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PHOENIX SUNS

Former Suns guard Goran Dragic plays farewell game with Steve Nash, Luka Doncic and others

Former Phoenix Suns guard Goran Dragic played a farewell game in Slovenia on Saturday, joined by Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic and others.

Goran Dragic...

Goran Dragic of Slovenia reacts during the basketball friendly match between Slovenia and Croatia in Dvorak Zlatorog hall on August 20, 2022 in Celje, Slovenia. (Photo by Jurij Kodrun/Getty Images)

(Photo by Jurij Kodrun/Getty Images)

Former Phoenix Suns guard Goran Dragic said farewell to basketball in Slovenia on Saturday, joined by Steve Nash, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic and others.

The “Night of the Dragon” featured a game with Dragic leading one team and Doncic leading the other, as well as a one-on-one match between Dragic and his younger brother — and fellow former Suns guard — Zoran Dragic. The brothers played to a 5-all tie at halftime on a scoreboard held up by their mother courtside.

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Legends like Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin McHale were all on hand. Former Suns head coach Alvin Gentry was among the coaches on the Team Dragic bench.

Players on the court during the game ranged from Bogdan Bogdanovic to Robin Lopez and from Boban Marjanovic to Nikola Vucevic.

Chris Bosh, who had to retire from the NBA due to blood clotting issues, also took the floor as a former Miami Heat teammate of Dragic.

Halftime featured a cultural appreciation of Dragic, with performances by a choir, children’s accordion orchestra, 2023 Eurovision contestants Joker Out and more.

Even a soccer match broke out in the second half on the court with the players kicking a mini ball into mini goals with basketball shoes on.

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For the final stretch of the game, Dragic was joined by his son, nephew, father and brother to close out the win. Marjanovic even assisted the youngsters on dunks.

Dragic played 946 NBA games from 2008-23, plus another 62 in the playoffs. No Slovenian player has seen more NBA action.

He spent two stints on the Suns, first from 2008-11 and from 2012-15. He won the Most Improved Player award in 2013-14 after averaging a career-high 20.3 points per game for the 48-34 Suns.

His shining moment with Phoenix was a 23-point fourth quarter in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals against the San Antonio Spurs in 2010, which helped the Suns push past a longtime foe.

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Dragic addressed the crowd after the game.

Proceeds from the game and related events benefited the the Botrstvo v sportu program of the Friends of Youth Foundation Ljubljana Moste-Polje and the Goran Dragic Foundation.

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