Kresimir Cosic

Krešimir Ćosić (November 26, 1948 – May 25, 1995) was a Croatian professional basketball player, member of FIBA Hall of Fame and Basketball Hall of Fame. He was also a notable church leader and missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Basketball career

He was born in Zagreb and raised in Zadar, where he started his basketball career in 1965, playing for KK Zadar. He came to the United States to play college basketball at Brigham Young University from 1971 to 1973. He was the first foreign player to earn All-American honors from the United Press International, garnering them in 1972 and 1973. After his college career, he rejected several professional offers and returned home to Yugoslavia.

Cosic played in four Olympic Games: 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1980 in Moscow when he led his team to the gold medal. He previously led Yugoslavia to a pair of World Championship gold medals in 1970 and 1978. Read more ->

With Dave Fromm, Author of Expatriate Games

BDW: When exactly did you realize that you wouldn’t be a professional basketball player? Describe that exact moment and how it felt. Read more ->

Expatriate Games by Dave Fromm

I finished reading Dave Fromm’s Expatriate Games: My Season of Misadventures in Czech Semi-Pro Basketball within hours after I got it in mail. The events of author’s adventure are intertwined with his thoughts about future, reminiscences of past NBA and college games, his struggles to find a basketball team in a country whose language he can’t speak and can barely understand. All this moves quickly, sentences flow smoothly like they should in a well-written book. Read more ->

Josh Childress’ Favorite Player

In my daily basketball readings certain things stick out. Over time they may become teaching points. Today, I read an interview with Josh Childress about the start of his European career in Greece. The interview was published at B92, a leading Serbian news source. Among other things, they asked Josh who was his favorite player of all time and his answer was Scottie Pippen. The reason is that Scottie did a lot of little things right. Then Josh said this sticky point: “Scottie was a born winner, he had capability to take over a game without scoring a single point.”

My first reaction was, hm, I heard people say this so many times, is it really true. Then, I thought, there are many aspects of the game, other than scoring: rebounding, assists, blocks, defense. I am not sure that’s what Josh is talking about. I think he is talking about intangibles. I’ve seen players whose quality transcends the stats. They make shooters on their team more confident, they toughen their team’s defense just a notch, they make opponent’s determination shakier – just enough to WIN. One European player who never played in the NBA was a Serb Zoran Savic. His stats were never great, but every team he played for was a winner.

Good luck in Europe, Josh!

Drazen Petrovic

Dražen Petrović (October 22, 1964 – June 7, 1993) was a Croatian basketball player. A tireless shooter and prolific scorer, Petrović is arguably the most celebrated basketball player to ever emerge from Europe. He is considered the crucial part of the vanguard to the present-day mass influx of European players into the NBA.

Early Years

Born in Šibenik, a city on the Croatian coast, in the former Yugoslavia, Dražen Petrović was the second child of Jovan “Jole” and Biserka Petrović. The couple’s first child, Aleksandar, would be the first one to tread the basketball path, providing a lead for young Dražen to follow. At the age of thirteen Dražen started playing in the youth selections of the local BC Šibenka; at the age of fifteen he had already made the first team, just as Šibenka earned a place in the national first division.

With young Petrović as the star of the team, Šibenka reached the final of the Radivoj Korać Cup twice (1982 and 1983), losing to CSP Limoges both times. In 1983 the 18 year-old Petrović hit two free throws for Šibenka’s victory over BC Bosna Sarajevo in the final playoff game of the Yugoslavian club championship, but the title was taken away from Šibenka the next day by the national basketball federation and awarded to Bosna shortly after, with irregularities in refereeing cited as the reason.

Petrović regularly played for the Yugoslavian national team in the Balkan Championships, winning bronze and gold with the junior team and silver with the first team. In 1982 he also brought back the silver from the European Championship for Junior Men in Greece. Read more ->