re: 30 for 30: Once Brothers

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alright, pardon my ignorance (i should probably just look it up instead of asking), but wasn't croatia a republic/state in the country of yugoslavia? now yugoslavia is montenegro (sp?) while croatia is considered its own independent country? and do these countries all predominately speak Croatian?

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Croatia was one of 6 republics in Yugoslavia, which was formed following WWI. The republics were Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovinia, and Montenegro. It was dominated by Serbia who was the largest of the six. Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence in 1991 during the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe and the Civil war ensued.

There no longer is a Yugoslavia, Serbia is its own country, as is Montenegro who declared their independence in 2006.

The main spoken language is Serbo-Croatian which people from Croatia call Croatian, and Serbs call Serbian. It is pretty much the same language just spoken and written a little different as the Serbian version uses more acrylic traditions.

Religion is big issue in the area Croats and Slovenes are predominantly Catholic, Bosnian are mostly Muslims, and Serbs, Macedonians and Montenegrin are Greek Orthodox.

appreciate the explanation

Divac recalls a friendship lost with late Petrovic


Divac admits he did not understand why the Croatians wanted an independent country, free from "Greater Serbia"...

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Vlade Divac never had the chance to repair a friendship torn apart by war.

Divac and Drazen Petrovic were roommates on Yugoslavia's world championship team, confidants who spent long nights on the phone after they moved across the globe to chase their NBA dreams.

The calls soon stopped, followed by just about all communication. They were on opposite sides in a world that was breaking apart, and that was too much for their bond built around basketball.

Petrovic was killed in a car accident before the fighting stopped, so Divac will never know if he could have salvaged that relationship, as he eventually did with other teammates from Croatia.

The story is told in the new film "Once Brothers," which will debut on ESPN on Tuesday as part of its "30 for 30" series.

Divac narrates the NBA Entertainment production, in which he visits Petrovic's homeland for the first time in two decades. A Serb was unwelcome there for many years after Croatia fought for and gained its independence — Divac even skipped Petrovic's 1993 funeral — and he's come to realize why he was shunned for so long by people he considered friends.

"I was mad, I didn't understand back then," he said in a phone interview. "Now I understand what kind of situation that they were in. But back then, for me it was shocking."

Divac's previous trip to Croatia came during some of the best times of his life. After winning a silver medal in the 1988 Olympics, Yugoslavia captured the European title the next year while hosting the event in Zagreb. He was a first-round pick of the Los Angeles Lakers that June, heading to the NBA the same time as Petrovic, and they reunited in 1990 to lead Yugoslavia to the gold medal in the world championship.

Croatia declared its independence in 1991, so there would be no more titles together.

"I feel bad we didn't have the opportunity to play in the 1992 Olympic games against the real Dream Team," Divac said. "Unfortunately the war broke out back home and we went on different roads."

And though he didn't know it then, Divac would play a prominent role in that.

As the Yugoslavians celebrated their 1990 title on the court in Buenos Aires, a fan came onto the floor carrying a Croatian flag. Divac, claiming he was only trying to protect his team, ripped the flag from the man and tossed it aside.

Though nothing was said at the time, that angered Petrovic, who apparently believed Divac was making a political statement. Divac's action was used as propaganda by the other side and he would soon find himself ignored by other Croatian teammates such as Toni Kukoc, who later played for the Chicago Bulls.

"When the war started, from my side I thought it doesn't have anything to do with us. It's basically politicians back home that kind of put people in a bad situation," Divac said. "I was in shock when people from the other side are not talking to you and try to avoid you.

"I think it was a lot of pressure for everybody, but some act differently. I didn't care about any politician's attention from back home, I knew who I am and I know what I stand for. I think for some of them, there was pressure from their politicians."

The silence from Petrovic may have hurt Divac the most.

Though older, Petrovic would often turn to Divac for support as he struggled to find playing time in Portland as a rookie during the 1989-90 season. He would remain frustrated with the NBA until he was dealt to the New Jersey Nets, where he seemed headed for stardom after averaging 20.6 points in 1991-92 and 22.3 the following season.

"I was very happy. I finally knew that he found himself," Divac said.

Petrovic was killed at 28 shortly after that season when his girlfriend lost control of the car while driving in Germany. Divac got the news while vacationing with his family in Hawaii and thought it best to stay away from the services, where many former teammates were pallbearers.

Serbia and Croatia met last month in the world championship, and Divac said he could imagine watching the game with Petrovic. Instead, all he has are memories of a friendship that couldn't survive a war that Divac still believes was unnecessary.

"I'm very sad that he is not with us anymore. When I look back, yeah, it was stupid things, talk about the war and everything," Divac said. "It's really sad that a lot of people died, it was just a big mess. Hopefully we can all forget what happened and move on and live our lives in a peaceful situation."

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LINK

Definite favorite. Moved me to tears. And the only one I've missed is 4 day in October.

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Also 1995 was around the height of Kukoc's, Divac's, Radja's, and would have been at Petrovic's career. A 1996 Yugoslavian team would have given Dream Team 2 a really tough game if they were one team.

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This had a better chance of happening then the 92 deal

I thought this was the second best 30 for 30 after The Two Escobars. Maybe third behind the OJ Simpson one which was so creative in how it was edited.

I liked this a lot, but the main problem I had was that they kind of glossed over Vlade's Serbian nationalism. I doubt he is a racist, and it seems clear that Petrovic was a pretty clear Croatian nationalist (probably more so than Vlade as a Serbian), but you would think that a guy who had to put up with so much bad press after the 1990 World Championships wouldn't do stuff as controversial as the three finger salutes with Peja in Sacramento, when it was also commonly done by a lot of Serbian paramilitary leaders.

Either Divac was the most naive 30-year old man in the history of the world or he was at least a bit of a Serbian nationalist. I imagine more happened between him and Drazen than what was said in the movie from Vlade's perspective.

I think Kukoc said it best when he was talking about how everyone, including the athletes, got wrapped up in the war and did some things they probably regretted over time.

Btw, I was impressed at how clean Kukoc's English was back in the early 90s. Even then he hardly had a trace of an accent. And he has definitely aged the best out of the starters from the 1990 World Championship team, probably because he was the only guy besides Petrovic who didn't smoke a pack of Marlboro Reds every day

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I liked this a lot, but the main problem I had was that they kind of glossed over Vlade's Serbian nationalism. I doubt he is a racist, and it seems clear that Petrovic was a pretty clear Croatian nationalist (probably more so than Vlade as a Serbian), but you would think that a guy who had to put up with so much bad press after the 1990 World Championships wouldn't do stuff as controversial as the three finger salutes with Peja in Sacramento, when it was also commonly done by a lot of Serbian paramilitary leaders.

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I thought the same thing after that flag incident. To me it seemed like he was saying "Get that Croatian flag outta here, we're one country(Communist Yugoslavia) and going to remain that way." It just shocked me out of all the players he, the Serb was the one that snatched the flag away from the guy.