Former Trojan Nikola Vucevic will participate in a tribute game honoring NBA All-Star guard Goran Dragic on Aug. 24.
“The Night of the Dragon” will take place at the Stozice Arena in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The game will feature two star-studded teams. Current and former NBA players will take the court together, including Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Luis Scola, Dejan Bodiroga, Predrag Danilovic, Nikola Vucevic and Rasho Nesterovic.
The event is sponsored by the Goran Dragic Foundation and the charity will host a gala dinner the night before where the teams will be selected. The unmissable event sold out in just 20 minutes.
Dragic announced his retirement from the NBA after 15 seasons in December.
โI lived my biggest dream and I am extremely grateful to the countless people who allowed me to play for this long,โ Dragic said. โIt starts with my parents, Marinko and Mojca, my brother, Zoran, my children, Mateo and Vikorita and their mother Maja, and the rest of my family who have always made this passion for basketball a priority for me.โ
Several of the players who will speak at “Night of the Dragon” are part of the group known as the Balkan Boys, which originated in the NBA bubble.
It all started with a dinner attended by Vucevic, Jokic, Marjanovic, Doncic and Dragic, all players from the Balkan countries.
Some boys from the Balkans ๐ฏ
๐ง๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ท ๐ธ๐ฎ ๐ท๐ธ ๐ฒ๐ช
๐ธ by Terry Stotts pic.twitter.com/5gAer9KApNโ Jusuf Nurkiฤ ๐ง๐ฆ (@bosnianbeast27) August 28, 2020
It’s no surprise, then, that Vucevic will be taking part in the Dragic tribute match later this month.
Vucevic signed a three-year extension with the Chicago Bulls. The veteran center averaged 18 points and 10.5 rebounds in 76 games last season. Vucevic started all but two games and averaged 34 minutes per game.
The Bulls failed to make the playoffs last season, which disappointed both fans and players. Vucevic had a solid season, but struggled with three-point shooting, averaging just 29 percent.
Vucevic brings a veteran presence to the court on a team that is mostly young. The center has the ability to space the floor well, but he is somewhat of a liability on defense. Overall, Vucevic has a very reliable skill set with connected passes.
There has been some commercial speculation around the centre, but nothing has come to fruition yet.
The center played college basketball for USC before being selected 16th overall in the 2011 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers.
