

It was June 6th, 1993 - the last day of the EuroBasket 1993 Qualifiers tournament in Wroclaw, Poland. With Croatia having already clinched a spot in the upcoming EuroBasket, there was only one game left.

It was seemingly a meaningless game against Slovenia. The winning team would take first place in the mini-tournament but it had no impact on what was coming in EuroBasket 1993. Nevertheless, Drazen Petrovic played like it was any other day.

He scored 30 points, passing the 1000-point mark in the Croatian national team. The last two of his points went in from the free-throw line. Despite his efforts, Croatia lost the game 90-94.

After spending the night in Wroclaw, the team flew to Frankfurt, Germany the next day where they caught a flight back to Croatia. Drazen, meanwhile, did not go with the rest of the team. Instead, he decided to travel by car with his girlfriend Klara Szalantzy.

It was rumored that Petrovic had already arranged a deal to sign with Panathinaikos Athens a few days later.

Klara was behind the wheel while Drazen was sitting in the passenger's seat. Their friend Hilal Edebal was in the rear seat of the VW Golf as well.

"I don’t know why we came by car, but I remember talking, laughing, and having fun while we were driving," Edebal later said.

The fatal accident happened on Autobahn Nuremberg-Munich. It was a rainy June 7th's evening. Around 5:20 PM, a truck crashed into a traffic island while trying to avoid a collision with a vehicle, blocking the entire three lanes of the road.

Seconds later, the Golf crashed into the truck after unsuccessfully trying to break.

At the time of the collision, Petrovic was sleeping. All three passengers did not wear seatbelts, Edebal later recalled. Petrovic was ejected from the car through the front window and died instantly. Edebal was in intensive care for an extended period of time.

Szalantzy has never publicly commented on the accident.

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