Todd Spehr: Drazen - The Remarkable Life and Legacy of the Mozart of Basketball - AIR055

NBA History Conversations: Basketball Record

Episode • Apr 8, 2015 • 48m

Drazen Petrovic biographer, Todd Spehr.

Personally, this is an extra-special episode. My great friend of almost fifteen years, Todd Spehr, just released The Mozart of Basketball: The Remarkable Life and Legacy of Drazen Petrovic. I invited another great mate of mine (and NB85 co-host), Aaron, to also chat with Todd, earlier this week.

For more than three years, Todd has been consumed with the life of Drazen Petrovic. Thanks to exhaustive research - he interviewed over 70 people - the resulting book offers comprehensive coverage of Drazen's incredible rise from Europe to the NBA. It is a book of stories, told by those who knew Petrovic best. Drazen blazed a trail (no pun intended) and was a pioneer for Europeans in the NBA, including Sarunas Marciulionis, Arvydas Sabonis, Stojko Vrankovic, Vlade Divac, Toni Kukoc, Dino Radja & Peja Stojakovic, to name just a few.

We discuss behind-the-scenes details of the book, including the interview process, the depths of Todd's research and countless hours of game film (some, never seen before) he studied, giving him a unique insight on a player who was already a legend in his native country, before he set foot in the United States of America.

To borrow a quote from the book's promotional materials, 'Drazen is a tribute to the determination and spirit Petrovic brought to every aspect of his short, brilliant life'.

Watch the Google Hangout - recorded live on April 6, 2015 - or, should you prefer the audio-only version (via your podcast app of choice), you'll hear an edited version of the conversation.

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