Had Croatian superstar Drazen Petrovic not been killed in a fateful 1993 car crash entering his prime at 28 years young his NBA legacy would surely have set the bar higher for future Euro stars like Dirk Nowitzki and Tony Parker. The 6’ 5” shooting guard began his legendary run in the early 1980’s as a teenager playing professionally in Croatia and internationally for his native Yugoslavia before eventually jumping overseas to the NBA in 1989. A star on multiple stages Petrovic earned two silver medals and one bronze in Olympic basketball a gold and a bronze in the FIBA World Cup a gold and a bronze in the FIBA EuroBasket two EuroLeague titles and two Mr. Europa awards as best player in all of Europe. Petrovic played six seasons in the NBA averaging 22.3 ppg his final season with the New Jersey Nets before his untimely death. The Nets retired his jersey the year he died and in 2002 Petrovic was inducted posthumously into the Naismith Hall of Fame. In 2013 Petrovic was voted the best European basketball player in history by his FIBA EuroBasket peers.

Featured here is an incredibly rare Yugoslavian National Team jersey worn by the late great Drazen Petrovic. The early style dates this fine singlet to 1983 when Drazen represented his country in European competition at the tender age of 18 years old. It comes directly from a fellow countryman who idolized Petrovic as a kid and wrote a letter to the President of the Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia (Nebojsa Popovic) in 1986 requesting a national team jersey preferably one from his favorite player. A package arrived at our consignor's home a year later satisfying his request and then some.

The cotton/polyester blend gamer bears an Adidas manufacturer's tag inside the collar labeled "Made in France.” Petrovic’s blue tackle twill number "4" appears on the chest and back the former applied in smaller format beside the national crest of a now dismantled Yugoslavia. The shirt exhibits excellent wear evenly distributed throughout yet remains in wonderful display condition. The style can be perfectly matched to the YouTube video below of a notorious contest between Yugoslavia and Italy on May 30 1983 in Limoges France in the EuroBasket Championship tournament. The game made international news for a crazy brawl that broke out after one of Petrovic' teammates kicked an Italian player squarely in the groin. Petrovic scored eight points in the loss and can be seen wearing this exact garment at the 1:00 mark.

The scarcity of a Petrovic game-worn jersey cannot be understated. This is just the second one offered publicly on the last two decades (SCP sold the other for $7500) the only one relating to European play and by far the earliest example ever. What’s more it comes with indisputable documentation.

Letter of provenance from consignor. Two LOA’s (one with original envelope) from the former President of Yugoslavia Basketball Federation Nebojsa Popovic with translated and notarized versions of each.