Aco Petrovic: “The real reason why Drazen’s relations with Divac froze”

The brother of the deceased Drazen, Acho Petrovicwanted to restore the truth about the real reason that the basketball legend’s relations with him Vlade Divac “they froze”. In his long interview on a Croatian website, on the occasion of tragic 30th anniversary of his deathmade it clear that the brotherly relationship with Divac was not damaged by the incident at the 1990 World Cup, when the latter grabbed a Croatian flag from a fan in the middle of a civil war, but for another reason.

“Drazen and Divac were roommates for many years in the Yugoslav national team, they were very good friends and everything was normal between them. The same year they were both in the NBA, they were in regular contact until the civil war began. When our hometown, Sibenik, began to be bombed, something broke inside Drazen. Many of his friends were in the army, some others in shelters and he himself was experiencing what was happening. Then his relationship with Divacs ended“, emphasized Acho Petrovic.

At the same time, he explained that what is presented in documentary “Once upon a time we were brothers”, which chronicles the breakdown of a friendship with Vlade Divac, isn’t exactly how they’re portrayed on the small screen. “This documentary was sponsored by the NBA and it makes sense that it has somewhat smoothed the corners on some details. Since only Divac is alive, the documentary was made from his perspective. When my family was informed that Divac would be coming to Zagreb for filming and that he was planning to visit Drazen’s grave, we had no objection. Even today I have nothing to do with this particular documentary, but I must say that some things are presented in a… Hollywood way. The bottom line is that their relationship broke down solely because of the war situation in the country, not because of the flag incident, nor because of any dispute».