Goran Dragić, one of the best Slovenian basketball players of all time, officially confirmed the end of his two-decade-long professional career at a press conference held on Thursday at Ljubljana City Hall, in the city where he will ceremonially conclude his career in the company of several world basketball stars with a spectacular farewell event and a game staged in Ljubljana on Friday, 23 and Saturday, 24 August 2024.
Dragić will finally say goodbye to the basketball courts where he has shone. Over the past 15 seasons, he has made a strong mark in the NBA, the world’s most powerful basketball competition, where he has played 1,008 games (started 637) and scored 13,448 points, the most of any Slovenian basketball player in history, for the Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks. He played in 90 official games for the national team, scoring 1095 points. He tops the leaderboard for the Slovenian national team in both appearances and points. As captain, he was named MVP of the competition when he led the team to gold at the 2017 European Championships.
The fantastic career of the golden captain undoubtedly deserves a grand finale intertwined with a humanitarian touch. The two-day event will start on Friday, 23 August, with a charity gala and draft of two teams, which will compete a day later in a basketball spectacle at the Stožice Arena.
The cream of the world’s basketball will gather in the capital at the end of August: NBA stars Luka Dončić, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokić, Jimmy Butler, Luis Scola, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Steve Nash, Nikola Vucevic, Marc Gasol, Steve Kerr have already confirmed their attendance, as well as and many Slovenian current and former basketball players, including Rašo Nesterović, Beno Udrih, Matjaž Smodiš, Boštjan Nachbar, Sani Bečirović, Primož Brezec, Gašper Vidmar and Klemen Prepelić. But there will be many more stars and basketball legends. The event organizers, Spontanzo, Goran Dragić Foundation, Fabulatorij, and Sports Media Focus, say they will reveal them gradually, adding that tickets for this exceptional experience will be available in February 2024.
Firstly, the Goran Dragić Foundation will renovate the sixth #podamdaigram smart outdoor basketball court in June (after Ljubljana, Maribor, Novo mesto, Laško and Murska Sobota, it’s Ptuj’s turn this year), in July Laško will host the tenth annual Goran Dragić Basketball Camp organised by Gogi’s Foundation and the Spontanzo, in August a spectacular basketball charity spectacle awaits, and in November, a charity gala event will be held by the Olympic Committee of Slovenia – Association of Sports Federations in cooperation with the Leon Štukelj and Miroslav Cerar Foundation and the Goran Dragić Foundation.
The funds raised at these events will be divided between the Botrstvo v športu program (80%), run by the Zveza prijateljev mladine Ljubljana Moste-Polje, and the Goran Dragić Foundation (20%). Throughout 2024, it will also be possible to support Goran Dragić’s humanitarian projects by sending text messages to the number 1919 in the amount of €10 (keyword: GOGI10) or €5 (keyword: GOGI5).
Goran Dragić: “I am looking forward to this project; I wanted this to happen in my home country, in the city where I grew up. I want to bring the friends I have made throughout my career to Ljubljana. Some big names have already confirmed their presence, including those who have finished their careers. I wish to give something back to the environment where my basketball journey started. It’s easier to play basketball than to talk, so that’s where we’ll be the loudest in August – on the floor – with the desire to raise as much money for charity as possible and have a good time.”
Matej Avanzo, representative of organizers: “A big thank you to Mayor Zoran Janković, the Municipality of Ljubljana, the Ministry of Economy, Tourism and Sport, together with the Slovenian Tourist Board and SPIRIT Slovenia for their support. This is such a big project, and we have come together with the desire to create something special for Slovenia, which Gogi undoubtedly deserves. We are preparing a series of surprises, not only in terms of the names on the court but also in terms of the events that will accompany the happening on the basketball floor.”
