A farewell game will take place August 24 to honor Goran Dragic, who announced his retirement at the end of December, according to BasketNews.
Titled “The Night of the Dragon,” the game will be played at Stozice Arena in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Two teams will be drafted during a charity gala dinner the night before. The game is sponsored by the Goran Dragic Foundation, and tickets sold out within 20 minutes.
Among the current and former players scheduled to participate are Steve Nash, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Dirk Nowitzki, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Luis Scola, Dejan Bodiroga, Predrag Danilovic, Nikola Vucevic and Rasho Nesterovic. Chris Bosh, Dragic’s former teammate in Miami, will attend the event but won’t play.
BasketNews reports that Jimmy Butler was originally set to appear, but had to cancel due to a commitment in China.
Dragic, 38, appeared in 946 games with seven teams during his 15 NBA seasons. He was named Most Improved Player during the 2013/14 season and was selected to the All-Star Game in 2017/18.
He’s also a Slovenian basketball legend, leading the nation to its first EuroBasket title in 2017 while earning Most Valuable Player honors for the tournament.
Great to see Chris Bosh participating in this game.
It literally days right there he isn’t playing
the initial report was that bosh was playing. that must have been an edit
link to si.com
From Raptors fans let me extend a proud middle finger in full glory. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Can’t blame the guy for not wanting the cold hands of winter and the taxman.
better than isaiah thomas, the fake one.
Butler with a commitment in China. What a shock.
Were no other Americans invited? Surprising, if that’s the case.
Going to be worse than an All Star game…Dirk, Scola, & Nash way too old to be playing with Jokic and Luca.
I can’t believe the Heat really gave Ware his number. It should be going in the rafters. Thanks for everything, Goran; I know he’ll be around
haha he didn’t do anything amazing with the Heat to get that honor. I know this is the org that retired Jordan’s number but come on.
I see Goran ending up as a coach in the NBA.
He’d be the same as that crazy European coach, slapping all his players during the halftime pep talk.