Goran Dragic, who played 15 NBA seasons, was an All-Star and the 2014 Most Improved Player, has announced he plans to retire from basketball in 2024.
The announcement came via the Slovenian sports site SiOL.net. A Slovenian legend who captained the 2017 EuroBasket gold medal team (and was named tournament MVP), he plans to host a farewell game in Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana, in August, put on by the Goran Dragic Foundation and a company, Spontanzo. The details of that will be made public next Thursday, but expect a number of NBA players — including fellow Slovenian Luka Doncic — to be there.
Dragic played 15 NBA seasons, most recently with the Milwaukee Bucks at the end of last season. His best NBA season was in 2013-14 when he averaged 20.3 points and 5.9 assists with Phoenix, was voted the league’s Most Improved Player, and made All-NBA Third Team. After that season Phoenix traded him to the Miami Heat, where he played for all or part of seven seasons averaging 16.2 points and 5.2 assists a game, and was an All-Star (2018). Dragic took on a heavy load for the Heat as a shot-creator and floor general in the post-LeBron era and played that role well.
Dragic averaged 19.1 points and 4.4 assists a game during the Heat’s run to the bubble NBA Finals in 2020 — he was a key reason they got that far and almost won another title. It’s a stretch of play too easily forgotten because it wasn’t in front of fans, but he was brilliant.
Nicknamed “The Dragon,” Dragic played four seasons in Slovenia — where he was the Rookie of the Year and an All-Star — before being drafted by the Spurs in the second round of the 2008 NBA Draft (45th overall), but the Spurs traded him on draft night to the Suns. In addition to Phoenix and Miami, Doncic played for the Rockets, Nets, Bulls, Raptors and Bucks. Through 15 NBA seasons he averaged 13.3 points, shot 36.2% from 3, and dished out 4.7 assists a game.
Dragic, 37, has not played in the NBA this season.
