Jokic, Doncic, Nowitzki, more set to play in Goran Dragic farewell retirement game

Goran Dragic, the NBA All-Star point guard who played in 15 seasons in the league, announced his retirement from basketball last December.

However, he will play one last game this month in his native Slovenia, a star-studded farewell game to raise money for his charity, the Goran Dragic Foundation. The Aug. 24 game will feature Luka Doncic, the Slovenian star who grew up idolizing Dragic, and a who’s who of stars from Europe and the NBA: Nikola Jokic, Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Luis Scola, Nikola Vucevic and Rasho Nesterovic, reports BasketNews.

The game will be called “The Night of the Dragon,” and will be played at Stozice Arena in Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana.

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.

The best of his 15 NBA seasons came in Phoenix, 2013-14, when he averaged 20.3 points and 5.9 assists, was voted the league’s Most Improved Player, and made All-NBA Third Team. Phoenix soon after traded him to Miami, where he played for all or part of seven seasons and became the team’s primary shot-creator for a stretch in the post-LeBron era. Dragic averaged 16.2 points and 5.2 assists a game in his years in Miami and was an All-Star (2018). 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.