Johan Christian Drejer (born 8 December 1982) is a retired Danish professional basketball player who in March 2008 was released from his contract with

Virtus Roma Pallacanestro Virtus Roma, commonly known as Virtus Roma, was an Italian professional basketball club based in Rome, Lazio. It competed in the first division of Italian basketball, the LBA, for the last time in the 2020–21 season. It was form ...

and is a former player of

SISU Copenhagen SISU Basketball Klub is a Danish basketball club from Gentofte, Copenhagen founded in 1954. It takes its name from the Finnish term ''Sisu''. It is the oldest basketball club in Denmark. Both the men's and women's teams still plays in the league' ...

, the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...

, Winterthur FCB and

Virtus Bologna Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...

Professional career

Drejer was named the

Basketligaen The Basketligaen ( en, The Basketball League) is the highest professional basketball league in Denmark. The original men's first division was founded in 1957 and the current league was founded in 1998. All-time record holder in league titles is B ...

Player of the Year in 2002 after averaging 31.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. He was also a Danish national team player. He was drafted in the second round of the

2004 NBA draft The 2004 NBA draft was held on June 24, 2004, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and was broadcast live on ESPN at 7:00 pm ( EDT). In this draft, National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur colle ...

by the

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

with the 51st pick as the first Dane ever drafted by the NBA. This pick was not without controversy as some had been questioning his character because he had quit the Florida Gators basketball team halfway through the previous season. He never played in the NBA.

Retirement

In his first year of college basketball, Drejer had an injury in his left foot which kept him sidelined for most of the season. The injury remained a problem for the rest of his career. In 2007–08 he had surgery twice but never fully recovered; in March 2008 he was released from his contract by Virtus Roma and on 11 March the Basketball Federation of Denmark (Danmarks Basketball-Forbund) sent out a press release announcing Drejer's retirement.

Notes and references

1982 births Living people Danish expatriate basketball people in Italy Danish expatriate basketball people in Spain Danish expatriate basketball people in the United States Danish men's basketball players FC Barcelona Bàsquet players Florida Gators men's basketball players Liga ACB players New Jersey Nets draft picks Pallacanestro Virtus Roma players SISU BK players Small forwards Sportspeople from Copenhagen Virtus Bologna players {{Denmark-basketball-bio-stub