2024-09-03 13:39:29
One of the most underrated players in the history of modern international basketball, Goran Dragic, bid farewell to basketball in a charity match in Slovenia that featured legends and his friends.
Saturday’s “Night of the Dragon” was headlined by a matchup pitting Dragic and a selection of teammates against Luka Doncic, his former NBA teammates including Steve Nash and Chris Bosh, international legend Dirk Nowitzki and a near-unanimous vote for the the best basketball player in the world, Nikola Jokic.
On Saturday, Dragic also played one-on-one against his brother Zoran, with whom he was teammates with the Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat during the 2014/2015 season.
The Phoenix Suns traded for Dragic’s rights after the San Antonio Spurs selected him 45th overall in the 2008 NBA draft.
He thrived as the backup point guard behind Steve Nash for two seasons, but in the 2010/2011 season Phoenix sent him to Houston to play for the Houston Rockets.
He returned to Phoenix in the 2012/2013 season as a free agent, where he became the Suns’ leading point guard and won the Most Improved Player award for the 2013/2014 season and was also selected to the NBA Third Team.
In the 2014/2015 season, he joined the Miami Heat team, where he played for 6 seasons.
In 2017, he won the first EuroBasket title for Slovenia with 17-year-old Luka Doncic.
The following season, he was asked to represent the Eastern Conference in the All-Star Game.
In the Orlando bubble, he was instrumental in Miami’s run to the 2020 NBA Finals.
Dragic has played 946 NBA games, where his 4,405 career assists rank 97th in NBA history.
His number 3 was retired by the Slovenian national basketball team.